Anyone using a 12-12 Hopkins tulip prop on their 7000? I have a 7000 with 20 hours on it and the prop is the original and in excellent condition.....and love its performance on my boat with or without a load in the mud, and without a load while runnin deep water river channels. However, runnin with a load in deep water river channels, the performance drops right off. Most of my running is in the dark, up and down deep water river channels, so I'm looking at changing my prop to something bigger to get better performance in these conditions.

Any thoughts?

Why don't you get one of those fancy new hammer props

Hammer Prop - Bolt on and roll.

(just don't pay any attention to all the people that have had to change gears and sent the props back)

Im running the same prop on my gator tail and had the same problem in deep water with a load, but i brought it to baggy in houma and had an inch and a half pitch taken out, and it did the trick. its like a whole new prop it jumps up quick now also. i would not get rid of that prop, its the best prop ive ever run in the mud, I also picked up one mph, thought i would loose, but it worked out great.

FYI, tried out a Hopkins 12-12 today and it was 4-5 mph slower than the MudBuddy Big Blade prop that came with the motor.

The fastest I could go with the Hopkins was 22mph at 3300 rpm at WOT. If I trimmed it up, and got 4400 rpm at WOT, it slowed right down to about 19mph. In contrast, the big blade was 27mph at 3900 rpm at WOT. If I got trimmed it up, and got to 4400 rpm at WOT, it also slowed right down to about 24 mph.

That don't seem right

Rpm's are way low for that motor unless you live at a high altitude.

You have to have it pitched to your setup!Just throwing props on it off the shelve will not work!Damn guys,Really?

Found out today that it's geared at 40/48. Gonna put a 32" outdrive on it, re-gear it, and throw a hammer prop on it.

It's your junky ass beavertail hull with pods, not the prop and gears dude!

Damn,Owen damn sure don't think much of your boat dude!

I agree that it's the the ideal hull for a mud motor. However, I am VERY happy with my set-up's performance in every aspect except in deep water with a load. With that being said, I'm not even that far from being very happy with its performance in deep water with a load. If I can change the outdrive, re-gear and put a different prop on it to give me the little difference that I'm looking for then so be it.

Just saying you could sell your hull, and use the the $1k you are about to spend on props, lower units, and gears, to purchase a boat that will without a doubt perform in all aspects that you need it to.