50 merc classic 45 hp

[boatman1971]

i bought a 89 basstracker v17 with a merc classic 50 it runs good, but only runs about 22mph with only me in it.seems a little slow it has a 10 3/8 x13 p prop and runs about 4800 rpms should i change the prop?

 

[steelespike]

Re: 50 merc classic 45 hp

Your pretty well under powered.
The 45 is rated at 5,500 rpm so you need to make up about700 rpm.
I think first you should check that the throttle opens all the way.
Prop is in excellent shape.
Be sure Motor is in excellent tune. Check that the antivent plate (just above the prop)
is about even with the bottom of the boat raise it on the transom if necessary.
Adjust trim for best speed.
I think your probably going to need to go down to at least an 11" pitch.
but you should check the setup first.

 

[boatman1971]

Re: 50 merc classic 45 hp

Your pretty well under powered.
The 45 is rated at 5,500 rpm so you need to make up about700 rpm.
I think first you should check that the throttle opens all the way.
Prop is in excellent shape.
Be sure Motor is in excellent tune. Check that the antivent plate (just above the prop)
is about even with the bottom of the boat raise it on the transom if necessary.
Adjust trim for best speed.
I think your probably going to need to go down to at least an 11" pitch.
but you should check the setup first.

so will this give me more top speed? should i go with alum or ss. also i took off the sting ray thing and now it dont want to plane out very well

 

[steelespike]

Re: 50 merc classic 45 hp

If you do all these things resulting in improvements in setup yes it will improve your speed.
You need to be sure the present setup allows maximum performance/rpm.
As far as the foil it is a bandaid over a poor setup and should be considered only as a last solution. For a foil to work as it should the motor needs to be high enough so the foil is out of water or close to it at speed.I feel weight placement,prop selection and trim is a better solution.
A 4 blade prop will improve your hole shot and improve low to mid range performance.
SS props can improve overall performance But at about 3 times the cost and improvement can vary from a few tenths to a few mph.