Mercury 115

Have a Merc 115 on a 1984 Checkmate. Without someone actually sitting on the front the prop wont catch. Ive thrown cinder blocks inthe hull everything and the motor just freewheels. I have a Lazer s/s 14" 22 pitch prop.After babying the throttle for a while it will finally bow down and catch water?

Re: Mercury 115

That is a very strange story. It is the opposite of what you would expect. You might post a picture of the boat, showing the motor installation, and where you have tried putting the weight.

Re: Mercury 115

Are you trimming the motor LEVEL before opening the throttle?

Once the boat is up and noses over begin to trim up.

Re: Mercury 115

CharlieB said:

Are you trimming the motor LEVEL before opening the throttle?

Once the boat is up and noses over begin to trim up.

Click to expand...

Hi and thanks. Yeah the motor is level and it just free wheels. Could something be up in the hub should I use like a 14 pitch.The front end just seems way too light

Re: Mercury 115

You are experiencing cavitation. Most likely there is nothing wrong with the hub in your prop.

You need to trim the motor down as far as it will go in order to get up on plane.

Look at you motor trimmed down all the way and make sure it goes lower than level. If it does not then you need to install a wedge shaped spacer between the motor and transom (with the thick part of the wedge upwards).

Some boats transoms do not have enough angle to allow your motor to trim down far enough.

Once up to speed (and trimmed out) is your engine RPM's correct? 22p sounds like a lot - just make sure it is OK.

Lesser pitch would help you plane easier but you do not want to over-rev.

Get rid of the cinder blocks and let her fly!!!

Regards,
Inline6