Motor height - Merc 150 seapro

Any way, politics aside, the motor went up a notch.

No cavitation issues, much less porpoising but if there's chop, I still have to use the trim tabs to get the nose right down. No cavitation issues in turns on when bumping over my own wake. So for what I'm doing, it's probably fine - may be not optimal yet but ok enough for now.

I put the foil back on after a few laps of the bay. The spray was not horrendous and it gave me a bit more positive trim to keep the nose under control. But I was out solo, so no photos this go around.

Not sure if I gained any speed, but will do more detailed testing Friday and compare a 4 blade 17p SS prop to a 4 blade 19p AL.

I'd say I'm done the experiments for now and will run it like this for the season around McNeill and a few west coast adventures. Might try one notch higher when I'm done all my house renos and other expenses - CRV head gasket just starting to go and that's no fun...

Very appreciative of all the help, advice and offers for props etc.

Great group here 👍
 
Apples to oranges, but on my klamath 19gtx moving from a 60 with a dolphin to a 75, the transom gained 170lbs. The boat porpoised like crazy. Moving the dolphin over to it solved all the handling issues. Lost 2 knots of top speed, but way safer.. Worth mentioning that I don't have tabs on the boat, all control on mine is via the motor.

Were you able to move your batteries forward in the end? Thinking about leverage, if they are right at the transom, its going to make a bigger difference then moving gear from the middle forward. Good luck!
 
Apples to oranges, but on my klamath 19gtx moving from a 60 with a dolphin to a 75, the transom gained 170lbs. The boat porpoised like crazy. Moving the dolphin over to it solved all the handling issues. Lost 2 knots of top speed, but way safer.. Worth mentioning that I don't have tabs on the boat, all control on mine is via the motor.

Were you able to move your batteries forward in the end? Thinking about leverage, if they are right at the transom, its going to make a bigger difference then moving gear from the middle forward. Good luck!
Ya, I heard lots of ideas to move big weight forward - fuel tank and batteries. But I'm not into putting several $k into re-modeling the boat design.

It worked well in the past so it will work well again in the future.

I have all my spare cannon balls (~100lb) in the bow, and all my heavy supplies, anchors, rope etc (at least 50lb) in the cuddy now instead of under seats. I have a feeling it will run really nicely with my kids in the cuddy, which is where they prefer to be any way on family trips. Will see how it handles with 3-4 adults and all the stuff needed for a 10-12hr west coast fishing day. But I can always put the beer cooler in the cuddy and also put the heaviest dude(s) up there too while under way if needed lol.
 
Nice work - glad to hear that lifting it up helped. Its a hassle and I've been through it on two boats that were rigged incorrectly from the manufacturer. Each time required remounting the engine several times to get it right, and I was always surprised how high I could go. It was definitely worth it in the end.

Also I hear you - moving in-board fuel tanks and re-wiring batteries just isn't in the cards for most of us.
 
Any way, politics aside, the motor went up a notch.

No cavitation issues, much less porpoising but if there's chop, I still have to use the trim tabs to get the nose right down. No cavitation issues in turns on when bumping over my own wake. So for what I'm doing, it's probably fine - may be not optimal yet but ok enough for now.

I put the foil back on after a few laps of the bay. The spray was not horrendous and it gave me a bit more positive trim to keep the nose under control. But I was out solo, so no photos this go around.

Not sure if I gained any speed, but will do more detailed testing Friday and compare a 4 blade 17p SS prop to a 4 blade 19p AL.

I'd say I'm done the experiments for now and will run it like this for the season around McNeill and a few west coast adventures. Might try one notch higher when I'm done all my house renos and other expenses - CRV head gasket just starting to go and that's no fun...

Very appreciative of all the help, advice and offers for props etc.

Great group here 👍
Give her, go fishing lol
 
Ya, I heard lots of ideas to move big weight forward - fuel tank and batteries. But I'm not into putting several $k into re-modeling the boat design.

It worked well in the past so it will work well again in the future.

I have all my spare cannon balls (~100lb) in the bow, and all my heavy supplies, anchors, rope etc (at least 50lb) in the cuddy now instead of under seats. I have a feeling it will run really nicely with my kids in the cuddy, which is where they prefer to be any way on family trips. Will see how it handles with 3-4 adults and all the stuff needed for a 10-12hr west coast fishing day. But I can always put the beer cooler in the cuddy and also put the heaviest dude(s) up there too while under way if needed lol.
I've been known to call my passengers "active ballast" hahahaaaaaaaaa
 
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