I have a 94 Sn SJ. Currently i am running a 10/18 skat trac on a stock motor. Its a nice upgrade but just doesnt give quite the punch im looking for. Would yall recommend going down to lets say a 9/17 or is there any other recommendations? Recommendations that are not too harsh on the wallet as well would be appreciated, i ride mainly open water/yacht chasing, no real freestyle but would like to be able to have the ski recover from out of the hole or after landing or a doughnut. Currently its a little sluggish still.
I was running a 10/18 on a stock motor. It works fine. You need to keep that prop.
When I told JM I wanted a prop, I didn't just say, "I have a stock boat, sell me a prop". I told him I had a stock boat, but I was collecting parts to upgrade it to a fully limited set up. I told him in the near future I would have a pipe, head and msd ignition at the least. I told him I needed hit on the bottom, but I didn't want to give up too much top because I use my SJ for everything, race, surf and flatwater. I told him I needed the best bang for my buck, something that wouldn't overprop my stock, but not underprop my limited, and that I would get the right prop down the road when I had the money. He recommended the skat 10/18, what you have, because it was a balanced prop at the right price. I ran the prop for 6 months before I upgraded to limited. I know what you are working with. I understand your desire.
Putting money into a prop is a waste of money imho. You have a good prop and changing the pitch slightly is going to change your ski to a minimal amount. You, like myself, are working on a budget, and you can't think in the here and now. You need to think long term, sacrifice a little now for a little more later.
The 1st step is deciding what you want to do. I don't mean get a pipe and more power. I mean what you want to set your ski up for? Surf? Race? Rec? All around? I'm guessing not race since you want more on the bottom.
In anycase, you need to decide what you want to do with your boat. If you are going to go for a free-ride boat, you may be better off working on some of the other freeride mods. For example, most people looking for freeride will want the bottom end, so they get a bored reduction nozzle and a stubby tail cone. Not good for me, but may be right for you. Boring the reduction nozzle and putting on a stubby tail cone will give you a little more on the bottom and will be right for you goal set up. A used cone and your bored stocker with shipping will run you about $150, maybe less. A prop with shipping will probably run you about $100. Not much difference in price there, except going down in prop size may leave you under propped when you get a pipe. It may be better to keep the 10/18, and spend your money on mods you will want to keep, unlike a prop you will only have one more season.
Decide what kind of riding you want to do, and what set up you need to do it, as well as what is realistically in your budget in the next 1, 2 and 3 years. You may find you agree with me, and you will spend that money on a long list of other items that may suit you better in the long run.
Just throwing them out there... lightened flywheel, msd enhancer, stubby tail cone, bored reduction nozzle, reeds, reed stuffers. Any one (or 2) of these are in your price range now and will give you varying amount of more bottom, and more top too (A prop moves the power, it wont make more like these mods). You also have the option of saving your money to buy a used pipe (anything is better than stock and there are a lot of options much less than $800) or saving for a b-pipe. Just try not to buy a used b-pipe. The $50 you save is not worth it.
Anyway, I think you have a good prop, and buying and selling props to move your power is a waste of money compared to buying parts that make more power.
