best prop for water ski 40 hp 4 stroke

[floridagramps]

I recently purchased 1997 merc 40 hp 4 stroke on 16 foot starcraft alum bass boat. Boat/motor less than 30 hours usage due to illness but they were properly maintained and winterized in Maine.

I am now in my 2nd year of boat ownership and want to tow grandkids on water skis. My prop is 13 pitch and tach shows 4800 rpm. My service tech recommends 11 pitch to increase rpm to 5300-5400 range. He says less bite but higher rpm should give you more pop on getting skiiers out of water

does this make good sense?

mercury quick clean gas additive seems to have done a great job in significantly reducing carburator varnishing. Merc in fondulac recommended running a couple tanks triple strength and I have sen major improvement

[boats.net]

That is right, Propellers are mostly trial and error. For overall performance you want to get as close to the rpm limit with out going over. For every 1 pitch down you will gain 200-300 rpms (estimated) and visa-versa.