All,

Pulled the props on our 1998 350 Mariner. Prop shop clean and scanned and told me that I could get another year or so
out of them after a tune-up. However, due to age and that they are brass, should not expect much more life out of them.

They were concerned about the props and boat configuration. Current props are 4 blade, 20 x 23. Boat has twin 350 MAGs MPI at 300 HP. with V-Drive 1.5:1 ratio. They tell me that the "number" crunching suggests that we should use 4 blade, 20 x 21. They called and did confirm with Carver that the boat came with the props that I took off. The prop shop asked what my WOT RPM is and, while I did open it up a couple of times it was not for a long duration. I believe that the tachs were over 4000 but by how much I do not recall.

We rarely cruise more than at plane ... around 3000 - 3200k. What can be a problem and is a concern is at low RPM while docking. We need to fight a current and wind changes. With the current props the boat responds sluggishly at best without adjusting the throttles (which I prefer not to do while docking). The way I understand prop and prop design, the 20 x 21 should provide more thrust at lower RPM's providing better response while docking.

Any thoughts on this? Should I pull the trigger on the suggested new props (brass and other alloy combination at $3100 for both) or go in a different direction. We love this boat and plan to keep a long time. Thanks!

TonyC