Prop pitch

[Rln]

I have a 1995 9.9 Evinrude and recently spun the prop. The pitch on the prop was a 9. The prop I replaced it with was a 10 and the boat doesn’t seem to have the same hole shot any longer. Should a change like that make a difference? The boat is a small 12’ X 48” jon style boat with maybe 500 lbs of assorted people & gear in it.
I am wondering if I should look for a prop with a 8 pitch to move the weight better.
looking for opinions, TIA.

 

[Pappy]

Probably not. If anything you would want to go back to the 9" prop. You will always lose a bit of holeshot with an increase in pitch but your midrange or cruise should probably be a bit better and you may have a bit more top end. You have to watch out about going too far one way or another as you do not want to overload a 2-stroke nor do you want to drop pitch far enough that the engine hits the rev limiter

 

[thill]

You could try an 8 and see how it works, but make sure to not scratch or damage it in any way so that you can swap it for a 9 if the 8 doesn't work out.

What Pappy wrote above is exactly correct. Having a tachometer is always useful.