St. Marks 2008.01.12 Red Huntin'

[Reel Slow]

[Mook!]

nice red Mook. You got 2 gal. tanks or something?

Tanks are 6.5 gallon and JT it's a 97 Evinrude 70hp 2-stroke inline 3 not ficht and Chalk yes it's burning it and not spilling it.

It has the wrong prop on it (too much pitch and or size, hole shot is about a half mile and generates 3 foot swells) and it's still having some performance problems when not planed and trimmed out to '2nd gear' - it's pulling very hard in one direction that may or may not be the direction of the prop twist, and the zinc plate is angled off center...maybe both in the same direction instead of correctly...I don't remember which way the prop rotates but the fin is pitched to starboard which is the direction of the fierce pull. I gotta fiddle with it but whatever is causing that is maybe causing some serious drag that's eating the gas. It's definitely mechanically sound after getting it back from Waivel, so I'm pretty sure it has something to do with all the fins on the back (giant stabilizer fins for the motor in my opinion) or the over-pitched and or oversized prop...just not sure but will be working on process of elimination in the near future. We burned between 11 and 12 gallons in 20 miles give or take. Trimmed out in 2nd gear it performs well - I can take my hand off the wheel at 35mph and it maintains course - but still sucks down gas so perhaps it's still fighting a ton of drag I dunno.

[FSUAngler]

nice red

[jsuber]

One beats the heck out of zero. Good hunting.

[Jumptrout51]

MOOK. Can you post a picture of your motor and transom?

[Chalk]

First things first...do you have a working tachometer? If so...how many RPMs are you turning? If you do not, you need one asap or your gonna be buying more than gas soon

I can go almost 50 miles on 12 gallons with a 90

[Barhopr]

ditto on the tach. see if your prop has any numbers engraved on the barrel of the prop. and a make. The torq. tab ( the little fin on the foot above the prop), will cause some steering issues at lower Rpm's but it aint gonna make you burn gas like that. Bet your over proped. I say 20" or more with that kind of fuel burn. just my .02

[rocket]

Nice pumpkin

[Mook!]

First things first...do you have a working tachometer? If so...how many RPMs are you turning? If you do not, you need one asap or your gonna be buying more than gas soon

I can go almost 50 miles on 12 gallons with a 90

The tach moves up and down with the throttle, but I wouldn't call it 'working' as it's claiming > 7000 rpms on plane - I think it may be set to 5p and it's a 6p feed, but I haven't fiddled with it cause I have a brand new one in the truck with systemcheck built in that's going in this weekend. Waivel said the feed is good and the motor is running great. They adjusted the entire ignition and fuel system because well, they replaced most of the ignition system... There's a definite improvement in the engine since he worked on it (doesn't stall or die any more), but not the medium-speed performance or overall gas guzzling.

I know for a fact it's overpropped but I don't know the pitch/size so I don't know how bad. Going to be shopping for a new one immediately - any possibility the over-propping could be what's causing all the list and turn? It lists to port and turns starboard, both real hard. I just checked the factory service manual it's absolutely brilliant - says to select a prop with the correct amount of pitch so the engine operates in the middle of the HP band at WOT, but gives no part numbers or general size/pitch recommendation. Full throttle operating range is 5000-6000, power rated at 5500.

Don't have the boat at the house JT so I can't snap a picture, but it's parked next to the NFGFC trailer at JBT if you are in the neighborhood...

Oh and thank y'all fer your comments and help.

[Chalk]

No OEM is going to recommend a prop, a 90 hp on a carolina skiff will not perform the same on a maverick. You'll be wasting money if you just go buy a prop, you really need to determine what you have or borrow one that is marked...they are usually marked on the inside, you will have to remove the prop to see the numbers.

What kind of speed are you getting? If it seems slow and the tach says over 7K, then your under propped....meaning you are over working the engine and burning alot of fuel.

You should take Tincan fishing, he'll tell you what's wrong in about 1 minute

[Mook!]

The tach is just wrong, I'm 99.99% sure of it - fresh out of link and sync adjustment it was reading 1200-2000 in idle forward speed, that and the power pack has a 6700 rpm limiter and the tach only goes to 7k but was passing that mark. I think the tach is just set to the wrong pulse setting - haven't checked.

It's definitely overpropped though - I just perused some pictures and it looks more like the low 20's in pitch than the teens - blades are more diagonal than vertical. Also in idle forward the prop is moving visibly very slow. I"ve only driven it once since getting it back from Porter, and only about 20 miles, but do recall trimming the motor up a tad in idle once or twice to keep it going. I read on some forums people have 13 1/4 x 13-17 on this motor on some similar sized boats. I'll get the numbers when I stop by after redfishin.

Top speeds prior to the engine servicing were 38-45mph on the GPS with just me and the gear depending on current/wind etc. but I didn't run WOT much Saturday and didn't have the GPS on.

And again thanks for advice and help - it's part of what makes the forum and club great

[Chalk]

Top speeds prior to the engine servicing were 38-45mph on the GPS with just me and the gear depending on current/wind etc. but I didn't run WOT much Saturday and didn't have the GPS on.

with a 70 ....If you have a prop problem it isn't very much....I have mine propped and set up pretty well and the best I get is 39-40 with a 90...different boats and parameters, but if your hitting 45 with a 70 your probably pretty close to having the right prop, IMO

[Barhopr]

what boat do you have Mook?

[Mook!]

what boat do you have Mook?

It's a 97 Sea Hunt Safari 153 identical to the one in this picture but mine has rhino liner on the bottom and generally ain't quite as purty.



Actually just found the one pic I've taken of mine

[Barhopr]

the liner is on the hull? bellow the water line?