Low water pickup?

atticus3600s

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Sep 19, 2004
Messages
120
I have a 1984 Skeeter ss-1 Fisherman 16' bass boat with a 75
merc outboard on it. This thing really flies:devil: I am guessing maybe somewhere in the range of 50+ MPH.
I am worried about the water pressure at max trim at WOT. I dont have a water pressure gauge right now so is there any other way to know if the water pressure is bad? There is a strong pee stream out of the tell tale at all speeds and trim positions.
Also is there a company that makes nosecones with a low water pickup for a 1984 74 horse 4 cylinder merc? Then only ones I have ever seen where for six cylinder outboards.

Thanks in advance for any help.
 

Scaaty

Vice Admiral
Joined
May 31, 2004
Messages
5,180
Re: Low water pickup?

If ya get water at speed out the hole, yer fine. Just take a look when on the trailer at full trim, and see where the water PU is. Anywhere just below the water line off the hull is good to go. The old Merc XS150 had a low water PU on the bottom on the gearcase, but we ran them with a surfacing prop. I see zero prop with a 16 70hp. I'm putting together another 150hp on a 16 footer Flatbotom. Probably be air cooled more often than not!
 

WillyBWright

Fleet Admiral
Joined
Dec 29, 2003
Messages
8,200
Re: Low water pickup?

You can get a nose cone for your size gearcase. I've seen them use them on inline-6's and you have the same gearhousing. They can pack a powerhead full of sand with a sandbar strike. You usually use those on boats that go well over 60.
 

atticus3600s

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Sep 19, 2004
Messages
120
Re: Low water pickup?

Thanks for the help guys, I think I am going to install a water pressure gauge first and see what kind of pressure there is right now. If it is ok then I am not going to worry about the setup anymore because the performance is great, I just dont want to blow the powerhead with and overheat. That would be bad:^
 
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