Thoughts on upping my motor HP on my used Action Craft purchase

[kevinopp]

Re: Thoughts on upping my motor HP on my used Action Craft purchase

i guess the first thing i'll do is put on the 4 blade Trophy Plus that also came with the boat and see what that does......gotta be a lot easier than lowering a motor.

for that matter, i have a prop wrench but not a torque wrench. when tightening, do i just tighten the bejeezus out of it, or will it really behoove me to get a torque wrench and set it to whatever pounds i'm supposed to be tightening to? i just assume that tightening it up a lot is better than too loose.

 

[RockyG]

Re: Thoughts on upping my motor HP on my used Action Craft purchase

i guess the first thing i'll do is put on the 4 blade Trophy Plus that also came with the boat and see what that does......gotta be a lot easier than lowering a motor.

for that matter, i have a prop wrench but not a torque wrench. when tightening, do i just tighten the bejeezus out of it, or will it really behoove me to get a torque wrench and set it to whatever pounds i'm supposed to be tightening to? i just assume that tightening it up a lot is better than too loose.

OK........here is my opinion based on the 6 years I owned a 2000 1890SE Action Craft with a 200 ProV Yamaha on a Bob's Hyd jack plate.

Your setup is fudged. My boat ran 35mph at 3500 rpm with no cavatation what so ever. She ran 68 trimmed out with a light load, at 5600 rpm running a 25 pitch 3 blade Trophy prop.

Obviously your engine is WAY TOO HIGH. I had mine set up where with the plate all the way down the boat ran perfect at all speeds. In other words, like it was a fixed plate. That way it was easy to remember, all the way down and go. If I wanted to go super fast (like once every 3 months) you could run the plate about an inch higher at top speed and pick up a couple of mph. Fun but worthless in a flats fishing skiff. Scared the hell out of your fishing partner.

So.......quit fooling with props and lower the engine on the plate. That is the only solution to your problem. From the pictures it looks like you are 2 to 3 inches too high. Your rig should run mid 50's with that 150. You will need a 21 or 23 pitch prop. I tried the 4 blade and didn't like it. That hull is the best one Action Craft ever made. It's fast, efficient, poles great and with the tabs down and the jackplate up would launch out of 18" of water with a full load. It does not porpoise, ever. IF it does, it's not set up correctly.

You will love it when you get it dialed in.

 

[kevinopp]

Re: Thoughts on upping my motor HP on my used Action Craft purchase

OK........here is my opinion based on the 6 years I owned a 2000 1890SE Action Craft with a 200 ProV Yamaha on a Bob's Hyd jack plate.

Your setup is fudged. My boat ran 35mph at 3500 rpm with no cavatation what so ever. She ran 68 trimmed out with a light load, at 5600 rpm running a 25 pitch 3 blade Trophy prop.

Obviously your engine is WAY TOO HIGH. I had mine set up where with the plate all the way down the boat ran perfect at all speeds. In other words, like it was a fixed plate. That way it was easy to remember, all the way down and go. If I wanted to go super fast (like once every 3 months) you could run the plate about an inch higher at top speed and pick up a couple of mph. Fun but worthless in a flats fishing skiff. Scared the hell out of your fishing partner.

So.......quit fooling with props and lower the engine on the plate. That is the only solution to your problem. From the pictures it looks like you are 2 to 3 inches too high. Your rig should run mid 50's with that 150. You will need a 21 or 23 pitch prop. I tried the 4 blade and didn't like it. That hull is the best one Action Craft ever made. It's fast, efficient, poles great and with the tabs down and the jackplate up would launch out of 18" of water with a full load. It does not porpoise, ever. IF it does, it's not set up correctly.

You will love it when you get it dialed in.

THANK YOU!!

that is EXACTLY how i felt with my 5 years on the 1720 and 115hp---it was just solid as a rock in every condiition (and i didn't have a jackplate either).

i need to get it down to the mechanic straightway and get this done.....i want another rock solid AC!!

 

[RockyG]

Re: Thoughts on upping my motor HP on my used Action Craft purchase

THANK YOU!!

that is EXACTLY how i felt with my 5 years on the 1720 and 115hp---it was just solid as a rock in every condiition (and i didn't have a jackplate either).

i need to get it down to the mechanic straightway and get this done.....i want another rock solid AC!!

Let us know how it turns out.

Just writing this made me miss my old 1890 Sooooo bad.

 

[kevinopp]

Re: Thoughts on upping my motor HP on my used Action Craft purchase

Alright folks, here's the latest---

Picked up the boat from the shop yesterday. They lowered the outboard about 3" (I believe from highest to lowest setting). Also swapped my Great White 36v for the Minn-Kota i-Pilot 36v 101# thrust and my entire stereo system.

But to the point of the motor----they took me out on the water and the cavitation/porpoising issue is GONE!!! What they did want to show me was the difference between my 19 pitch Mirage and a 17 pitch that they advise that I move to. The 17 gave a better hole shot and we were doing about 44mph with 3 people on board wot was around 5200 rpm. Switched back to my 19 on the water and the hole shot was worse, and wot was 41 mph at 5700rpm. Also had to trim the motor down more to keep the bow down Given all that, we never even tried the Trophy Plus 21 pitch that I also have. All of this testing was w/o trim tab/jackplate use to just see what the motor height/trim/prop was doing to the boat.

Given this demo, I think my best option is to get my 19 repitched to a 17, and buy an aluminum 17 as my on-board spare. That just leaves me to sell the Trophy 4 blade and Great White TM. I've got a shop nearby that will get the prop repitched within 2 days and sell me the aluminum spare.


The advice on this forum HAS BEEN AMAZING FOR ME!!!!!!!!!! Thank you all for helping me get this boat to the dream that it should be. But if anyone has any other advice or thoughts, please throw them out to me ASAP before I start changing all of these props.

And ironically, my greatest wish is to get this 150 to a 200hp eventually, which will probably bring me right back into the 20-something degree props. But for now, I must cope........ ;-)


Kevin

 

[kevinopp]

Re: Thoughts on upping my motor HP on my used Action Craft purchase

What they did want to show me was the difference between my 19 pitch Mirage and a 17 pitch that they advise that I move to. The 17 gave a better hole shot and we were doing about 44mph with 3 people on board wot was around 5200 rpm. Switched back to my 19 on the water and the hole shot was worse, and wot was 41 mph at 5700rpm. Also had to trim the motor down more to keep the bow down

I'm confusing the heck out myself----everything I'm reading about prop dynamics seems to go exactly against what I observed regarding wot and my rpm's. At least the boat's acting better, but this prop work is hurting my head. I guess at least I should stick the Trophy on to see what it does.

Never had this issue with the old boat......just want this to work right and get the best performance I can!!