HoneyB Posted February 25, 2017 Report Share Posted February 25, 2017 Just wanted to pass along my experience with propping this boat and motor combination. This 2012 boat was new to me November 2016. The boat was propped with a Power Tech OFX 3 19 pitch. The previous owner had the three trolling motor batteries and a huge charger mounted in the front hatch. He mentioned that when he installed the trolling Motor he opted to place the batteries Forward to help the way the boat rode. My first run of the boat after bringing her home I found that the Boat Had to be run with the motor tucked under pretty far or it would porpoise. The boat did run 49 mph at 6000rpm. It may have bumped 50 but I do not think so. At this point I should mention I Have never owned a Yamaha. Rather, it seems all the boats I have owned Had a Mercury Power. Prop Number Two. Mercury Enertia 19 pitch. Batteries Still in the front hatch. The first thing I noticed was the boat backed off the trailer much better. This prop, I did like better than prop number one. Wot was slower than the TurboTech which I expected at only about 47mph at 5700/5800rpm. I did like the way the prop felt on the boat it just seemed to handle better in the mid range but still wanted to Porpoise at the slightest hint of trim to the engine. I was trying not to use the tabs to overcome the porpoise although I did seem to need to drive the bow down with a touch of tab. Prop number three. Mercury Tempest Plus 21 pitch. Batteries now moved to the center console. (No way I was going to leave the batteries taking up a good storage box.) This prop simply amazed me all over again. Previously bought for a 150hp Opti Max on a Poineer Cape Island. The Tempest plus is billed as a fast prop for boats that could use a little lift. I actually think designed with bass boats in mind, my "hind end" heavy pioneer benefited from the prop. Now on the Pathfinder 2200 with the Jack plate on 3 to 3 1/2 the tempest Plus was lifting this hull out of the water like neither on of the other props had done. It was a beautiful thing, at cruising speeds around 30mph i never felt the need to bump in a little tab. the boat seemed to allow me to trim her out of the water and the nose did not bounce. Wide open throttle surprised me hitting 52 mph at 5700/5750rpm. I tried a "how slow can i go" as well. tabs down throttle pulled back to 21 mph and she stayed up. Now it was pushing a heck of a wake but was on plane. I did see in another post here that at least one person admitted, prior to going to a 4 blade prop his 2200TRS did porpoise. I was committed to making this hull run with out using tabs to push the front down, and was prepared to go 4 blades if need be. The Tempest Plus done the trick. All of the props did have one thing in common. I am sure it is a testament to the Hull Design but none of them had bow rise at take off. I have never owned a boat that felt like this when hitting the throttle. This Pathfinder actually feel to me like it is sitting flat in the water and when I hit the throttle it just raises level and is on plane.It is awesome. I am headed to Stinhatchee in April with a few fishing buddies and three other boats. I can not wait to show this off this awesome boat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JEM Posted February 25, 2017 Report Share Posted February 25, 2017 Nice report. Should be helpful to other's trying out props. Since the 200 SHO is a 20" shaft and your boat has a 25" transom, you must have a 10" jackplate???? i just propped a brand new 225 SHO on my 2007 2200V with the OFX3, 19". It topped out at 6000 rpm's and a two way avg speed of 58.5 mph. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoneyB Posted February 25, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2017 Yes the jack plate is a 10 inch setback. That would have been good information to add to the post. Thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NCTribute Posted February 25, 2017 Report Share Posted February 25, 2017 You could probably be propped more efficiently. My 2200 TE, which is a little heavier than a TRS, will run 53 with an OFX 4 18P and 50 with an OFX 4 17P. This calculates out to around 5-7% slip. I would like to try an OFX 3 19P. With a 21P you should have a significantly higher speed, you have a bunch of slip to only be at 52 mph. Did you ever try the OFX 3 19P with the batteries moved? You should be up around 55 mph with it. Not saying it is the best prop, but is probably going to be better suited than a 21P. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoneyB Posted February 25, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2017 No I have not made it back to round two with the Ofx3 with the batteries moved to the center console. I do want to give it another try but My suspicion would be that the boat porpoised before the batteries were in the boat at all. As I said the prevous owner said he put them in the front to try to help the ride. When i asked if it had the desired effect he did not say that it helped a lot. I have never had a boat with a T top but with the speeds i see reported for the 200 and 250's on these boats I doubt i would ever see 55mph. I do not now how a t top will effect efficiency and prop slip, i am still trying to learn about that. I have not collected data at 30mph with each prop because honestly if it is going to bounce unless i put tabs down i do not want that prop anyway. The 21 I ran had a little edge rash and It is now at a shop down in Florida for a face lift and weight loss plan. I think I will have new numbers to report once I get it back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoneyB Posted February 25, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2017 one more thing. none of those test were done with an empty gas tank. each test was done with around half a tank. In other word i did not strip the boat down to try to get the best Wot. numbers I could get. I am more interested in how the boat rides at 30mph Than 52mph. But I will not lie i do want to know i have every bit of speed I can get. Especially when my buddies want to try me out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NCTribute Posted February 25, 2017 Report Share Posted February 25, 2017 Would assume the T-top is going to make a difference. Always wondered how the angle of one affected performance, seems like it could catch wind underneath it and induce porpoising, or could push the boat down into the water and slow it down, maybe both. Sure looks like it would act like a spoiler. