re: Bay Boat Question

Alex, we have two props. The 19 is the one we normally run, and the RPM is 5600 @ WOT. If you exceed 5750, it'll let you know.

The other is an 18 that has been tuned with extreme tip cup in it. It allows us to jump up in very shallow water. However, the downside is the loss of speed. The loss of speed is mostly due to the fact that we have to keep more boat in the water to keep from over-revving. We can only hit about 47 mph with it trimmed down enough to keep it below 5750 RPM.

There's a guy in Metairie that we take the props to. He polishes them up for us about once a year for $75. He'll do anything you want done, such as add tip cup, etc. That said, I could drive you straight to his shop, but have no idea what it's called. My brother does if you need it.

As for the washdown, no...we don't have it anyway.

As for the spare tire, you saw the picture...there's a U bolt running thru the lug holes. It comes up from under the tongue of the trailer, legs of the U Bolt thru the lugs, then tightened down. Pretty simple application. I didn't get a pic of it yesterday.

Another quick thing. When we're running WOT, the boat is trimmed out all the way. There's NEVER been a porpoise with this set up. We actually installed spacers to help it trim out a little more. There's very little of the boat in the water at WOT and trimmed out. I paid attn when I was driving yesterday, and with a full load of fuel, 40 lbs of ice in the floor box, anchor up front, me and my brother, and all our gear, we hit 53 in the straightaways.

Boat ran PERFECT. I'm always nervous when it's sat up for a while, but I swear, it has NEVER failed to start immediately with a growl. It idled rough when my brother first started it on the muffs the other day, but after a minute or two, smoothed out. Yesterday, it didn't even idle rough. I realize the early Optimax had issues, as did the EFI Yammies. But I've been nothing short of impressed with this motor for going on 6 years.

Our trolling motor is on it's last leg, though...

What does your boat do with that 21 Power Tech? If I remember right, we tried one and didn't get ENOUGH RPMs out of it. But common sense says IF you can get a 21 to spin fast enough, it's gonna go faster...push more water than the 19.

I think the prop guy told us though that the tip cup he adds is like making it a bigger prop without any more weight. Maybe that's why we stuck with the 19 with a little tip cup. Seems like we tried a 21 and didn't like it, but that's been 5 years ago. We haven't changed a thing since then. We use that 18 if we're fishing a tourney and staying in very shallow water. That way we don't have to troll or idle for 20 minutes to get to deep enough water to jump on step. With that 18, if the boats floating, we can jump on step.

Just watch your Water pressure with a hydraulic plate.

I totally forgot to check water pressure yesterday.

Bottom line though...it should sound an alarm if there is a problem with the SmartCraft guages.