Mercury 3 blade Lab cleaver vs. 4 blade lab cleaver

[4Speed]

What are the pros / cons of the 3 blade vs. the 4 blade both with the Mercury lab job on a STV with a 225 Sport XS? I want to purchase one but am not sure... Any suggestions or thoughts would be appreciated. Currently I am getting 95-96 with a 32 ET while staying under the 6k limiter.

[eli]

3 blade will be better for top speed
4 blade holds better all around but will be less top speed

[Badbait]

I agree with eli, but there is a lot more to consider.f After looking at your numbers I'm assuming your running 1.75 gears and if so you are running quite efficiently if your rpm is around 5900 or a little less. The cleaver is going to run a higher slip number than your current prop so you will need to run 100 to 150 more rpm to get the same speed your running now. If you have more than enough bow lift with your current setup and you don't feel your able to pop the tail loose on your boat the cleaver may work well for you. But in my opinion you will need at least a 33 pitch to get to 98-99 mph assuming my above assumptions are correct.

[4Speed]

Running 1.62 hears in the Sportmaster

[Mr. Demeanor]

Just to add, the 4 blade cleavers are incredibly smooth and easier on the gearcase. You always have two blades in the water so there is less loading/unloading stress than the three blade which sometimes has one blade then two blades etc.

[JPEROG]

The four blade is smoother but also has more drag and will have more transom lift. It depends on your objective-if your looking for top number prop then get a 3 blade and run your et the majority of the time as they are less sensitive to weight and offer great all around performance on your boat.

Joe