Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

Hello,

This is my first time posting on this forum. I just got a new 2014 Crest Tritoon with Upper deck. It has the CP3 package with lifting strakes, etc. It is equipped with a 2014 Mercury Verado 200 (4 cylinder). The prop is a 3 blade stainless Enertia with 14pitch. I find that I need to keep the trim about 80-90% of the way down or else it will start slipping. WOT is achieving only about 33 MPH right now and only 3900-4000 RPM. This motor is rated for a much higher RPM (I believe 6400 should be WOT).

What do you recommend? It's a brand new motor and a brand new boat. Using the rule of thumb of 200 RPM for each pitch reduction, I would have to go down to a 2 pitch prop.. which makes no sense. What do you guys think?

Thanks for your help!

By the way, the WOT throttle numbers I have quoted are with the cover off. With the cover on it loses about 2MPH.

Well, your tach is off for sure, a 14p prop will only run 25mph @ 4000rpm with ZERO slip. 33mph is actually spot on for an expected 10-12% slip @ 6000rpm with that engines gear ratio. Speed does seem a bit slow but Hard Tops add a ton of weight, though I would expect upper 30's to 40mph with a light load.

With the full enclosure on, it's got the aerodynamics of a houseboat. And like was said previously, the hardtop also adds weight.

Your boat is just a different animal, but obviously it's not performing up to snuff if you're getting ventilation and low rpms.

Your dealer needs to send you to the lake with a mechanic, numerous props and the ability to raise and lower your motor to maximize performance.

Sounds like you have a tach problem not a prop problem.
Your speed is great.
I know lots of tachs have a selector switch on the back and yours may be incorrectly set.

That makes a lot of sense - thank you very much. I was using the prop slip calculator and it giving me negative infinity when I plugged in my values. The 32-34mph figure comes from GPS, so that one I believe to be accurate. I'll investigate the tach issues. Thanks guys!

The pot switch on my Crest tach was off position when I got mine new in 2014 as well. Easy to change with a small screwdriver and good eyes.