loving the new prop

[boatman37]

1986 Sundancer 250 w/ Merc 260. Had a 14.75x17 3 blade prop when we bought it. Could only get 34.5MPH with a max of about 3800RPM. Bought a Solas Amita 3 E-Plus 15.8x15. Today with 2 adults and a 4 year old, full fuel (75 gallons) and about 15 gallons in the fresh water tank. No tabs and drive almost all the way down I hit 37.5MPH at 4600RPM. Hitting the upper end of my max RPM but pretty close now. Engine/driveline feels much smoother now too. Noticed a little bend in a fin on my old prop the other day so that probably explains the much smoother feel now?

 

[NorCal Boater]

Nice....It's amazing how much a new prop, and the correct one, will help.

 

[Thornton69]

With our old drive we ran a 16x16 with the 5.7 and 1.5:1 gears. It was an earlier model drive than yours but believe the same ratio. It would open up to 4450.
As long as you are not planning on running at wot (other than testing) and have a reasonable min cruise rpm (32-3400), I would be happy with the 4600 as well.
These are heavy boats and the earlier drives do not handle a lot of torque very well. We blew out a couple sets of gears pushing it out of the hole too quick with that prop.

 

[boatman37]

Nice....It's amazing how much a new prop, and the correct one, will help.

Old one didn't seem to be that bad but wished I had bought a new one a couple years ago