HPS 250 vs 300

[Pmckh]

On May 27, 2016 at 8:12 PM, SCFD rtrd. said:

No, that's the only two props I've tried. I hear there is a guy in Venice or Sarasota that has lots of props and will let you take several and run them. Wish I knew the name of his shop. I'd like to hit 65 mph, but not willing to spend $700 to do it.

Ken Reeves at Prop Gods is who you are thinking about

 

Anyway, I haven't really gotten a great run out of mine with the current prop but I got 61 in my boat with an HS4-23P. All 4 batteries in console, gear, full tank, twin power poles, minn kota, and riding solo

[SCFD rtrd.]

Thanks, Pmckh. I'm headed down to the condo for a month of fishing (Englewood). Going to look up Prop Gods.

[Headhunter]

Ken did a great job propping our PF22 with a rev 4

[Josh B]

I've had both.... these are obviously just my experience and load, weather, conditions are all variables. 

My 2013 23 HPS with F300 - Fastest achieved 67.3 mph with 3 blade Yamaha SHO prop. Great for top end speed, but that was about it. Replaced with Merc Rev 4 - 23 Pitch prop and got 64-65 mph consistently. It was great in turns and great for hole shot. That is the prop I would recommend for the 23 HPS with F300 (and I have one for sale if interested).

My 2016 23 HPS with VF250 - Fastest achieved is 64.7 mph with 4 blade Yamaha HS4 - 23 Pitch. Holeshot is great, turns are great. I will say that I cannot hit this speed consistently. I've only seen 64 once. My normal top end speed is more in the 61-62 mph and occasionally 63. I want to try a Bravo 22-23, that seems to be the best prop for this boat/motor combo.

So having the 23 HPS with both motor options I will say this... The 25 inch shaft on the F300 took a couple weeks to get used to, but after I got used to it I loved it. The SHO motor definitely has a punchier hole shot, but if I had it to do over I would have got the F300 again. I got the 250 SHO because I didn't think the speed was much different and I wanted the better hole shot. Going from the F300 to the VF250 was a little disappointing. One thing I really miss is the electric shifting. I can't understand for the life of me why yamaha doesn't offer this at least for an option on all of their motors. The binnacle itself looks way better (classier). It's shorter and polished and the overall experience is just so much better. In addition my MPG's were much better with the F300. I could cruise around 40 mph and get over 4.2 mpg. With my current VF250 I cruise around 38 mph and only get 3.2-3.4 mpg. It's not a ton, but like I said if I had to do over again I would go with the F300.

In conclusion... the 250 SHO is going to run you around 61-63 mph. The F300 is going to run you around 63-66 mph on the top end. Emptying out your boat, running light, by yourself, etc. you may be able to get another 1-2 mph. Rick Murphy removes windshield, removes every single possible thing from the boat, all tackle in the back hatch... no on board charger, etc. He keeps it super light because he wants that extra 1-2 mph in tournaments. That's not realistic for most people. Also, depending on the conditions and the skill of the driver at the wheel these speeds can fluctuate slightly.

 

Josh B.

[buttapollock101]

Good info josh! I'm shocked about the MPG. 

[Stricklyoutdoors]

Awesome info Josh!!  what's the difference you have seen in shallow water with 300 vs 250 does the 5 inch difference change draft at idle or even running? I do agree the 300 controls are 10x better.. 

[Josh B]

The draft or running depth didn't change at all... but you definitely have to use that jackplate. There are many days I would never lower the jackplate all day. You can certainly run around and jump up on plane with the jackplate all the way up. The only difference is when it's rough or nasty and especially in an offshore swell you can put that jackplate all the way down and the boat will stick tighter to the water and you don't have to worry about the prop breaking the surface when you catch some air.

 

Josh B.

[fishmanjj]

The Funky Monkey , Marcus at PowerTech helped me tremendously with my F250 when it came time to pick out the right prop. I ended up with OX4-21 and it works great on my 2400v.

[BCPD199]

Sorry to revive an old thread; but, I was wondering if anything has changed in reference to the 300 shaft length.  I thought the F300 NCA was shipped from Yamaha without a lower unit.  The manufacturer (in this case MBG), installs the required gear case.  Won't a 20" SHO lower bolt onto a F300 NCA?  Thinking of ordering a 2300 HPS and don't want to go back to cable controls.

On a side note, funny how Merc can build the VRod in 4 different colors with three different shaft sizes and Yamaha just recently introduced white (300 only) and no 20" shaft.  And no one could possibly want digital shift & throttle on their SHO, right?

A 2300 HPS would SCREAM with a 300 VRod on it.  Unfortunately, it would hurt the draft too much I think.

[ChrisB]

A 20 inch lower wont work on the NCA Midsection the drive shaft is 5 " to short.

[BCPD199]

13 hours ago, ChrisB said:

A 20 inch lower wont work on the NCA Midsection the drive shaft is 5 " to short.

Thanks for the info.  The 300 then is really too long and also adds an additional 57 lbs on the transom.  I'll never understand why they don't offer the SHO with DTS.