TOO Slow , What can I do?

[the Wizard]

 I just bought a 17' Tracker pro guide w/ a 60 hp 4stoke Mercury bigfoot;    I told the dealer I had a 14' that goes 28mph and want bigger+ faster , He said this Tracker is perfect it will do between 35-37mph, I bought it no test drive .          yesterday I took it out,  about 2 hours and loaded it back on the trailer                   
    It goes 23mph [ 24 with the wind].
     Will changing the prop angle give me 13 more mph or should I tell them I don't want this set up??
  I'm trying to figure what to tell them when I call them back ,  I wont be happy with the boat I thought would last me the next 10 - 15 years.
                               
                                          Any Imput would be helpful!

                                                                                                                              Wizard

[Lund sss]

Wizard,

 The amount of varibles involved in setting up a boat with the right prop is very complex. How much does the boat weigh (fully load). What did the tach tell you at full speed, does it have a tachometer. Trim and till can change the RPM's on my boat by as much as 800 RPM. There's an optimum range the motor has to run at, to low is just as bad as to high. Scott I had that sea nymph 16' 60HP evinrude it ran 38 mph. I ran a michigan wheel 3 blade stainless 19" prop. The hull is another varible too the speed thing, some boat designs won't go any faster no matter how much horsepower you put to them. Good luck with the boat thing.

Tight lines,
Steve

[the Wizard]

 I did try the trim up and down but  up just a little made it slower.
     The mechanic that showed me how everything worked told me he figured 35+ anyhow, he said his brother has the same model only 16' and it does 32mph with a merc 50hp 2 stroke.
     The rpm's were in the upper 4000's and it did get up to top speed quick but thats not saying much.       
 Lowest idle speed was 2.6 mph.      I took my hand held gps to check the speedo in the boat and they were very close.

[Coldfeet]

Wizard
First off tell them the truth. You bought the boat under the advise of salesman that the boat would do 30+ mph. You should not have to change your story or compromise  anything just that you are totaly unhappy with the results of its perfomance. First off I would believe running a  4stroke at 4 grand will not be all that healthy for the engine in the long run anyways. Changeing the prop for top end speed will hurt the hole shot performance anyways. this is a fishing boat not a race boat that you carry the same weight time after time. With a fishing boat you compromise some speed for the ability of carrying weight. Even if the engine wasnt totaly broken in  you will not see that much of a speed diffrence after break in time. I personaly think that 60 should get you into the 30mph bracket you wanted and seeing you played with the trim some after the boat got up on plane you did what seems to be right. I would call the dealer with this problem and if he doesnt believe you load the boat and have him meet you on the water for a test run. I would not contend with this problem either.

[the Wizard]

Good answer Coldfeet and thanks,   what I did was contact Mercurymarine this morning and talked to a tech,
They ran my motors serial # and wt of boat then came up with a prop angle change of 12 or 13 degrees , it has a 15degree  the max operating rpm is 5500-6000 ,I'm not getting all the 60hp has.
     If I go with the Tracker boat chart it claims 28-31mph for a 60hp.
  I called my dealer ,they agreed to send out another prop to try and we'll go from there.
   I might have to try swapping for the 90 hp 2 stroke which is the same price to get a claimed 38-40 mph.
  I'm told that gas mileage difference is so minimal between the two it shouldn't be a concern.

[the Wizard]

  The final :  I tried a 13 pitch prop ,  got 28-30 mph at 5350 rpm , but slow out of the hole, called Mercury back they said     "I need to get that motor as close to max rpm at full throttle as possible [ 6000], so I called the marina and they agreed, now I'm trying a 11 pitch prop.   This should get me a better hole shot [ Mercurys term ] no better speed but a increase in rpm which is better for the life of the motor [est 5750 rpm ] According to the experts thats to keep the motor from loading up.

                                                                                    SEE YA ON THE WATER         WIZARD    
   

[Coldfeet]

Wizzard
I hope you get this thing all fixed soon. Also when you try this new prop out make sure you fill one livewell and try it again make sure you get added weight to the boat to make sure you get all the performance out of it you want. I am not sure when you try to adjust the trim on the motor either and maybe try waiting a bit before you adjust it as to make sure you have motor running at its top RPM  at the time of adjustment. watching where the spray comes off the hull also will tell you how much trim to put into the motor. Its sort of hard to figure out these 4 strokes these days when a 60hp 2 stroke gave you more than enough power years ago. Good luck and keep us posted on the progress and don't settle for less you will have this boat for a long time.

[the Wizard]

 Thanks Coldfeet,   
                            I tried the 3rd prop [11 pitch] , it gets out of the hole better and the speed stayed the same
just like the Mercury tech said but the rpms will go over 6000 a little so now I have to watch the tach at wide open throttle.     Conditions were chilly and a good breeze [15-25mph]  I had my girlfriends boy and his friend with me  [ close to 300lbs] and I had a drop in speed of 3 mph on the way back with both live wells full.
   Now with both live wells full it would stay just under 6000 rpms at full throttle . So I think I've found the pitch to stick with but I'm not getting the speed I was told by the dealer upon purchase.
     All in all I'm quite happy with the boat and I think I can get used to the speed because it feels fast until you go by a goose sitting in the water then you realize the speed your at.
    There is a good way to find the right tilt/trim also,   you run wide open and the steering pulls to the right      [ with motor all the way down], keep touching the trim up until the pull is almost gone and that should be correct or real close to it...                           Any other Ideas or tricks to try?

                                                                                                                                                WIZARD

[fozsey]

I have a 17' Lund, not a Tracker and a 90 and I can squeeze 47 on perfectly flat water with the trim feathered just right at whisker below 6000. My speedo says just over 50 and I was told that my boat would never see 50. 47 is by GPS. Add a few whispers of tailwind and I could envision 50. I would say that the practical range is 40 to 43 or so. I am not very familiar with Tracker hulls but does your boat have a deep "V" or is it one of the flatter bottomed ones. The reason I ask is the flatter bottomed ones have quite a bit of drag from the hull. That is why they come with a higher HP rating (I believe) than a similar boat with the deep "V" hull. What is your max HP rating? I have 30 hp on you and according to those in the know I am only supposed to be gaining 3-5 mph...That doesn't make sense to me. I thought about playing with the prop but IMO 40 to 45 is fast enough, sometimes too fast. I do know that when the trim is right I have almost no spray at WOT and the ride is very nice. You are feathering your trim the same way I do. You can feel and hear the difference in the correction.

[Rumrunner]

My 16 starcraft...1953 Evinrude Superfastwin..tiller...Blows my hair a little.  Some day...I will see 20=MPH....LOL

Good luck with your speed thing.....

[the Wizard]

 Well , I guess I'm going to have to settle for 28mph; After trying 3 props the best performance was the 11 pitch w/ 28mph at 6000rpm's.   I love the boat though , it rides great in 4' waves , my 14' sea nymph wouldn't do that .     
   I sold the old boat today but now have the motors still[ the guy just needed the boat].

                                                                                                             Tight lines all     WIZ

[Rumrunner]

Well good luck to you.  You may get used to the speed....  Probably still fishes well....

Tight Lines to ya!!!!