Prop size and lower unit lube on 1987 Classic 50

alanpeters

Recruit
Joined
Aug 3, 2014
Messages
2
I have a 1987 Mercury Classic 50 on a 1987 16' Crestliner Angler fishing boat, tiller configuration, that I bought second or third hand. The boat is fiberglass and fairly heavy. It has a 17 gallon gas tank under the floor. I weigh about 260 and mostly fish alone. I've owned the boat for about 10 years and unfortunately only get on the water a few times per year.

The prop on the boat is an aluminum 3 blade and the only marking visible while installed it is stamped on its body: "PA X 337". Can any one tell me what size and pitch that is?

With this prop, the hole shot is poor but once on plane the boat runs over 30 mph, as high as 35 mph on flat water. The hole shot issue is especially true if I have a passenger or I am facing the wind. I would trade some speed for better acceleration.

Second question. At some point, the prop got damaged and I had it rebuilt. The prop is beat up again and while it works, I am now debating another rebuild or getting a new one. While at a remote location that trip I bought a prop from a local marine place that was supposed to be close to what they thought I needed but I never installed it. It is made by Michigan Propellers with the number 031017 stamped on the inside hub. The box has that same number on it and says it is 10.375 x 13. I am wondering if this is really appropriate for my boat. I am also wondering if this prop would improve my acceleration over the current one or just add to the problem. From what I have read, it sounds like 13 might be too high a pitch.

As this is a tiller, I don't have a tach on the boat and do not know what the rpm is at WOT. If it turns out I really need that information, what is my best bet to get that inexpensively. Is there something I can clip on the motor just for testing? I prefer to not install anything permanently.

Last question, kind of unrelated. I am going to the lake soon and checked the lower unit lube yesterday and it was very black.I decided to drain it down and then put in a whole 10 ounce tube of marine lube, but it was not enough to raise the level to the vent. It didn't seem that more than 10 ounces came out, but maybe it was just low to begin with. What is the capacity of the lower unit? Thanks.
 

steelespike

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Apr 26, 2002
Messages
19,069
I swear I have seen this post before and I'm not up at midnight so it wasn't last night.
Here goes again. Your prop numbers are probably under the prop nut,
Rpm numbers are very important if you want to change props also the evaluate your present setup.
An induction tach will work on almost any motor Use the bottom plug wire
and get the tach wire outside the cowl as soon as possible.(I know I wrote this before.
Dejavous.
Your old lube was normal. Get another tube and fill her up.
If the old lube looked like coffee with cream that indicats a leak of some sort.
The Mercury Spitfire 4 bld. prop should help your problem.But size will depend on your present prop number
and rpm and gps speed. The spitfire doesn't require a pitch change if the present prop is at the correct rpm.
 
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