mercury question

[cleve]

could someone explain the difference between the 60 and 60 bigfoot mercury(2 stroke) other than the bigfoot has a higher gear ratio. performance wise are the two capable of the same speeds with the right props or is the bigfoot destined to be a workhorse?

 

[Laddies]

Re: mercury question

The standard unit will always have a slight speed advantage due to the hydro dynamics of the larger unit.

 

[cleve]

Re: mercury question

the reason i asked was because i know a guy who has the standard 60 on a carolina skiff and his top speed is around 50. i only see the bigfoots on pontoons. i have a yamaha 60 with a 2.33-1 gear ratio, which is the same as a bigfoot, on a similar boat and my top speed is 40. i guess a higher gear ratio does make a top speed difference.

 

[finlay]

Re: mercury question

The bigfoot is directed at the commercial market, also having different gear ratios it also has a larger and more heavy duty gear set and the same goes for the bearings. bigfoots are built to last long hours under heavy loads...

But on the other side of the coin you can match a prop to the boat to get the same speeds that the standard gear case gets.

 

[Laddies]

Re: mercury question

In most cases the gear ratio can be overcome with the right prop, what can not change is the size and shape of the unit in the water causing drag. In many cases the engine may be set on rev sticks to get some of the unit out of the water and help the speed but this should only be done by those with experience as to high can cause the engine to overheat and the lose of steerage in a high speed turn.

 

[cleve]

Re: mercury question

i definately can see where drag is an issue because of the larger lower unit. guess i didn't think of that before. i agree with finlay . in theory you should be able to match the prop for similar speeds minus the drag. thanks for the input guys.