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NCTribute Posted February 25, 2017 Report Share Posted February 25, 2017 I use my 17P prop most of the time, better with a load. Spend most of my running time 30 - 40 mph in good conditions, slower in snotty conditions. Only max out went trying to get away from bad weather or conditions are really nice. So I agree that how the boat feels and performs in the mid range is most important. Good luck, hope the refurbished prop works out for you. If you put the 19P back on please post results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoneyB Posted February 25, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2017 If u travel through ga on 95 I'll let u grab the ofx for a trial. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JEM Posted February 25, 2017 Report Share Posted February 25, 2017 I, too, doubt 55 mph with any prop, especially any prop that will get you close to the max 6000 rpms. I just believe in trying to prop these SHO motors close to the upper end of the recommended rpm range, real world.....then let the top speed be what it is. I think if it is propped to turn 5800 - 6000 rpms real world, you have less likelihood of "making oil." My experience is you will porpoise at some given speed, regardless whether you have a t-top, regardless of prop, regardless of jackplate, etc. With my new 225, there is a range it seems to want to porpoise. It porpoised with the 150 before jackplate with 3 blade, after jackplate, with a PT OFX4 17", but always sort of mid speed. I do not have a t-top. BUT, it takes just a light touch of tab to stop the porpoising. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoneyB Posted February 25, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2017 The weight loss plan I have my prop on is supposed to give me a little more rpm without giving up pitch. i may not get 55 but I think just maybe I'll get 54.5 mph LOL!!! More to come Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JEM Posted February 25, 2017 Report Share Posted February 25, 2017 37 minutes ago, HoneyB said: The weight loss plan I have my prop on is supposed to give me a little more rpm without giving up pitch. i may not get 55 but I thin just maybe I'll get 54.5 mph LOL!!! More to come I think you might be dead on! In Yamaha performance reports on the same boat (a Nautic Star 22 bay boat), a 225 SHO is about 4 mph faster than a 200 SHO. In our case, that would put you at 54.5 mph. HAHA. Just not sure with you having a t-top........ I don't have a t-top. Most people say a t-top cost 2 to 3 mph. Depending how your Tempest 21" does, I might have to invest in one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoneyB Posted April 15, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 15, 2017 So I have a update of sorts. I finally got to spend some quality time with my boat this past week. I took the boat down to Steinhatchee Fl. for a couple of days of trout fishing. I would suppose you gulf coast guys know that is not a good place to gather wot data. Before I left i tried to learn some things about owning a boat with a jack plate. Traditionally I knew how far my motors were in the water as the mounting location was fixed. So On my boat with the jack plate at its highest position the bottom of the "bullet" of the foot was pretty much in line with the bottom of the boat. therefore the only thing below the bottom of the boat was the length of the skeg. This is obviously good information to have for reasons other than regarding prop selection. Running the pathfinder with the cleaned up prop was every bit as good as the first outing with this prop. the boats jumps on plane with no need to deploy tabs in normal depth conditions. The boat will run as slow as 19 mph and stay on plane. deploying the tabs will obviously bring the nose down when running slow like that. I did learn that Motor height did not affect mph as much as it did RPM. For instance I was running 34mph at about 3100 rpm. raising the motor did cause prop slip as my Rpm would go up 100 almost 200 rpm with no change in speed. Not understanding how high my motor was running during the first trial of this prop and others I believe is the reason for the rpm and speed miss match, or prop slip. I know this is a lot of useless information to some but i know at some point others will be learning about operating boats with Jack plates just as i have. I will put the final wot numbers here when i get back to similar conditions as i ran the other props. One last thing, Holy Hell this Pathfinder will eat up a gulf coast chop. I could derail my own topic going on a rant on how good this boat rides. some might give me a list of better boats, But this is the BEST boat I have owned or ridden in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoneyB Posted May 13, 2017 Author Report Share Posted May 13, 2017 I took the 19 pitch Enertia back out this week. With thee people on board and an extra 120 quart cooler with ice the boat hit 52 mph at 5600rpm. This is the least amount of fuel i have had on board while checking wot speed. This was my friends first trip on the boat. It is safe to say he was quite impressed with the boat and the speed. fot those who have read the entire string here the Tempest plus bumped a under water obstruction. it was a very small bump but rolled one edge up. I like the tempest i think a 19 would get the rpms up better than the 21 did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JEM Posted May 13, 2017 Report Share Posted May 13, 2017 Did you take the "worked" Tempest 21 back off? If so, why? I have a 225 SHO on a 22 without a t-top. I am running an OFX3 x 19. I was considering trying a different prop, and just watching your experience with the 200 SHO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoneyB Posted May 13, 2017 Author Report Share Posted May 13, 2017 Yes sadly a friend asked me to run upriver to a sandbar two weeks ago I bumped something under water ... it was very slight bump but turned the edge on the worked prop.. Dangit ! I'm not sure the 200 was going to get the 21 to turn the Rpm's anyway. The 19 seems right for the 200. The Enertia still provides better lift for the boat than the ofx3. 52 mph I doubt I spend any more money on props right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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