1983 Mercury 150HP Blackmax rooster tail!

[texacana]

I bought a 1993 372V Ranger boat. It came with 3" jackplate and a 1983 150HP mercury Blackmax. I'm running a 14 1/4 X 24 turbo prop right now, the hole shot is great and the max RPM I'm getting at the max speed of 52mph (GPS) is 5800 RPM... There's a huge rooster tail at the back. The higher I trimmed the engine the bigger the rooster tail. My prop has all kinds of nicks at the edges. I'm planning to have it re-work. Should I have the prop cupped? Will this take care of the rooster tail? Thanks for all the help in advance.....

 

[sloopy]

Re: 1983 Mercury 150HP Blackmax rooster tail!

no that will not take care of the rooster tale but it will help with speed. You also want to trim it right that will creat a smaller rooster tale, you the first person I know if who has ever wanted to take there rooster tale away !!!<br /><br />whats so bad about it?

 

[texacana]

Re: 1983 Mercury 150HP Blackmax rooster tail!

Sloopy, seems like wasted power to me when the water is pushed skyward instead of pushing the boat forward. The prop seems to have no bite if you have a rooster tail at least that's what I think. Also when I trim the engine in, the rooster tail goes down but I lost speed...

 

[DJ]

Re: 1983 Mercury 150HP Blackmax rooster tail!

Texacana,<br /><br />A roostertail is the product of having a portion of your prop. out of the water. It is normal.\<br /><br />It sounds as if you are geting the most out of your set up. Make sure that you watch your speedo. (not tach.) when trimming up thae last little bit.<br /><br />You have probably noticed that that just a little too much trim and your speed falls off too. There is a happy balance there.<br /><br />Make sure to keep an eye on that water pressure guage also!

 

[texacana]

Re: 1983 Mercury 150HP Blackmax rooster tail!

Djohns19, thanks!!!!

 

[Dhadley]

Re: 1983 Mercury 150HP Blackmax rooster tail!

If you have a Turbo redone by someone other than the factory, make sure it is someone who is familiar with Turbo and does them all the time. Otherwise you may lose all the lift that a Turbo has. <br /><br />Good luck!

 

[texacana]

Re: 1983 Mercury 150HP Blackmax rooster tail!

Dhadley, I'm just going to drop off the prop at my local dealer. I'm not sure if they are any good with the Turbo props. But I saw one of the prop that has been re-worked and it looks good.. I guess that should be good enough...,eh. Thanks!!

 

[Kenny Bush]

Re: 1983 Mercury 150HP Blackmax rooster tail!

Hey Tex, I do agree that you have about as much speed that your ever going to get. Cupping the blades makes the prop hold the water a little better similar to a "progressive pitch" prop. The only thing that could improve performance would be a chopper style prop that could give you a little bit of lift(but that ranger may be too heavy). As for the rooster tail, people would pay money for that big ole tail. Good Luck.......BushCat

 

[93evinrude]

Re: 1983 Mercury 150HP Blackmax rooster tail!

Texicana.It may be the age of the engine,the set-up or the amount of equipment in your boat but I have a ranger 365 and you should be able to get approx 60 mph from that hull.

 

[texacana]

Re: 1983 Mercury 150HP Blackmax rooster tail!

Bushcat, thanks! I guess I got mine for free.<br /><br />93Evinrude, you are right, my engine is probably too old for the boat. I heard also that the blackmax made in the early 80's, the horsepower are measured at the power head instead of at the prop. don't qoute me on that though... As far as my load I have three batteries, 18-20 gallons of fuel (I always try top her off when I go out), Light tackle box (since I'm just a hobby fisherman not a tournament type),a couple of rods and me (200#)and my partner Riley (miniature Schnauzer). Really not much of a load.