Home › Forums › Bass Cat Boats › Question about motor height-Sabre FTD
Flyswatter.
I just read on another thread that when the rear of the boat kicks to the side the engine could be too low. My setup- 2010 Sabre FTD, Merc 150ProXS, 23 pitch Tempest Plus. My boat does this all of the time. WP is really good (15+) until I trim a little too much, then it will drop to 12. A little hard to steer. Inner plate is 3/8″ above the outer.I was going to try lowering because I had heard Cats like the engine low, but from what I am reading I might need to come up some. Really light I have had it a hair above 64 mph but most of the time I am 60-62 with a load. Should I try it a little higher? How much? Thanks in advance……..Dennis S.
Not really as Sabre hulls ate different. That may be low, and it may need another propeller to get more bite. Also the Opti is critical on engine height for some applications.
Any ideas on a different prop? What about the rear end kicking to the side.
Being a Sabre owner – Im curious as to what BCB says about props….. I believe you may need to come up some as well. The Sabre hull doesnt like a lot of trim. The higher you go on the plate the less positive trim youll need and the better manners the hull has. As long as you havent filled the front compartments – it will fly the bow well by itself. Carry too much weight up front and youll have to overtrim to get the bow to fly. I was running the plates “flush” and had to watch the water pressure and had a lot of prop torque – thought I was too high. Turned out I was too deep and overtrimming. Also did a wicked “duck-walk”.I ran into Ivan at a boat show and told him Id lost a few mphs. He said my “stuff” was creeping on me, told me to minimize all weight in front of the consoles. I carry most of my tackle behind the passenger seat and only put light stuff in the front boxes. Life jackets, dipnet, rainsuit – you get the hint. I carry my soft plastics in a magnum shimano bag that rides in the floor between the seats. In “cool” weather – Ive seen 67gps by myself with a 150efi and 24 Tempest Plus. I do use a 23 Tempest in the summer months for tourneys to keep from lugging the motor.
Guys I have the Sabre FTD with a Pro XS 175 running a 25 Tempest Plus and have the same skip problems on occassion. In fact this past Saturday had an event on Guntersville and due to the size of me and partner with our gear, had to do some creative trimming to stop the skips and get her up on her tail to “fly”. We are both big guys, with a load of gas, stuff in all compartments, and did hit 61. The very best I have ever done with a light load and my big butt solo was only 63 or so. I have the jack plate up about a 1/4″. I probably carry too much gear, but the rear compartments are not big enough and I really dont want a pile of mess in the floor. So any suggestions short of going on a diet is acceptable.
Interesting comment on the “skipping” I have noticed the boat lifting (getting on the pad) when increasing speed, but it is rock solid when running high 50s to 70. The last time I ran above 70, I noticed how easy it was to drive at 69.88 (with little weight forward of consoles) with the last bit of speed the driving is a little more “challenging”. My thoughts are, 1. Too high on the plate-w/too much weight in the boat or upfront 2. Too much trim-(surfacing of the blades). 3. Any combination of the above. I have noticed that with a heavier load, 2 bubbas, tourney load of tackle, full fuel, full wells, close to an extra 600lbs. Shell still run 66-67, but the plate needs to be lowered from 1/4″ too flush with my 25 Fury. Bama, try a 24 Fury like John M. was turning on his FTD. John S.
John,I still have a small window for my SabreFTD order per my prop. What kind of RPMSs? My goal is to reach 6000 rpms with my setup and Im up in the air for the right size prop. Great read and feeling my Sabre groove again. This is going to be fun. Im getting close on my boat build and really looking forward to returning to Sabre Central.Thanks,Flyswatter
Tom, I have an analog tach, so its tough to see exacts when your driving all out on a short lake, but best Ive seen with a really light load and cold temps 5,900 with a 25 Fury-w/me 255 (working on that Ha!)and dual console. The 70 a quarter run the other day-upper 50s medium load, 5,800. Tourney load looked close to 5,600. Im not sure how the hpdi rpm wise will do, torquey, may pull same prop/maybe not the upper rpm? although you can probably get more engine height out of the hammer-gotta get the slippage right. Are you getting dual console? If so after reading John M. FTD setup a 24 Fury might be the ticket. I think you can add 1 inch of pitch to a Fury, but cant depitch one. Tourney should be fun and T Point is nice! John S.
Got my pee pee slapped for giving what I thought to be true on Cat boats over on BBC and Ive not done it again since. I take that back, I put one post up about a trailer because I had pics to back it up. Tom It would surprise me if you are getting a DC, that is going to make a difference. The HPDI is a little different than the 175 ProXS IMO. Beyond that I would order what ever someone like Ivan or Scott told me to get. BamaCat We may have met at an OI? I constantly ran 68 with my DC Sabre FTD/175 ProXS combo and on occasion in the high 69 area though never officially hit 70. I never made a run without 10 gallons of gas and all my gear including both butt seats either. I weigh 280ish, have got down as low as 270ish and as high as 290. How big a boy are ya? LOL Sherm has been with me with gear for two and seen 68 in that boat more than once. Driving a Cougar at 68 is a walk in the park compared to driving a Sabre at 68. I will go out on a limb and say that much.
What Im looking for is a dynamite hole shot. Ill have my moments to open her up. I know I can raise the HPDI slightly above 2″ with good WPSI per some discussions with a person that has a Pantera Classic/175HPDI. So far he has hit 69.3 mph in mid 50 temps with a 25M. Cant comment on current aiding some of this but thats okay too. My thinking is a 25p for winter fishing and a 24 Fury for summer time running with goals reaching 6000 RPMS. My setup will be single console….. John, your 20er is dyanmite and really like the pics of your on the water turns… They look great!
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