Bass Tracker ProTeam 165 with 9.9 prop help with info!

[Jetswu87]

Hello all,

I recently purchased this boat to fish our local lakes which are all limited to a 9.9. I've done quite a bit of reading and feel like I have a good amount of helpful info in my current setup. I know this is a rather large boat for such a small motor but she just pushes around the lake.

Boat setup

2001 Pro Team 165 (semi-V)
Foot controlled trolling motor
1 battery
5ish gallons of gas
2 people (200lbs each)
Gear (figure 50lbs or so)
2001 4 stroke Mercury 9.9

GPS speed wide open 7.5mph, 8.5 if i stand on the bow. Will not plane, WOT RPM in gear is 4k-4.1k verified with timing light and on board tach. Motor will reach 5800 in neutral. Motor runs great! Starts every time, plugs look good. I compression tested it tonight bone cold and go 100psi on both cylinders. I have verified the throttle is opening completely. I will say when I'm in gear on the water the motor does not gain any more rpm 3/4-full throttle. I've adjusted trim last time out and it made no difference.

What I do know, the prop is the standard 9"x9"(48-828156-9) that comes with all these smaller motors. I've attached some pictures, it's not in the best of shape but I'm curious if the damage to the prop could be causing poor top end performance. I also know the fin is not even with the bottom of the boat, I measured these distances and I'm coming up with roughly 3" lower then the boat. There is very little room in the stock setup to move this up. The boat stays pretty dry and is in great shape for 15 years old. The bottom has some dents and dings but nothing I wouldn't expect.

So in my very limited knowledge of outboards I've come up with a jack plate as a possible help, from what i understand going down in pitch will help get more RPM but will not necessarily improve speed.

So I ask the help of my fellow boaters in their opinions on how to make my setup better.

Thanks in advance!

Vinny

 

[Jetswu87]

Sorry for the double post, said it timed out trying to load pictures. I've uploaded them to photobucket instead.

 

[Jetswu87]

Figure I'd share what i did today.

I raised the motor with a 1"x1" wood board, which measured about 1.25". Depending how the trim pin the motor was even or an inch below the hull.

I adjusted the valves, they were all tight. After this i took the boat out and grabbed my neighbor for a passenger to simulate my normal run.

This made absolutely no change in the boat, same results 7.5mph with both of us in the back seats, 8.5 with one of us on the bow. I even moved forward in front of the console while driving and it remained the same per GPS. I moved the Trim pin from one hole to another with little to no change.

The tach stopped working so no comparison there, but given the speed i don't believe it was more then 4k like before.

If i get a new prop should i stay with the 9x9? If i can get this setup to plane I fully believe it'll do double digits.

I may get the 15hp carb, but thats $200 that could go towards a gps fish finder

 

[anzomcik]

Ok, pretty much any money you throw at this motor will give you the same results, 7-9mph top speed. Its a 10hp motor, you plowing at displacement speed you may need 25hp to plane out. Its water not land and it sounds like your motor is a good motor it just isn't strong enough to do what you want.

I have been in your position, I did everything jack up the motor, whale tails, different props none of it made any real difference. What I did was buy a 25 and then I was doing 23mph. You may have people saying you can get 18mph out of that motor, that isn't realistic in this set up, yes some boats can get 18 out of a 9.9 but very few and they all are very light.

Be happy with the boat, it is what it is with that motor. Not the answer you want, but its the truth

 

[anzomcik]

double post delete

 

[steelespike]

I would be very interested to see the numbers with all moveable equipment removed and just you driving.
A 9" prop is a step toward the high side so surely wrong for the weight you are hauling.
​ I'm thinking a 8" Spitfire 4 blade.The spit fire doesn't usually require a pitch reduction if rpm is correct
I think a 8 " will put you in the 5500 rpm range. A 7" close to 6000.I think about 16 mph may be possible.
The lightly loaded test I suggested will tell us better what prop is needed because it should plane giving us a more realistic rpm/speed.

 

[Jetswu87]

Ok, pretty much any money you throw at this motor will give you the same results, 7-9mph top speed. Its a 10hp motor, you plowing at displacement speed you may need 25hp to plane out. Its water not land and it sounds like your motor is a good motor it just isn't strong enough to do what you want.

I have been in your position, I did everything jack up the motor, whale tails, different props none of it made any real difference. What I did was buy a 25 and then I was doing 23mph. You may have people saying you can get 18mph out of that motor, that isn't realistic in this set up, yes some boats can get 18 out of a 9.9 but very few and they all are very light.

Be happy with the boat, it is what it is with that motor. Not the answer you want, but its the truth

I'm feeling the same way now after yesterday, its just my nature to not to be able to leave anything alone haha. I'm stuck with the 9.9 for my local lakes, but I'd rather fish comfortably then go fast and be uncomfortable in a smaller boat


Steelespike,

Thanks for the reply, I'll look into the props. I will say I'm only seeing 4k rpm with the 9pitch prop, but I'm sure that's more to do with the boat not getting on plane.

