Prop upgrade from 15.5 x 18p to 16x16p?

[kaczman]

Question for you guys out there. I have a Bayliner 24" hardtop 242 with a repowered 5.7L Merc 260, Alpha One Gen 2 outdrive. Currently using a 15.5 x 18p 3 blade prop. Boat Feels great, max speed is 38mph @ 4300 RPM. The recommended prop when talking to some people appears to be 16x16 on a 3 blade from what I'm reading. I ordered one because it was only $150 new, seem like a decent prop upgrade or stick with what I got?

 

[RichardS]

I suspect that the smaller prop will allow your engine to rev more freely ..... but if your engine is already reaching its design max revs then you will end up going slower rather than faster with the 16 incher.

Of course, if you cannot reach max revs, then it might well be a beneficial change.

Richard