houseboat props

[bigjohn892]

I have a 70' widebody with 3.0 Mercs and Alpha 1 outdrives. Existing props are 16" x 14 pitch and WOT with these is 4200 - 4300 RPM. Speed on GPS is 11mph.<br />My first question is whar is the best and safest cruise RPM for these engines?<br />Sec. question is will props with reverse cups hurt and in what way.<br />I have very little power in reverse and a medium wind makes docking a chore.

 

[Dunaruna]

Re: houseboat props

Hi bigjohn, welcome to iboats!!!<br /><br />I have some thoughts on the subject, but I would prefer to wait for someone more qualified than me to respond to your post. I'm just posting so that I don't loose this thread.<br /><br />I'm lurking.<br /><br />Aldo

 

[walleyehed]

Re: houseboat props

If you will take a look into propco props, they have some models specifically for your application, and we used some of those on 2 houseboats on Texoma. One in particular had twin 305's with 16X15's...we put a set of the RHCBMR-15SP propco reverse hook cup props on it per customer request and his report was no noticable loss of speed but handling in tight places was a piece of cake compared to the std alum props we removed.<br />I didn't get to drive this vessel personally, but the owner recommended these to another houseboat owner, we installed those as well-both owners were sold on them after 1 weekends use.<br />I heard nothing of any performance issues...

 

[bigjohn892]

Re: houseboat props

Thanks for the help. I'm going to buy some props with the reverse cup. I'll post the results in the spring when I put them on.