Home › Forums › Bass Cat Boats › Optimax Pro X/S: solid mounts, low-water pickup?
oldtimer57.
Hello all, On an older BWB article, 600 HP shoot out. there was mention of solid mounts and a Low water pickup Mod for driving at high speeds. Can anybody explain what they are? Not that I drive that fast all the time but this information is nice to know. I do find myself at the top end if I have to get to a long distant fishing spot. thanks all, 1MC
All the ProXs motors except for my little 175 Pro XS have low water pickups allowing higher mounts on jackplates. The solid motor mounts are in leu of rubber or a “semi soild”, most bass boats dont run speeds to need solid mounts. The solid mounts take ANY play out of the mounting area (think shocks on your car here). Im sure BCB will be along with an indepth answer but this should get you started
The Pro XS 200 is not a semi solid mount from our understanding. The mounts on a High Performance Mercury are either Semi Solid or Solid, which solid mounts vibrate excessively and rattle the parts loose in a boat with no absorption of vibration dampening. The semi solid are a compromise and they are prone to more failure than are rubber or obviously solids, Semi Solid mounts are used on some HP engines and the 225 and 250 Pro XS. The 200, 175 and 115 Pro XS engines are not Semi Solid and are rubber for user satisfaction and not really needed. The Semi Solid mounts do and will fail sooner than rubber mounts and there is talk of returning hte Pro XS to rubber, though some fell would be lost. An original 225 Opti has rubber and they have no noticeable loss of feel in the steering, so we see no issue there other than extended longevity with an improved soft mount. Your vehicle or older car engine mounts would qualify for rubber mounts or soft mounts. Though in an outboard the stem bolts for the engine runs through a shrouded casing which are the mount. BCB
1morcast so you know when guys mention Low Water Pickup traditionally this was done either by a Shop (Bobs or Titus) and was a way to be able to get safe water pressure when elevating your motor to heights the factory lower units pick ups were not designed for, ramming the water under the bullet of the unit, most times the bullet lets say on a Torquemaster unit were elongated and smoothed to prevent whats known as a blowout, the pickups were traditionally placed under the bullet or nose, that way guys with Hydrostreams, Allisons, Strokers etc would be able to jack the motor to heights that help break the 85mph mark…..Companies like Yamaha and Evinrude have copied or stolen (Yamaha) the designs of guys like Titus and others, Mercury had the CLE and now the Sportmaster, I believe like on a 225 pro xs the Sportmaster and Mounts are a factory option….. Yamaha and Evinrude on the HPDIs and H.O. Etecs have them as standard equipment,however in either case its not a “True” low water pick up, where the Merc Sportmaster is,,,,,most performance guys will tell you this stuff does not really mater until the 85mph mark, but whats weird is in Yamahas and Evinrudes case Ive heard that sometimes with certain hulls they can perform better than the Blunt Style lower unit……1morcast if any of this is wrong I apologize,but thats how I was explained and shown the differences…..BrannonYour Signature …
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oV782XKw … re=related these are the guys that Run Strokers (yellow n Blue 300x 109mph) and Allys and youll also see a Newer Hydrostream Venom as the 1st boat that takes off so hard its shoved to the left at launch, pretty killer stuff, this is what all of my buddys are into and want me to join, fortunately my Man Boobs are not big enough to go past 70mph yet, maybe as I learn the control of a V Pad Hull boat, maybe…….Hope this puts the info into perspective, when watching this check out how high their motors are on the transom, thats why they need the LWP and Solid mounts, you dont want a 300+hp motor dancin around at 109mph, I know I dont…..Brannon p.s. the H.O. E-TEC was so fast in that video the camera man couldnt catch it!!!!! Ha,Ha,Ha,Ha, That was a Joke Guys…..Your Signature …
Brannon, great information. It all does play together on performance relating to Higher motors while maintaing good WPSI. Is that correct? Thanks, Flyswatter
The main reason for high motor heights on performance hulls (Allison, Stroker, Bullet, etc.) is the reduced drag. As Brannon said, the primary reason for low water pickups is to provide safe water pressure at extreme mounting heights. The Sportmaster was designed with this particular application in mind. Many Merc racing and some Pro XS motors use the Sportmaster because of the low water pickups and its ability to withstand the stress caused by extreme mounting heights, high rpms and 85+ mph speeds.
Stress is not the main factor, it is the need to have a tighter water tension hold to prevent the geacase from developing an air etty from boiling (term) the water and releasing the propeller at over 84.2 mph (avg), and a standard old smaller style Merc gearcase would only run to 76.4 mph which is where the need for the SportMaster gearcases originated. In the 1970s as horsepower increased those who were gearheads, built our own high performance nose cones. Putty, aluminum, anything that would file and work. Experimenting helped us get past the 70s and into the 80s, and some into the 90s or higher back then. Eventually the cases got better and castings were made for use as aluminum weld or glue on parts, that you would feather in. Those first nose cones in the early 80s were straight like a jacketed spire point. They would turn really well, run well and they had a higher drag coefficient. They would not let the rear come up, and you could lift the nose a ton as it anchored the tail securely. But they were not as fast as cases with a narrower cone, that eventually extended into the case for feathering and allowed the boat to lift more. Tipping the cone angle upwards helped some, and sanding and fitting led to another casting in the early to mid 80s. The whole thing came from concepts of those original needle point gearcasses from racing developments of many racers, including Bayer gear cases, by Clyde Bayer of Bayer Marine (OK). Now you have the most recent variant of those cases in the Sportmaster from the CLE that was brought out of those racing designs. BCB
We had a long discussion on lower unit blowout at the OI with Sherm and the Rude Tech that turned into a couple of hour war story fiasco out at Teal Point. The resulting bow hook when the rear end breaks loose is what really gets ya from what Ive seen. Im normally wringing wet from sweat past 80 MPH, I just dont spend enough time at those speeds to be comfortable there.
Nose cone has two effects. 1. gives you low water pickups. Many motors today have em. With the low pickups, you can raise the motor higher and get more of the gearcase out of the water to reduce drag. But this increases the chances for a blow-out, which is an exciting event. The boat will be running at high speed, the prop blows out and acts like a wheel on the top of the water and you turn left _right now_. Usually the boat turns left. you dont. And end up in the water, hopefully without getting run over. Very dangerous. so… 2. Lengthens the case which increases drag a bit, but it reduces the tendency to blow out at high speeds. Speeds beyond 85 are where you will begin to see a little advantage to the noseconed lower unit. Below that speed, the add-on nose cones just increase drag and can actually reduce top speed slightly.2008 Pantera Classic2014 Mercury Pro XS 200
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