magster65
New Member
My 240 had 20" props on it when I got it; 23-25 (+/-) mph cruise and 39-40 (+/-) wot @ 5300... it was awful and I was completely unimpressed. The 240 and 260's are happiest at 30 mph and up. Anything below... say 25 mph and they want to lean and drag the stern... you'll spend all your leisure time playing with your trim tabs. I tried 22" props and it was better so went to a set of 24". 4" more pitch and I can still achieve 5000 rpm. Now my cruise is 32-33 mph @3600 and tops out at 45-46 mph @ 5000 depending on the load of course. This combination is still on plane fairly quickly so I'd try a set of 26" if I came across them but the 24's are probably best all around.
I had another 240 with the 5.0 (like islandhopper's). That boat had 22" props and it cruised at 30 mph @ about 3800 (or close to it) and would see about 40 mph @ 4500 wot.
Beyond the prop issue there's the rpm debate; I participate in the poker runs every year. Speed is the name of the game so I run between 4000 and 4500 rpm all day. There's other people running at 5000 +... all day. I've seen all kinds of engine failures over the years but never a merc mag mpi even though they outnumber all the others. Keep the fluids fresh and look at the guages more often if you're pushing it and you'll probably never have a failure.
I had another 240 with the 5.0 (like islandhopper's). That boat had 22" props and it cruised at 30 mph @ about 3800 (or close to it) and would see about 40 mph @ 4500 wot.
Beyond the prop issue there's the rpm debate; I participate in the poker runs every year. Speed is the name of the game so I run between 4000 and 4500 rpm all day. There's other people running at 5000 +... all day. I've seen all kinds of engine failures over the years but never a merc mag mpi even though they outnumber all the others. Keep the fluids fresh and look at the guages more often if you're pushing it and you'll probably never have a failure.
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