Merc Bigfoot

[sumcat1]

I just purchased a new 21' Tracker pontoon with a 60hp Merc Bigfoot. I am far enough into the breakin to run at full throttle and can only reach 5200rpm. The owners manual calls for full throttle rpm of 5500 to 6000 and states you should prop to run in the upper half of this range. Sounds like SOP to me but the dealer says the Bigfoot is a different animal and 5200 is OK. Anyone else have any experience in this area?

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Merc Bigfoot

Your dealer is wrong. It doesn't matter what lower unit gear ratio an engine has, engine manufacturers want the engine to run within it maximum rpm band at wide open throttle. The non-big foot lower units carry a 1.83:1 gear set while the big foot units have the 2.33:1. Using a prop with less pitch (2 numbers) will get you in the 5600 rpm range.