 

[steelespike]

That's why I suggested a stripped test to see what the motor can do with a more reasonable load.
There is a 9.9 test on a 400 lb whaler total weight probably about 800 lbs 8 1/2" prop 18.5 at 5650.
Indicates your 9" isn't even close to what you need.
Your weight is around 1200 lbs including the boat. Your boat has a good footprint that helps it get weight up[ on the water.
Many times when we have problems with 9.9 performance it's because the boat is too small and is at its max weight or more.

 

[Jetswu87]

I see, well I ordered a 3 blade 8 pitch prop...as I wanted to replace the one on the boat before the weekend.

I don't forsee me ever fishing alone much on this boat. I'll drop it in the water around the block from me one day next week empty and see what she does and report back. Need to figure out why the tach randomly stopped working. How these manufactures wire these boats leave a lot to be desired.

I'll update this after this weekend to report what the new prop did if anything

Thanks for taking the time to reply guys.

 

[steelespike]

The idea of the light load test is to help evaluate if the motor is sound. A 9.9 on a light reasonably fast boat should make about 20 mph.
You'll note that the Whaler test is at 18.5. If we can get it to plane with the light load It will give actual numbers to work with.

 

[Jetswu87]

Just to update:

Ordered a 3 blade 9.25 x 8 pitch prop to replace the dinged up 9 pitch i had.

Results:

Same load, 4200 rpm. Same Speed 7.5-8.5 depending on bow weight.

I also did a run without a passenger, boat got to 10mph almost instantly and topped out right at 12mph. 4600rpm, I believe the boat was planed...felt like a rocket ship compared to 7.5 mph lol. I believe the boat planes around 10mph.

Reason I'm almost certain it was on plan at this speed, is when i turned the speed dropped to 9.5mph like it came off plane. I didn't attempt to adjust the trim or anything as I was about out of day light.

 

[steelespike]

Did you take out the removable stuff for a true light test.I do wonder if there isn't something wrong with the motor
To pop to 10 mph instantly but level out at 12 just doesn't seem right.
The reason for the light test is to try to evaluate your setup/motor not simply to see how fast it will go.

 

[Texasmark]

Planing is detected when the water leaves the transom and is forced out behind the boat. It usually occurs at around 10-15 mph depending on the rig. You are starting to understand your problem: Too much with too little. Since you are limited in HP, just make the best of it in your comfortable large boat. At that slow speed, the engine height is not that big of a deal as you realized. Drag is the culprit which increases (obviously) with a speed increase. You have more drag than you can tolerate with the "displacement" hull.

Mark

 

[Jetswu87]

Steele,

Roughly 4 gallons of gas, small cooler (15lbs with ice), 10lbs of tackle and my trolling motor was still on the boat. When I said it got to 10 instantly, was on the initial wide open throttle, it leveled out at 12mph. This didn't taken very long.

Mark- figured as much, it was exciting to see the boat do the speed it did with only me in it. I like to think I could get it to do that loaded with the 15hp carb. Still on the fence if it's worth another $200 to me though.

 

[steelespike]

You gained 600 rpm dropping 1/2 an inch in pitch. Some of that came from planing off.
7 or 7.5 should get you closer to your required rpm range Your motor is presently lugging
not good.There is a slim chance you could actually throttle back a little and stay on plane.
14 mph is a possibility along with a stronger hole shot.

 

[Jetswu87]

Steele,

I never ran the boat light with the old prop. That prop(9x9) would see 4k rpm loaded....this 9.25x8" prop sees 4200.

Just with me was 4600rpm

 

[steelespike]

Just with you is that everything else in the boat minus some ones 200 lbs?
If we go by the 4200 Then obviously you need at least 800 just to reach minimum wot rpm.
​ I think a 7" prop is required. At 5000 it would be under 12 mph,5500 would be about 13 and 6000 would be about 14.
​ Your little 9.9 will use about 1 gallon per hour (gph) at wot.whether making 8 mph or 14.
I think you can see your range will be farther with better speed.
​ Assuming the 15 carb actually makes a 15 motor then your problem may be solved.
Of course the 15 will use about 1.5 gph at wot so might affect range depending on the final speed.

 

[Texasmark]

You gained 600 rpm dropping 1/2 an inch in pitch. Some of that came from planing off.
7 or 7.5 should get you closer to your required rpm range Your motor is presently lugging
not good.There is a slim chance you could actually throttle back a little and stay on plane.
14 mph is a possibility along with a stronger hole shot.

That's why change in performance is up for grabs......don't know till you test it in your environment. In guesstimating, one (we) don't know what else is going to change when you change something.

Hang in there.

Mark

 

[Jetswu87]

Figured I'd give an update in hopes to help someone later down the line!

Got the new carb on it today.

Loaded with 2 people and gear the boat will do 13.5 mph, on plane. Tach showed 5200-5300

With just me and my gear it got up to 18-19mph. The tach didn't work when i did the run, it does this at times. It wasn't on rev limiter but judging by the RPM loaded I was probably 5500-5700. Limiter is 5800.

The boat actually plans pretty well, both of us are sitting in the back chairs when traveling..So not very balanced at all, I'd say it takes 50-100ft to plane 10mph seems to be the magic number.

 

[steelespike]

Good to know the carb works.Is it said to be just a replacement of the carb or is there other adjustments?