I have a 2011 225 with a 250 HP Motor. Unless I trim it bow down or give it good power, it rides bow high and is slow getting on plane. I’m wondering if a 4 blade prop would help getting out of the hole. I’m not too concerned about top end as the boat is plenty fast and I never run it wide open. Has anyone with a bracketed 225 or any other bracketed model tried a 4 blade prop?
4 blade prop
- Thread starter wlewis
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Are you referring to trimming the motor angle? Di you have trim tabs and if so, what position are they in?
At rest with normal load, where does the cavitation plate sit relative to the hull and the water? Just checking to see if there may be other issues besides prop selection.
What prop are you running now?
At rest with normal load, where does the cavitation plate sit relative to the hull and the water? Just checking to see if there may be other issues besides prop selection.
What prop are you running now?
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This caught my attention,,, to put a boat on plane, you have to trim/tuck motor bow down and use FULL power to bring boat up on plane, then pull back throttle and trim up some to a comfortable cruising speed and running attitude. Otherwise you will get the conditions you describe.
That being said, I run a 4 blade PowerTech prop on my 228, which is also a bracketed boat, with a lesser hp motor than you, F225, and I'm very happy with the performance.
As the others mentioned, from what you wrote, it sounds like you simply aren't trimming/operating correctly to get on plane. I'm repeating what's already been said, but ALWAYS start with the engine fully down and give at least 1/2 to 3/4 throttle till the bow starts to come back down and then gently pull back on the throttle otherwise your speed will increase very quickly. And, there's certainly nothing wrong with going full throttle, either.
I have a 250HP on a bigger/older hull designed boat and it literally jumps up onto plane with 1/2 to 3/4 throttle - never losing sight of the water. And that's without even using the trim tabs, either. If you have tabs, drop them down and the boat, even with light throttle, will likely come up onto plane with very little to no bow rise, at all. Tabs help tremendously in all aspects - from slower planing speeds to a more comfortable ride.
A 4-blade will give a little more lift to get on plane a bit easier - but note that it's not going to be "huge" difference. But I think if you first try operating the boat differently you can save your money.
I have a 250HP on a bigger/older hull designed boat and it literally jumps up onto plane with 1/2 to 3/4 throttle - never losing sight of the water. And that's without even using the trim tabs, either. If you have tabs, drop them down and the boat, even with light throttle, will likely come up onto plane with very little to no bow rise, at all. Tabs help tremendously in all aspects - from slower planing speeds to a more comfortable ride.
A 4-blade will give a little more lift to get on plane a bit easier - but note that it's not going to be "huge" difference. But I think if you first try operating the boat differently you can save your money.
I do trim motor all the way down and adjust trim tabs in bow down position. That works fine to bring boat up on plane quicker, but I'd prefer to minimize the constant motor and trim tab adjustments when going through no wake zones
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No wake zones and readjusting motor and tabs to proceed back up on plane are just part of boating. Even with 4 blade prop, you still have to come off plane in a No Wake zone, just part of boat life.
You can get tab controls with the niffty little lights so you can put the tabs back in place before you had to come off plane, your gauges should have trim indicator so you can reset the engine back to cruising attitude after you get back on plane.
There is no magical setting or prop that will keep you on plane through a No Wake zone, speed comes down to a idle so not to have a wake, hence the zone.
Hopefully you observe No Wake zones and are not the guy who plows through up on plane because he thinks No Wake doesn't pertain to him. I have no tolerance for people like that.
You can get tab controls with the niffty little lights so you can put the tabs back in place before you had to come off plane, your gauges should have trim indicator so you can reset the engine back to cruising attitude after you get back on plane.
There is no magical setting or prop that will keep you on plane through a No Wake zone, speed comes down to a idle so not to have a wake, hence the zone.
Hopefully you observe No Wake zones and are not the guy who plows through up on plane because he thinks No Wake doesn't pertain to him. I have no tolerance for people like that.
I agree with Ky - it's all just a part of boating and that 4-blade isn't going to change what you need to do. You can, however, get an "auto tab" setup for your trim tabs to make things a little easier. You may find you could even leave your engine trimmed up a bit and with full tabs every time, you may not have to mess with the engine trim.
I'm not directing this next thought specifically at you, but isn't it funny how we get lazy over the years? I mean, at what point does "pushing a button" with our fingers become a hassle?
Or... here's the PERFECT solution to your problem... get the auto-trim tab setup from Bennett and a new Mercury engine (maybe other brands, too?) - some of those engines have an optional feature which is an auto-trim system for the engine. Set it, and the tabs, at the running attitude you want and they both will constantly adjust. Heck, Merc even has an auto throttle system for some engines where it throttles up at a preset rate to a preset speed!
I'm not directing this next thought specifically at you, but isn't it funny how we get lazy over the years? I mean, at what point does "pushing a button" with our fingers become a hassle?
Or... here's the PERFECT solution to your problem... get the auto-trim tab setup from Bennett and a new Mercury engine (maybe other brands, too?) - some of those engines have an optional feature which is an auto-trim system for the engine. Set it, and the tabs, at the running attitude you want and they both will constantly adjust. Heck, Merc even has an auto throttle system for some engines where it throttles up at a preset rate to a preset speed!
