70 Quarts of Omega-3 Fatty acids..

[Bill Gunn]

Got the boat out on Thursday to break in the engines, and got out yesterday to finally get some walleye fishing in..

Our 3 person limit was 15 fish, but the fish were running so big that we ran out of cooler space (in a 70 quart cooler) when we had 12 walleyes !!

Was a great start for a new boat...

http://pic90.picturetrail.com/VOL2250/777751/2652330/388711782.jpg

After cleaning, it ended up 26 1/4 pounds of skin off yummy fillets.

The boat runs pretty good, but I have to get a different propeller for the big engine to get the RPMs up higher.
I was surprised how well the old Ford pulled the boat, and with the surge brakes on the trailer, stopping was a as if the boat wasn't even there !!

http://pic90.picturetrail.com/VOL2250/777751/2652330/388711779.jpg

[Greywolf]

Mmmmm, that does look good....


BTW, RE:
The boat runs pretty good, but I have to get a different propeller for the big engine to get the RPMs up higher.
I was surprised how well the old Ford pulled the boat, and with the surge brakes on the trailer, stopping was a as if the boat wasn't even there

do I sense a new PU in your future?

[ncboman]

those are some nice fish. Looks like they'd eat the little minnows we catch.

Props; speed vs power.

[Bill Gunn]

do I sense a new PU in your future?

Are you kidding me? My knees are so warn out from begging for the new boat, I'm afraid it will be a while before they heal enough to start begging for a truck !!
The Ford is actually in pretty good shape. It looks bad in that picture because I live on a dirt road, and I've been to busy fishing to wash it !!


Props; speed vs power.

The reason I want to get a different prop is that I want to try one with less pitch. The one supplied with the boat is a 21 pitch, and at full throttle I'm only running about 4500 RPM. The 150 2 cycle Merc is suppose to run between 5250, and 5750 at full throttle, so I'm missing about 1000 RPM at full throttle. That shows that the motor is working hard (which is great for the break-in of the motor) but it would run better (and even faster) with a lowed pitched prop. I checked on the Mercury site and did a prop calculation, and it shows that a 15 or 16 pitch should be right for overall good operation with the best gas mileage for a boat like mine. The 21 pitch would be a good high speed prop for a much lighter and flatter bottomed boat (like a bass boat).
I'll call the marina where I bought the boat today, and see if I can trade it for a 15. I'll give that one a try, then probably get a 16 for a spare prop just to have one with a different pitch..

[Greybeard]

a 15 or 16 pitch prop for your boat size is too low. You do not need that drastic a change. That is like thinking you need tug boat power as you will not be getting speed out of those increased rpms. I'd think of a 19 or 17 pitch. If you have a lot of weight for the length of your boat, the 17 probably would be perfect. Greybeard/

[Bill Gunn]

Your right, I just got off the phone with the marina, and we both felt the same thing. Both of us thought that a 17 would be the place to start. I have to pick one up on Tuesday, and I'll give it a try. I'll see what RPM I get, and size my spare prop from that.
The place the 15 and 16 came from was directly from Mercury for the weight of my aluminum boat with a deep vee hull..

[Altjaeger]

That looks like a fine day of fishing and a fine boat. I am a bit jealous!!!:wink::wink::wink:

This is not really aimed at you Bill, but more of a general statement. As I look at your engine and even more at these 150-200 HP outboards on bass boats I wonder what is reasonable. I remember when 60-75 HP was hot and I ask when we reach the point of danger.

As I look especially at bass impoundments and one locally famous for its flotsam and logs just below the surface at times I am amazed that more bottoms are not ripped out and injuries are not much more common. I know the great lakes are more like a seas or ocean and as I said it is not a Bill Gunn question so much as a philosophical one.

[Twanger]

Nice Haul of fish!
I'm betting on the 19 pitch... :-)

[Bill Gunn]

I can see your point on the 19 pitch, personally, when I was out on the boat trying it out, my first thought was either a 19 or a 17.
Then I went 2 different places on the net (one a prop store, and the other was the Mercury Marine site) and they both stated that you should expect 150 to 200 RPM change per inch of pitch change in either direction, up or down.
I'm missing almost exactly 1000 RPM, so that would mean roughly between 5 to 6.5 inches of pitch change was needed according to both sites, which would be between 14.5 to 16 pitch.
Mercury's site stated a 15.5 X 15.0 (diameter X Pitch) was needed for "Overall Good Performance" and a 16.0 X 16.0 would give the best "Mid Range Cruising". It also stared that a 16.0 X 14.0 would give the best acceleration, but I'm not really interested in speed as much as economy at cruising speed. Some of the runs we make to get to a fishing spot are up to 25 miles one way.

Myself, I had a gut feeling that ran in the 17 to 19 range, then after reading what Mercury had to say, I just didn't know for sure. Both the marina owner and I thought that 17 would be a good start, and we'll go from there. I would have said 19 if the Mercury numbers weren't so low. We'll just have to see I guess.
This boat had a 19* deadrise that puts a lot of hull in the water at any speed, compared to many other boats, but it cuts the big waves on Erie better than a lot of other boats too.
At the full throttle 4550 RPM I'm getting 42 MPH GPS speed both ways on a 2 way run, as it is now with the 21 pitch.

This is at no cost to me, other than time and a little gas, but I can think of worse things I could be doing, other than running around on the upper Niagara River trying out props on the new boat.

I hope the wife gets the grass cut while I'm out getting all this hard work done, sometimes them thar wimin' just don't understand how tough a mans life is :vroam:

[Bill Gunn]

That looks like a fine day of fishing and a fine boat. I am a bit jealous!!!:wink::wink::wink:

This is not really aimed at you Bill, but more of a general statement. As I look at your engine and even more at these 150-200 HP outboards on bass boats I wonder what is reasonable. I remember when 60-75 HP was hot and I ask when we reach the point of danger.

As I look especially at bass impoundments and one locally famous for its flotsam and logs just below the surface at times I am amazed that more bottoms are not ripped out and injuries are not much more common. I know the great lakes are more like a seas or ocean and as I said it is not a Bill Gunn question so much as a philosophical one.

I know exactly what your saying. There are a lot of speeding accidents on the smaller "Finger Lakes" here in NY with the 250 to 350 engine class boats. I watched the wind catch a bass boats' hull on a smaller lake near me, and it was just the grace of God that made the hull go back down instead of over. That hull was waving in the air at 90* like a Gramma waving good-by as she's leaving out the front door.
The funny part was it was during a "Crappie" fishing contest, and I bet that boat driver would of won if they would have let him enter that load in his jeans !!!

It was great to watch though... :congrats:

[Bushman]

Bill, what a nice looking rig that is turning out to be as you give it some final tweaking. Fishing as much as you do on as big a waterway as you do, I always thought that you were a little under boated for the kinds of water that Erie can whip up. I got a kick out of you pressing your grandson into service pulling wires for you down in the hull.

I know what Alt is talking about. I've seen entire oak trees floating just under the surface out on Lake Michigan and another time one of those table top size wooden spools that the power companies wind cable on that was floating level with the water line. I am reminded of one of the guys that I used to call on who just got a new boat like yours and punched a rock through the hull before he even got it up on plane the first time out. Ouch!