14' Foot fishing boat questions (total newbie to boats sorry)

[LunchMonkey]

I finally talked my wife into getting a little starter fishing boat this spring and found (what I thought) was a decent one a couple months later. Its a 1950's Meyer v-hull with a ~1974ish Mercury 9.8hp 110 Thunderbolt. We've taken it out 4 or 5 times now and everything seems to run decently. here are a few issues I was hoping someone could point me in the right direction of fixing or forgetting.

1. We cant get the boat to plane. Its a 14' alum, nothing extra on board, and my wife and I together are maybe 270pds TOGETHER. Is the motor just too small to even accomplish this? Im not looking to break any speed records, but we seem to be pushing alot of water. I've replaced the spark plugs, is there anything else "light" that I can do to make sure that the motor is running at proper performance?

2. I was reading about the correct placement of the motor, depth-wise, and I've read that the Cavication plate should be even with the bottom of the boat. Mine was sitting about 4 inchs below (the motor shaft is about 18' where my transom is about 14'. I've snuck in a piece of 2x4 under motor where it sits on the transom and lifted it up about 1 1/2 inchs but I wont be able to lift it any farther. Will having a 4 inch different make a ton of difference in how my boat is driving or planing? Should I not bother and set the motor back down? Also there is a lot of water that seems to splash up into the back of the boat, will raising up the motor help keep that from happening in the future?

3. The prop is pretty beat up, being an older motor is there something I should be aware of if I get the prop replaced? I've been reading about 3 and 4 fin props, but mine is a 2. Are they interchangeable on this old of a motor?

Thank you for your guys help, I've been trolling around trying to read what I can, but sometimes stupid questions need to be asked.

 

[tlh 178]

i would take the prop it to a marina and have them send it out to be recasted. that would be the cheapest thing to try. cost would be 30 to 60 i'm guessing. if you want a new prop, the oem quicksilver # 48-47922A10. new prop will cost atleast 130.00. also you could try ebay! on a 14footer a fresh 9.8 should go close to 20 mph.

 

[Star]

A bad prop can hurt you for sure. You also have to be sure it is hitting on both cylinders. start the motor up in water and warm it up a bit. Shut it off and pull a plug wire, then restart it, it will run rough but it should run. Shut it down and reconnect the plug, and then remove the other plug wire and restart the motor. this way you will know that you have two good ignition systems. With one person any 9.8 hp should plain. If it is a tiller motor then you just have to find a way to get more weight forward so the boat doesn't plow through the water. The break over point on your typical 14' aluminum is about 12 mph, once it flattens out you should see 16 or 17mph. Be sure the AV plate above the prop is close to the bottom of the boat, this too can help. I would not have your prop repaired, after you have set everything else up see if Solas has a prop for that motor, I got a Solas Saturn Stainless Steel 10 pitch for my 15.. a (9.9 with a bigger carb) around $105 on sale it made a big difference on my boat. If you boat in rocky lakes this may not be the way to go. SS is harder to repair if you bend it. I would not recommend those Dolphin wings to get your nose down, because they add some drag on the top end. Good Luck let us know how you make out.