Re: DT-85 , how many rpms @ WOT ???
Hopalong,
Thanks for getting back.. Actually, I have some less than ideal conditions with the boat. When I bought it 2 months ago, it had been sitting for over 4 years. The fuel tank is almost full and I haven't figured out a way to get rid of it yet, so I'm carrying all that extra weight. I've been running off a new 6 gallon plastic tank. So there's a bunch of weight there although I'm not sure of how many gallons the tank is, it's at least 30 and may be as much as 50-60. There is also some wet foam in the boat which will be a springtime project for me to try and dig it all out.
Secondly: The motor is not at the ideal height. The cavitation plate is about an inch to 1 1/2" below the keel at the transom. When running the boat today, I actually was trimmed up all the way (actually started to tilt once), and still couldn't get it to cavitate on sharp turns. If I have time and help, I'll try to raise the motor up 1 set of holes in the bracket tomorrow. My thought on this is that I may pick up maybe 1-2 mph. My real question is if I will pick up any rpm. I'm hoping that raising it up will let me trim the boat higher out of the water since even trimmed up all the way, the nose doesn't seem very high. My thought is that the extra friction from the water may be holding it back and not letting it achieve max rpm or enough trim to get the hull out of the water.
The prop is a Michigan wheel Vortex with the hub system. They are not cupped and usually run 300-400 rpm higher than a cupped prop, according to the outfit that I bought it from when I called them today. The prop is brand new as is the hub kit. These hubs can't slip, only break.
It was on this forum that I was told that the WOT power band is 5500-6000 rpm. I can live with the speed since It's not often that you can run at 34 mph on the ocean with a 16 footer, I just want to get it set a bit more optimum as far as the power band goes. I have the option of sending it back for a 13 3/4 x 15P. That should help about 300 rpm, but what do you think it will do to the speed ????
The really sad thing is that this boat/motor combination has been like this since new. The original owner told me the boat would only do 22-25 mph. It looks like it was set up by morons !!!!