Is high5 worth the money?

B

brad56

New Member
Mar 15, 2009
23
Australia
Boat Info
2004 185 Sport
Engines
4.3l Mercruiser Alfa 1
Hi we own a 190hp 185 sport and are chasing better holeshot for watersports. The easiest way seems to be changing the prop we currently run a 19p Black max but i keep getting different opinions on what to buy and the high5 sells for $1000 here in oz.Does anyone run one of these props and is it worth the money or is there an alternative?
 
I have a 180 bow rider and after testing many props, I now have a high five 17,19 and 21 pitch. I am at high altitude and just bought the 17 for when I am heavily loaded with people and am doing water sports. I finished last season with the 19 as my main prop and it did very well. I found nothing that would get me up on plane quicker and keep me on plane at a lower more controlled speed. I lost about 1 1/2 mph on the top end. I use the 21 for lower altitude trips to lake powell and for cruising. I bought all three of my props on E-bay and paid from $150 to $300 (US) for each. Two were new and unused and the other in almost new condition. If I had to recommend a single pitch for your boat I would suggest the 19 pitch high five. They act like they run about a pitch low compared to the three bladed props. This should give you about 200 RPM more at full throttle than your current 19 pitch three bladed.
 
I have a 200 Select with the 5.0mpi, I swapped the standard stainless steel vengeance for a hi five in the same pitch because I wanted easier speed holding and a lower planing speed.

It does both these, and has significantly improved the hole shot. It cost about 2mph off the top speed, and the fuel economy is about 10% worse.

I'm pretty pleased with it overall, it does what it says it does.
 
I'm a huge fan of the high five for boats your size. Yes is does as advertised. A 19" should fit your boat perfectly.
I had one on my '91 180BR with a 190HP 4.3L. It was perfect. My uncle has one on his '04 185BR with the 210HP 4.3L. It's a great setup.

Send these guys (John is great) an email.
http://www.propshopinc.com/Sterndri...-4X19RH-Quicksilver-QST-5-Propeller-p121.html

Maybe he can send it to you for less than you can buy it there?
 
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A high five will toss a nice rooster tail if you want it to...just don't tell your skiers!
 
I've got a 19" high five on my '05 185 (4.3 MPI). Love the prop. I have only used my old 3 blade SS prop once since putting on the high five in the summer of '05. Got mine off ebay for around $300 if I remember correctly.
 
I was running a 4 blade 18 with my 3lt and changed ( read forced due to smashing said 4 blade) to a 17 pitch hi 5. It realy does what is says. Hole shot is far better, planes at a lower speed and now pulls me out of the water with the whole family on board. I now have a 19" 4 blade for cruising Melbourne's Port Phillip Bay etc, but most days the Hi 5 stays on. I recon you go for the 19" It is worth the money!
 
After ringing around to get prices i have had mixed responses and opinions on the High5 which is getting a bit confusing. Some dealers are saying i am better off with a 17p Vengeance cause having more surface area over less blades is better than chopping the water up with 4or 5 smaller ones. does anyone have any words of wisdom to help the argument either way? I only want to buy once at these prices, which bullet should i bite?
Thanks
 
vengeance is a good all round cruising prop, will give good compromise between top speed, fuel economy and acceleration whereas hi five is will give great acceleration , lower top speed, higher fuel consumption, lower planing speed, better speed holding.

I had a vengeance fitted on my sea ray before I changed to hi five. The hi five is loads better for towing for water sports, but the vengeance is better for just cruising around. my vengeance and hi five are both the same pitch.



They are two different props for two different jobs.
 
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Simple: You already have a 19" three bladed aluminum prop. Take it off and keep it on the boat for a spare or when you are going on a 250 km cruise. Then......put on your newly purchased high 5 19 pitch and have fun. After a while, you will come to realize that you will run the High Five 96.3443% of the time because you love what it does and does most things well. The three bladed only does one thing well. Whoops.....two things well, it is a great spare prop too.
 
My boat came with a 3 blade Vengence, and it's a good all around prop. If you're changing from aluminum to SS, you'll notice a difference, and maybe that, by itself, will be enough for you. The hi five is really good at what it does though, which is holeshot. Coming out of the water on a single ski is night and day difference between the high five and the vengeance. I don't like skiing with the vengeance, and therefore, hardly use it.
 
Well i took the good advice (thanks everyone :grin: ) and invested in a 19p High five last week, We tried it on the weekend and i was so impressed . The only thing it didnt do was change the planing of the boat around 18-20 mph i still needed to play with the throttle a bit to stay at a constant speed,but i guess this is just a characteristic of the boat. The boat shop suggested i vent the prop and see how that goes has anyone tried this?
Next on the agenda for the boat is to stop the running on problem.
 
If by "vent the prop", you mean try different sizes of plastic vent plugs.......I tried two sizes of holes in the plugs and noticed no difference in accelleration or running. I do notice that if I am not running full down trim while at approx. 18 to 20 mph it is more throttle sensitive. I don't have to play with the throttle much unless I get down to about 15 mph which is right at the speed the boat wants to drop off of plane.
 
My understanding is that while the prop has the capacity to lower the "on plane" speed, this is mainly due to the increased torque being transfered by the prop. The design and length of the hull has a far greater effect, as does weight placement.

We have reciently discovered that by having my wife and one of my daughters sit in the bow area while the other ski's, the boat planes at about 12 to 15 mph, if they sit in the observers seat it is difficult to maintain a plain below 18 mph. I run a 17' Hi Five.

You might find Smart tabs or Trim tabs a good investment. I will be buying Smart Tabs as soon as I am given permission from she who holds the credit card!
 
Yeah I have made some changes and have others in mind but havent got out to test them yet! The first thing I did was pour water down the carby with it running to clean out some carbon,I dropped the idle speed down and adjusted the mixture. This always worked on the cars ive had this problem with. As I am thinking about it more I will say whats in my head at the moment,but the cooling system may have problems in it as last time we ran it I held the main hose before it got too hot and I could feel air bubbles going through it which could mean theres hot spots in the heads as ours seems to run on worse after skiing with the extra heat generated from loading it up. I will check the system schematics and I would like to try what I have done so far and keep you informed. What have you tried?
 
Firstly - please excuse the thread hi jack.

My issues seem to be fuel related.when I got the boat from the US last month it had aboat 1/4 tank in it and I should have drained it it all out as I do not know how old the fuel was. I had originably filled it with premium but it seems to be getting better all the time. Ran soma cleaner through and filled it for the second time today and if you idle down like the manual says there is no issue 15 to 30 secs and it is fine. Probably a bit of fine tuning needed as we are at about 900 metres asl here and all will be good. Oh yeah - new fuel filter / seperator on the way.

Cheers :smt001
 
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