My never ending Prop Confusion

[mzodarg]

So I stop by my local Tracker dealer at lunch today and the Mechanic told me that tracker is now shipping the 90 CT with a 16x13P. Mine came with a 15x17.

He was in the process of installing a 15.6 x 13P enertia (what was recommended by Mercury/tracker) and gave me the take-off to test on my boat.

Now nothing has changed in the design from last year and the 16's were initially being shipped with the 15x17.

Sure makes a guy do this

[Bryden24shp]

Hell, I'ld try to spin the 16" if it will fit on your gearcase. Pontoons love big diameter props! The bigger the diameter the less slip co-efficient! That's why the ECO's are gaining so much popularity in the pontoon world. If he's giving it to you to try it, why not? Just don't ding it, or you bought it...

[mzodarg]

Bryden24shp,
I certainly plan on spinnnig it and reporting back to the dealer what my findings are. I also asked about the tachometer being set on 6cyl 3p. All the mechanic could say was imagine that, leave it to Tracker.

Mike

[teecro]

Bryden24shp,
I certainly plan on spinnnig it and reporting back to the dealer what my findings are. I also asked about the tachometer being set on 6cyl 3p. All the mechanic could say was imagine that, leave it to Tracker.

Mike

I'm going to have to poke my head under the dash when I get home to see what my tach is set on, I do know that it was fairly close to the readings I got from the Mercury plug in gauge but I can't say how close. I'll make effort to compare them again when I get home as I plan on trying to find the time to re-run my extra props 3-B 14x11 & 14x13 as well as 4-B 13.8x11 against my 14x12 with the Simon massaged motor. Hopefully there will be something worth reporting back on...

[mzodarg]

So I gave the 16x13P a spin, the top rpm's hit 5700-top speed 25 mph GPS. The hole shot sucked compared to the 15x17p along with the top speed.

I also had to switch the tac back to 6cyl 3 pulse, with it set on the 4cyl 3p the needle would go past 7000 rpms. That wasn't happening as I never hit the rev limiter.

Visted the dealer today and they are stumped as me. On a good note, they just got a 22 xp3 fishing barge with a 150 four stroke delivered and the owner want's to move it. I'd like to get 25k for my boat, the xp3 is 35K. I say "let's make a deal" lol.......

[Bamaman]

The XP3 @ $35K should be a decent price if it doesn't have many hours. I was thinking they're about $41-42K new.

Seems like the 150 hp tritoons are easier to prop than the smaller engined 2 toon boats.

[mzodarg]

The XP3 @ $35K should be a decent price if it doesn't have many hours. I was thinking they're about $41-42K new.

Seems like the 150 hp tritoons are easier to prop than the smaller engined 2 toon boats.

.
Its Brand new, price included a mooring cover and tandem axle trailer, total was 35,610.00.

I still haven't made up my mind, but it is an option.

Mike

[mzodarg]

Before I make a hasty decision and jump on the XP3, I contacted boat city prop shop in OKC. Spoke to a guy (Bryan) who was chasing the best prop for a friends pontoon boat. Long story short, for sh!ts and giggles he tried a 14 5/8 x17P tempest plus Prop on a 22" Pontoon with a 115 Merc with amazing results (6mph, with no other changes). He did make the comment " who would have thought a bass boat prop would produce the results that it did.

He has a used refurbished one that I'm going to spin on Friday, wish me luck.

Mike

[mzodarg]

I picked up the tempest prop on Friday (no charge until I'm happy). It had the small PVS plug installed, and I gave it a spin. I hit 30 MPH at 4900 rpms, Good speed but terrible RPMS. I played around with the PVS plugs and added the largest hole plugs on 2 vents. Spun it at 5400 rpms but lost speed (27 MPH).

Had to much fun putting walleye (18 for the weekend) in the boat that I didn't try different combinations of Vent plugs.

Mike

[Soonertoon]

Let me know how it all works out for you and if the Prop Shop guy is full of it or not . I contacted them yesterday on a referral from Power Tech props to get a price on a specific Mfg. recommended prop. He went completely off in the weeds compared to what they said at the Mfg.
Makes me wonder who's full of it and who isn't? Factory recommended a 3 blade 13.25 x 9 and he was at a 14 x 13P.
At first glance, this reinforces the idea that its a crap shoot when it comes to buying a prop and you never can tell who to listen to. I swear, its all a bunch of voodoo I tell ya !!

[justrfb]

Hello.
A 3 blade 13.25 x 9 for a Yamie 4 stroke 115?!?!?... I am NOT a prop guy but that sounds pure "crazy" to me! I have a Merc 4 stroke 75 and I am running a a 3 blade 14 x 11 cupped... A 14X13 sounds right on to me for your Yamie, ask about the cupped version... Good luck and safe boating!

Sincerely,
Rich

[mzodarg]

Let me know how it all works out for you and if the Prop Shop guy is full of it or not . I contacted them yesterday on a referral from Power Tech props to get a price on a specific Mfg. recommended prop. He went completely off in the weeds compared to what they said at the Mfg.
Makes me wonder who's full of it and who isn't? Factory recommended a 3 blade 13.25 x 9 and he was at a 14 x 13P.
At first glance, this reinforces the idea that its a crap shoot when it comes to buying a prop and you never can tell who to listen to. I swear, its all a bunch of voodoo I tell ya !!

Soonertooner,

So far the jury is still out on the prop shop. I do know that the first recommendation did not produce expect results. That being said, I bought a used 15x15 enertia prop form a member here. I took that prop with me when I picked up the tempest for a test spin. Prop shop guy told me the cup was wore out on the enertia(might explain why I could spin that prop at 6000 rpms and lost several MPH)and actual put an enertia 15x15 cast up on the blades and it was no where close to the molds. I've agreed to have him fix the enertia with a slight more cup and I'm going to give that a try. Since I know nothing about props I'll have to take his word. He did mention that Mercury has a large tolerance and zero quality control in their prop fabrication.

More to follow.

As far as your set up, I would think that 9P is way under propped. What's your WOT RPMs?

Mike