I'm not the smartest guy in the world, but I do have enough boat sense to slow down for No Wake zones and realize, yes I do come off of plane while in No Wake zone. Since my previous boats with transom mounted motors, one being a Grady, required little or no trimming to get out of the hole, yet my current bracketed Grady as well as my previous bracketed Grady both require significant trimming to get out of the hole, I merely asked the simple question, does a 4 blade getting out of the hole?
We were only trying to help (and we did answer your question, as well). Remember, based on how you worded things in your first post, it DID appear that you may not be trimming properly. What if you, indeed, weren't trimming properly and we simply said "Yes, a 4-blade will help a little bit". You may then have gone out and purchased a new prop only to find out that it didn't help since you still weren't trimming properly. We can only respond based on the information you provide and that info led us down the road of wondering about proper trimming... again, in an effort to help.
Here's another one... are you sure you have the right prop on there right now? Can you get the RPM's into the upper end of your engine's RPM range spec?
Back to the 4-blade... while you may see a slight increase in hole shot and mid-range speed, it's not going to eliminate, by any means, the necessity for you to still trim the engine.
From my experience, a bracket generally helps with performance since it moves the engine further back from the boat, providing more "leverage", so to speak. The downside is maneuverability in reverse as more of the prop wash hits the stern - trimming up does help here, though. What were your other boats that didn't have a bracket? Unless they were VERY similar to your current setup, it's probably not a fair comparison.
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Fishtales
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Definitely see if you can try one first. You may find it gets out of the hole and on plane quicker but drop some high end speed. I think the 225 has a bracket if I recall. Make sure you don't have extra weight due to water or anything going on.
Appreciate the efforts to help. As for the 3 blade I have on there now, it’s whatever Grady installed from factory.
wrxhoon
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If you have the correct pitch ( should be 17 with that motor I would think) the correct height and the engine is healthy she should jump out of the water even if not trimmed in. I have a 250 optimax on my 228 with a 17" 3 blade enertia prop, I never use trim tabs to take off and most of the time I don't even bother to trim her right in. I have tried various props ( when I repowered a few years ago , both 3 and 4 blades in 17" , 18" and 19", I settled on the 17 because it suits me better for the load I have and the offshore conditions here .
I have to say Mercuries have the best props. When I get my new boat ( new to me 2013 228 with 250 hp 4.2 lt Yamaha) I will use a Merc prop again .
I have to say Mercuries have the best props. When I get my new boat ( new to me 2013 228 with 250 hp 4.2 lt Yamaha) I will use a Merc prop again .
Some new boats are rigged at the dealer. It hard to know if yours was. My point is that the factory probably would equip with an appropriate prop but who knows what the dealer may have had on hand.
After you verify what prop you have on there, and your max RPM at WOT in good conditions (you'd need to know this, anyways, to pick a new prop), post back with that info. I would suspect that if it's the Yamaha-brand prop that you have either a 17" as mentioned above, or possibly a 19" since you have a bigger engine on a smaller boat. Now, if you find out that you have the correct prop and there's still an issue getting on plane, then I can think of 2 ways to explain that:
1) Your expectations are unreal
2) There is an issue with the engine
But, if you're really saying that the boat planes out just fine, but you don't want to mess with the trim as much, then we're back to installing at least the auto trim tab setup - that should allow you keep the trim at, or very close to, your normal running engine trim. You can easily experiment to see if this would work for you - leave your engine at your running trim, then slow down to idle speed. Drop JUST the tabs (fully) and accelerate and see if that works well for you. Remember, although you may or may not need it, it is totally OK to use FULL throttle for this.
I will check the prop, but I'm confident motor performs as designed. I can easily get it on plane by trimming motor down and trim tabs in bow down position or giving motor significant throttle, but neither was required on my previous boats with transom mounted motors. I believe that just is a normal characteristic of a bracket boat. As pointed by one of you earlier, I'm sure I've gotten lazy, not wanting to push buttons since my previous boats didn't require re-trim every time passing through a no wake zone.
Well, at risk of repeating myself, it is NOT due to the bracket. It is strictly a hull design thing. Hull design (deadrise, etc) vs weight of boat. The bracket allows the engine to provide MORE stern lift. Try that test I mentioned - that could very well lead to EXACT answer to your quest.
Also, as mentioned above, you need to check that the engine is mounted in the proper holes (height) as that can make a difference, too. Running along at a good clip, you should see the anti-ventilation plate skimming across the water.
NEVER assume that just because something came from the dealer/factory that is perfectly correct.
Also, as mentioned above, you need to check that the engine is mounted in the proper holes (height) as that can make a difference, too. Running along at a good clip, you should see the anti-ventilation plate skimming across the water.
NEVER assume that just because something came from the dealer/factory that is perfectly correct.
Prop is 17x15 1/2. Ventilation plate I believe does skim across top of water and WOT with motor trimmed up is around 5800 rpm, not bad considered my boat has a hardtop and usually at least 50 or 60 gallons of fuel. I think motor is fine and mounted properly. Perhaps my expectations may be a bit unrealistic. My comparisons are based on a friend’s 23 Whaler Dauntless (flatter bottom ) and my previous boats, a 204 Grady, smaller whalers and a McKee. Also had a 23 GW Gulfstream w/ bracket whose planning performance was similar to my 225.