Thanks for the replies, I wasn't expecting so many so soon. The boat is 6.3 meters (21 foot) plus motor, which mounts onto the built in pod at the very back of the boarding platform. It is very wide, has fairly high sides and would weigh a bit. The pod has a lot of negative trim built in, it is set at -19 from memory. In addition, the E-TEC has more negative trim than any other motor, I don't expect bow rise to be a problem, even with a number of skiers. I would like one prop which is a good compromise prop, I don't mind having a couple of spare props for specific applications (eg boat show prop good idea Jim) but we can never tell what we'll be doing on any one day so I'll always have the wrong one on. For example, I don't mind having a 17 or even a 15 for big multiples, but it would only get used once a year. I'm going to try a 22" Bravo one and see what that does. I can get it repitched to 20" if necessary but no further. Can also get one or two sets of PVS holes drilled if needed (4 to 8 holes). Hopefully the wake will be good with this prop and hopefully it will hold speed well at low speeds. I would expect a big block 250hp engine to pull well with a 21" or so prop on it, has anybody got any examples of what their 225 or 225HO will do with a 21 on it? How many skiers and what types of skies are they on. It looks like I might need to be prepared to run a 19 or 20" prop as my day to day prop to get a good compromise of low speed holding and top end. I don't mind visiting the rev limiter on the way past an inboard, but I've gotta get past them. I'll probably only do it once a year but they need to be shown their place. Thanks for the replies so far Greg
225HO on my 20' Open Bow will get to about 56 mph at max trim before porpoising. Your boat appears to have more lifting strakes so I still think a 19 will be your best bet and still should allow you to stomp on the inboards. For me the 19 is nice because I can get to barefoot speeds without being at top rpms. It still holds 11 mph on up no problem. For our ski team use I would never consider anything over a 17.
I have a 200 HO E-Tec with a 19 pitch Rebel (currently) on my 18' dyne. I could not pull 5 guys (190lb average weight) out of the water on a combination of slalom and double skis. With everybody on doubles, they pulled out slowly but surely. Was able to get them up to 42 or 43 before they stepped off. Too bad there were only a couple that were able to make it on that run so I can't say how fast it would go with 5 barefooting. I don't think the Rebel I have is the best for my application. I am trying to decide if I want to experiment with it (have a prop shop alter it or add vent holes) or just ebay it and start over. I can't get over about 5600 RPM with that prop on. With a 17 pitch SST and a 17 pitch viper, I had no problem hitting the rev limitter at 6200, making the top end of either prop close to the same (maybe a touch faster with the rebel, but nothing significant). And I believe the 17's would be able to hold multiple footers at a higher speed due to being closer to the peak torque. My guess is the Rebel has too large of blades for what I am using it for. It is also a very heavy prop, as is evident when putting it in gear. There is a much louder clunk when the gears engage than with the other props I have tried. I am still considering going to a local prop shop that said they would customize/exchange a prop until I was happy with it. That will more than likely be on my list of to-do's in the spring. (along with installing the stereo and some other finishing touches).
56.1mph is exactly the pace of a friend's inboard with a 330hp black scorpion in it. I wouldn't believe it went that fast until I saw it for myself on the GPS. I guess it would be OK as long as I have at least 56.1 even if banging hard on the limiter. Must SKi, what type, pitch, diameter etc do you run. Here is a picture of the back of the boat showing the engine mounting setup
Greg, My transom is 14 degrees and I use a 5 degree wedge for a total of 19 degrees. I consider that to be ideal. I suspect my motor has similar tuck to yours. It is too much tuck for my boat above about 20 or 25 mph. Your boat is well designed if it has a 17-19 degree transom in my opinion. You will need some trim at barefoot speeds for sure. Props are a lot of fun and no two of them seem to be alike. I love to experiment with them. jim
Thanks Jim The guys that make these boats are amazing. Not only very knowledgeable and take a lot of pride in their work, but also very pleasant/patient to deal with. A rare combination in boating here. From memory, John was saying the standard recommended transom is -13 but he runs -19. This allows an under floor fuel tank at the rear of the boat and it still runs level at low speed. The space inside is like a cave. The locker in the back is huge. The locker in the front is pretty big and you still have the bow rider section. Mine is the only one of these in outboard to have a tracking fin, apparently they can make the boat cavitate a little in turns. My old boats had fins and did cavitate a little but it was never a problem, just noticable now that I've been told what made it. The boat has lots of special features inside including passenger footwell, zip on clears between windscreen and bimini and more. I'll get some pictures and post when I finally finish it. Should be about a week. I do expect to have to trim out at skiing speeds and especially at barefoot speeds. Can't expect to run at -25 total trim... The only hassle with this will be perfect pass. My old one was set for full in trim as this would provide consistency for an RPM based pull. A little out trim would have been better but hard to say it is in exactly the same place each time. Maybe the Icommand trim gauge will tell me a number that we can set it to each time. Greg
A lot of the newer bass boats are running 17-19 transoms to help them get on plane with a rear tank and a lot of gear and live wells. It is a win-win because you can always trim it out. The high performance guys run mechanical trim gages which are very accurate. I will get you a source if you are interested. I have a torque shift prop here that is sort of a constant speed prop. It is no longer in production and can be fragile. Mine is about 17 years old and I have never damaged it, but I am very careful with it. It starts out at 11 inch pitch and will add pitch as needed to maintain a max rpm. The max pitch is 26. Mine is set to not exceed 5500 rpm which is where my motor makes max hp. It gets to 5500 very quickly at 11 pitch. It is fun to have big pulling capability and then go out and run high speed without ever getting near the limiter. The high performance guys tried to surface it and gave the prop a bad name. It has rpm limitations. Land and Sea discontinued it. The prop is tune-able with different pitch control cams and springs. It is a hoot to play with, but I would not recommend it for an every day prop. http://www.land-and-sea.com/marine/torq ... -shift.htm http://www.torqueshift.aeromarine.com/ jim
My regular every day prop is a 19 Rebel. I can do about 56 with that. My other prop is a 4 blade 17 cylcone, we ran the boat through some tests with it and it will pull a footer at 49 with 5 people in the boat with this prop. I hope to have more time to test more props next year as I have a bunch of different props. Your boat I would think would have more lift than a dyne and be more efficient which should allow for higher revs and more top speed with trim. I assume your friend has a Sanger DXII?
