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Proper rpm for crusing

C

cmel70

New member
I just purchased a 65foot sternwheeler with a Detroit 4-53marine engine. This is a hydraulic drive unit. I was wondering what rpm I should cruse at. Bringing her home was a three day trip and I ran her a 1500rpm's, the paddle wheel was turning a 21rpm's at the engine speed. Everything seemed find but I was afraid that might be to slow of a rpm for that engine. Thanks for the info.
 
While the Detroits are oh-so-happy running up against the governor, it does them no harm running them at lower rpm.

Just don't get too low as the the torque curve will get much less efficient as you fall away from governed speed. As a result you won't be getting the best "bang for you buck" out of your fuel. Although, honestly, I have no idea how that would apply to a paddle wheel set up.

A general rule of thumb would be not to make it do a preponderance of it's work at anything below 1200 rpm.
 
Thanks for the info jgmo. Looking through the records the engine looks like it has around 4000 hours on it and it looks like most of the cruising rpm's were around 1500rpm's.
 
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