Walking out to my plane yesterday, I had the opportunity to walk
through a number of A/C to get to mine. I passed a Mooney (looked
like a 201) and realized that the width of the prop blades was
significant... It was much wider than my fixed pitch Sensenich,
wider than the blades on the Bonanza sitting next to it. In fact, it
had about the widest blades on the ramp (besides maybe a Navajo and
the turbines). So my question - why?

Blade width should create additional frontal drag. I would think you
would want to minimize that. A 201 has 200hp, so it isn't like it
needs to get several hundred HP transferred to the air.

Since Mooney's sit low, does this mean prop clearance is an issue?
Hence a short prop, hence a fat blade?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Thanks,
Nathan