2005 50 hp Merc no power

[M.R.Ducks]

I have a 2005 50hp Merc EFI 4-stroke on a ProGuide V16 Tracker. The boat is rated for 715 pounds and 60hp max. It has a 13 pitch prop. When 2 people are in the boat, it does pretty good 5200 rpm and 24mph according to gps. It also takes a while to plane, if it is windy it takes even longer if at all. If I have one more person on board, it will only turn 4200 RPM and 13 mph with the wind, 11-12 mph against the wind. The dealer says this is normal and that the 4-stroke just does not have the torque to pull the boat out of the water. Just for kicks, I tried an 11 pitch prop with no better performance. I tried to trim the motor out of the water and lost rpm and mph. Any other advice anyone could give me would be great. Thanks

 

[steelespike]

Re: 2005 50 hp Merc no power

Ok ,while your a little under powered and I'm no expert but my reseach indicates a 50 on a 16 ft similar to yours should be capable of about 29-34 mph with one aboard.Also a 4 stroke demands a very careful setup for best performance.As I understand it a 4 stroke needs to be propped to operate at its max rated rpm I'm guessing about 6,000.your manual should list the rpm range.Motor height is critical;starting with the antivent plate even with the bottom of the boat raise the motor a hole at a time to a point just before venting becomes a problem.An inch up could net a couple of mph and may be enough to get it to plane when loaded. Weight placement and elimination is important.
If your tank and battery are in the stern move something forward even if only to the middle.Trim tabs may help.Something like smart tabs are reasonable and uncomplicated.With a load trimming in may help it plane.

 

[M.R.Ducks]

Re: 2005 50 hp Merc no power

Thank you for the information I'm going to try to lift the motor this weekend. Lifting the motor makes sense, I just never thought of it. The boat does plane slowly and I have moved passengers to get it to plane before, so moving other things are on my agenda.