What pitch prop are you running on your Cruiser?

[mnm99]

Just wondering what you guys are running. I have a Monterey 262 Cruiser, 5.7 260hp, Bravo 3. The prop from the factory came with a 26P. I bought this boat last fall and is in the water now. I feel it is over proped. I ended up going to a dual 4 blade 24P props and am dropping them down to 22's next week. My rpm's with the 24's are at 4000. The 22's should bring me to 4400. What props are you guys running on your 26ft boat?

 

[steelespike]

Your not likely to find the exact same setup especially a Bravo 3.
We need the numbers from a lightly loaded wot run.We'll need your gear ratio,prop size and wot rpm and gps speed.
It appears the 5.7 is rated at 4400-4800 rpm.

 

[mnm99]

Your not likely to find the exact same setup especially a Bravo 3.
We need the numbers from a lightly loaded wot run.We'll need your gear ratio,prop size and wot rpm and gps speed.
It appears the 5.7 is rated at 4400-4800 rpm.

Yea, I don't want to loose too much cruise MPH. If I go to a 20p It may too much RPM. If I can get my rpm to around 4400-4600 I will be happy. I have a 2.2 ratio drive. All were tested at GPS speed.

 

[alldodge]

As SS mentioned you need some real numbers. You have a heavy boat, and while the 4 blade B3 set can give you more lift it takes more to turn it. If your in a situation where your allowed to test out props, may try and go back to the 3 blade and a different pitch.

My boat is about 12K loaded. Originally came with 330 HP and a 2.0 ratio drive turning a 22 pitch prop set. Would hardly get out of its own way. Tried 20 pitch, 24 pitch, 22 pitch cupped, also tried 24 in front and 22 in rear. There was differences with all changes but the only one which gave me best cruise was the 24, but had a hard time getting up.

Replaced engine with a 415HP and went back to the 24 and worked pretty good. Still wasn't great when I was heavy loaded.

 

[mnm99]

Well I went from a dual 26p 3blade RPM at WOT was around 4300, dog out of the hole and cruise needed to be kept at around 3000rpm to stay on plane. 24P dual 4 blade cupped WOT at around 4000rpm. Shoots out of the hole, I can cruise as low as 2600rpm and still stay on plane. I think the 22's are going to be the ones. I'll be able to get up to 4400WOT. Motor range is 4400-4800. I know 4600 may be best, but 4400 won't lag the engine. 22's will make me shoot out of the hole even better. I should be able to cruise at around 3400-3500 , 30mph. Before I could cruise at 3200 at 30mph.

 

[mnm99]

As SS mentioned you need some real numbers. You have a heavy boat, and while the 4 blade B3 set can give you more lift it takes more to turn it. If your in a situation where your allowed to test out props, may try and go back to the 3 blade and a different pitch.

My boat is about 12K loaded. Originally came with 330 HP and a 2.0 ratio drive turning a 22 pitch prop set. Would hardly get out of its own way. Tried 20 pitch, 24 pitch, 22 pitch cupped, also tried 24 in front and 22 in rear. There was differences with all changes but the only one which gave me best cruise was the 24, but had a hard time getting up.

Replaced engine with a 415HP and went back to the 24 and worked pretty good. Still wasn't great when I was heavy loaded.

Why did you go up. Going from 22 to 24 will make it worse out of the hole. What's your WOT rpm? What's your motors range?

 

[alldodge]

Why did you go up. Going from 22 to 24 will make it worse out of the hole. What's your WOT rpm? What's your motors range?

My 454 (7.4) had more torque but would over rev using the 22 pitch (44 to 4800 rpm). The issue is to keep it on plane I would need to get the rpm high enough to get the nose more up, but that also caused the prop to start to ventilate. The 24 pitch would allow the engine to drop down with less rpm but it struggled more to stay up. It was a very bad season, I finally gave up and that's when I pulled the 7.4 and installed the 8.2. The 8.2 (502) is now 5200 rpm max