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I know there is a wealth of knowledge here on setups and the proper way to make incremental adjustments & I am looking for some advice. My previous experience is related to Pantera Classics with 200s. This is my first “big boat” and clearly a different type of beast. With a full tournament load and 3/4 main tank + 1/4 each kicker tank and no water in livewells, 26T prop @ appx. 3.25″ from pad: Hole shot is reasonable..this can be improved with a little more time and experimenting with ventilation – will worry about this later. I do not feel I am getting bow lift that would be expected at mid-range and trimmed out, seems very flat. Not getting to point where experiencing any chine walk. Significant steering torque at max RPM. Seeing 5680 RPMs and appx 67 MPH (GPS) WOT at trim stop. Water surface temp around 60F. I am not sure I understand all the relationships between prop pitch, engine height, and steering torque. What would be the first step ? Incremental lowering of engine height until most steering torque is eliminated at WOT. Is it possible this could also improve top end ? Seperately, its difficult to load the trailer with the current prop and set up. Put the trailer in deeper and bunk boards are too deep and do not allow bow of boat to clear front roller. Trailer depth adequete for clearing roller and I cannot get her all the way up on roller without significant engine power and someone winching at the same time. I also saw where the previous owner had the same issue. BTW, previous owner reported 73MPH @ 5800 with 26T and 75.4 @ 5500 with 27T. It sounds like the FURY might solve the trailer load issue from what I have hear here. Should I start with 25p or 26p if I go this direction? Sorry for the long post and thanks for your inputs. David.
Awesome boat there Dave, I would simply call 870-481-5135 and talk to Ivan about exact set up…….Most guys want to know where to put their gear etc in those boats to get the perfect set up,…..he will tell you how putting your heavy stuff towards the back will help, and certain tech stuff thats too long to post…..Everyone here is a Fury or Trophy freak, and they are the best….I being thrifty would take your prop, setup up the boat correctly, and then send your prop to Mark Croxston of Marks Props in Indiana, hes a true pro…..That way you dont have the expense of the Fury etc, and have a perfect prop for your boat, every boat is a little different, along with props…..theirs a wealth of knowledge here but your own taste will differ……Good luck buddy and congratulations on a gourgeous boat, can you post a better pic for us color psychos???? BrannonYour Signature …
Brannon, Thanks for your input. Not sure how to do all that fancy linking and embedding of pics. You can click on my name and view my images. I have my 06 classic in there and the new to me 06 Puma. I am kinda partial to the colors on my 06 Classic. Loud for some, but I miss them and I like the solid gel (I am probably in a minority there). Speaking of which, and one you can appreciate, one of the best color combos I have seen with a Rude was a white hull, cap, boot and fender, with red pins, red trailer. Very Sharp !
No need to call Ivan. Someone here will be able to lead you in the right direction. Youre currently at 15% slip is way too much. Either you have a bad prop, too much prop for your application, youre carrying way too much weight, or your throttle is not going fully open. Obviously you took the previous owners word what it would do on the top end. There could be a tremendous amount of difference in the way you have it loaded and the way that individual had it loaded. If interested in top end speed then move most of your fuel to the rear. I would always use the two rear tanks as primary and the fuel tank under the seat as reserve. 10 gallons under the seat will give you 30 miles in almost any driving condition. 30 gallons will give you greater than 100 miles. No need to pack fuel unless fuel is a hard find or youre running greater than 100 miles in a day! This will shift more than 100 lbs to the rear. If wanting a new prop, then a 25 Fury should be the one. It will give you best performance in all areas. A Trophy will give you the best top end speed, but will lack in other areas. Before buying a new prop, ask your local Mercury dealer if they will check your engine on a computer to verify throttle position. This takes about 30 seconds. Even 5% deficiency can be a lot. Once you get your weight, prop, throttle issue worked out, then you can mess with engine height. Your engine height is not an issue unless youre carrying just a tremendous amount of weight. Lowering the engine is only going to reduce rpms and at 5650 your about 200 rpms short where you need to be. In two months, its going to be about 5400 – 5500 rpms. Youll struggle to make 65 mph.
It could also be a little tall on engine height for your particular rig.
Thanks for everyones input. Phil, your point about throttle position is a good one. The previous owner had a hot foot mounted too close for me. When I bought it, I had the dealership install a slide and move it toward bow for a more comfortable position for me. Not sure, but maybe this could have affected the throttle setting ?? I will have them re-check as you suggested. Ill go ahead and get the 25p Fury, keep the 26T as back up, shift some fuel as suggested, and play from there. Again, thanks to all for the replies.
David, you have a lot of fuel in the main tank and that is why you are not getting the lift you expect out of that boat. Like Phil stated, unless you need all that fuel I would only keep about 10 gallons in it and use the back tanks. Also, Bass Cat run just a little flatter than other boats. The prop that is on that boat has not been worked in well over a year. I would start with that unless you are wanting a different prop. I was not worried about speed that much when I owned the boat and is why I did not have it worked the last year I owned it. With the slip you are getting that would be a very good starting point. I would not mess with the jack plate until I had that done. I had the jack plate set at flush when it left here. The steering torque you are experiencing I am not sure of. I could run that boat wide open throttle, fully trimmed out and take both hands off the wheel. My guess would be all the fuel in the main tank. The loading of the boat is something that has been discussed here numerous times. Trophy props on that boat and motor set up for whatever reason do not have the low end grunt to shove the boat up on the trailer. Their is a happy medium on where to put the trailer when loading the boat that will make this much easier. I had some trouble when I first purchased it also but once I found that happy medium it was no trouble at all. I fished by myself about 90 % of the time and never had anybody on the front winching while I loaded the boat. Just takes a little practice and trial and error. Good Luck and hope you are catching some fish out of that boat !!!
Hello Joey, I will definitely play around with fuel distribution. I did not realize most use the main tank as back up versus the kickers instead of vice versa and the impact this has. I am thinking about going ahead with a Fury based on the results folks are getting. This will give me the punch on the lower end and it does not appear to sacrifice mid-range and WOT too. The plate is set 1″ above flush (higher). Maybe they adjusted it when I was getting it serviced. I have not played with it any. Hope business is going real well. I have not been out on Gville yet, mostly Wheeler. I cannot wait to use those jigs on Gville. Very nice product. Boat has not lost any of its fish smell !
Sounds like somebody messed with the jack plate David. I would bring it back down to flush if I were you. Bass Cats do not like the motors jacked up high. Took me a while to figure this out when I bought the boat. Not saying any thing negative about the people up there that did the service work. But they use to sell boats that like those motors jacked up high and my guess would be that they did this. Knowing them like I do, that would be my guess. Run some of that fuel out of the belly tank. You will see some improvement once you have done that. Also, not sure how you have all your tackle stored in that boat or how much you carry. I carried a ton !!!! LOL Make sure all your heavy stuff is loaded in the back 2 storage compartments. Plastics and stuff like that is what I am talking about. This will also help in getting the nose of that boat up just a little. From what I have been reading the fury might just be the way to go on that boat. I have never run one personially but from what I have been reading and hearing. It might the perfect prop and would help with loading the boat. Any time I can help David feel free to give me a shout. As always it would be my pleasure. Glad to hear you are catching some fish out of her !!!
We actually like the engines a little below flush to start with. It sounds like someone jacked it up trying to get more, and thus you got less.
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