[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.My first question is whar is the best and safest cruise RPM for these engines?Sec. question is will props with reverse cups hurt and in what way.I have very little power in reverse and a medium wind makes docking a chore.

[Dunaruna]

Hi bigjohn, welcome to iboats!!!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.I'm lurking.Aldo

[walleyehed]

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.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.I heard nothing of any performance issues...

[bigjohn892]

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.