The_owl
Established Member
I'm looking for some sage advice on propping a my new tritoon. I took delivery of a new Crest 220 tritoon and for the maiden voyage we were able to get about 3 hours on it to do the initial break-in period. Overall i'm very excited and pleased with the performance of the boat and motor as its propped now, but i do have some thoughts/questions;
The prop that the dealer installed is the Solas Rubex 15 pitch SS (14.5 diameter). Acceleration/hole shot are great and mid-cruise handling is good. However once we did the full throttle part, we hit 6050-6100 RPM and did so every time we went full-bore (maybe 5 times?) for our one minute runs.
Per the manual and website, Merc says the 200 V6 4 stroke a is a 5000-5800 rating. I do see the 225 V6 is rated for 6000. Honestly I have no issues with the performance as it is BUT I do wonder what about if/when we have just one or two people, half a tank of gas or less?? Could we hit the rev limiter?? I wouldn’t be surprised to see 100-200 more RPM with some less weight in the boat. During the break-in we had four adults, all our gear, a full Yeti, and a full 48 gallon tank of gas.
In using the Merc Prop Selector & the Solas Prop Guide, both show bigger props as the recommended wheels. I inputted data for Acceleration, then Overall Performance, and lastly Mid Range Cruise and nearly every prop was a 17 with a couple 18's listed, one 16, and a couple 15 pitches but with bigger diameters than the 14.5 on the Solas. Even the Solas guide listed 17's for my application. I think based off that, along with what I’m seeing on the tach I’d be tempted to try a bigger pitch. What are your thoughts?
Top speed is 37 – 38 @ 6100 rpm. I’m honestly very satisfied with that and my thoughts on a bigger wheel have nothing to do with a speed. I just want to make sure we aren’t over revving the motor in any situation and creating issues that way.
So what am i looking for? We generally have 2-5 people on the boat an any given time. We'll be fishing, tubing and cruising (non-WOT) more than anything. Hole shot and 3500-4000 handling/economy are my biggest 'wants.'
I am going to reach out to my dealer but i did want to ask for a consensus here as well. I hoping someone reading this has a 200 V6 on a pontoon??
I'll also mention that on all three of my Merc Prop Guides, the Rev 4 is listed, both in the 15 and 17 pitch with the 14.625 diameter. I understand that's a popular selling prop and i almost expect it to not be available but it is what i'm leaning towards. But I am curious as to what i can gain going to a fourth blade on a toon. Also, is the bigger diameter of 14.625 vs 14.5 doing much of helping the RPM issue if i run a Rev 4 in a 15 pitch (do i even have an RPM issue??). Does anyone have thoughts on a four blade prop for a toon? If driving pontoons, you so seldom do much trimming that i wonder if the increased bowlift would be a benefit on a tritoon.
Thank you for any and all comments.
Have a great summer!!
Owl
The prop that the dealer installed is the Solas Rubex 15 pitch SS (14.5 diameter). Acceleration/hole shot are great and mid-cruise handling is good. However once we did the full throttle part, we hit 6050-6100 RPM and did so every time we went full-bore (maybe 5 times?) for our one minute runs.
Per the manual and website, Merc says the 200 V6 4 stroke a is a 5000-5800 rating. I do see the 225 V6 is rated for 6000. Honestly I have no issues with the performance as it is BUT I do wonder what about if/when we have just one or two people, half a tank of gas or less?? Could we hit the rev limiter?? I wouldn’t be surprised to see 100-200 more RPM with some less weight in the boat. During the break-in we had four adults, all our gear, a full Yeti, and a full 48 gallon tank of gas.
In using the Merc Prop Selector & the Solas Prop Guide, both show bigger props as the recommended wheels. I inputted data for Acceleration, then Overall Performance, and lastly Mid Range Cruise and nearly every prop was a 17 with a couple 18's listed, one 16, and a couple 15 pitches but with bigger diameters than the 14.5 on the Solas. Even the Solas guide listed 17's for my application. I think based off that, along with what I’m seeing on the tach I’d be tempted to try a bigger pitch. What are your thoughts?
Top speed is 37 – 38 @ 6100 rpm. I’m honestly very satisfied with that and my thoughts on a bigger wheel have nothing to do with a speed. I just want to make sure we aren’t over revving the motor in any situation and creating issues that way.
So what am i looking for? We generally have 2-5 people on the boat an any given time. We'll be fishing, tubing and cruising (non-WOT) more than anything. Hole shot and 3500-4000 handling/economy are my biggest 'wants.'
I am going to reach out to my dealer but i did want to ask for a consensus here as well. I hoping someone reading this has a 200 V6 on a pontoon??
I'll also mention that on all three of my Merc Prop Guides, the Rev 4 is listed, both in the 15 and 17 pitch with the 14.625 diameter. I understand that's a popular selling prop and i almost expect it to not be available but it is what i'm leaning towards. But I am curious as to what i can gain going to a fourth blade on a toon. Also, is the bigger diameter of 14.625 vs 14.5 doing much of helping the RPM issue if i run a Rev 4 in a 15 pitch (do i even have an RPM issue??). Does anyone have thoughts on a four blade prop for a toon? If driving pontoons, you so seldom do much trimming that i wonder if the increased bowlift would be a benefit on a tritoon.
Thank you for any and all comments.
Have a great summer!!
Owl
