Drop in boat speed when loaded?

[Dan L]

I have a Crestliner 1850 Fishhawk and suzuki 150 motor. I can run 50 MPH with a lite load. When I add another guy and our gear I am down to about 43 MPH. It seems like a big drop to me. I was running a 23" Suzuki prop at about 5800 RPM's mounted one hole off of the transom. I have now raised the motor up one more hole and tried different props. Same result with about a 7 MPH drop in speed. I have heard of maybe lowering the motor to the bottom hole to increase loaded speed. Any ideas or is this a normal drop in speed?

[PerchJerker]

Stainless or aluminum props?

What do your rpms do when you have another guy and gear in the boat, do they drop a lot?

General rule for props is the more blade area you have (more blades, or different style blades that are bigger) the better it will be at handling a load.

[Dan L]

I drop 500 RPM's from a lite load to as compared to 2 guys with gear. These a ss props. I wonder if it is worth trying a four blade prop.

[marine_man]

Have you tried a 21" prop? You're a bit short on RPM's when it's just you since you're running at 5800 RPM. That may help a bit and get you on plane a little quicker when loaded down, but you're not going to gain much in speed. I don't think lowering the motor another hole is going to help your loaded speed. It will likely make it worse.

marine_man

[Random guy]

I'm dealing with the same deal with my 1850 right now. I have a four blade on the way to try with the heavy loads. I'm going to have two props in the stow. A three 21 pitch for long range running when it is just two in the boat for tourneys or personal fishig and a four blade 19 pitch for guiding when I have four to five in the boat. It may be a pain to switch back and forth but with fuel prices every drop I save is a new crankbait.

[Dan L]

I am curious how that 4 blade prop works for you. I have been thinking of trying the rev 4 by mercury. I hear that it carries a load well.