new Sabre prop height

[1986bee]

Sabre ftd 175 pro xs, 24 fury. What is ideal ptp? How high is too high on this combo? Thanks!

[crank68]

With most any boat you can raise it till you loose speed or water pressure....

[1986bee]

This is true. But I know the Basscat man drops by on this page and there's really no sense in messing around with it if I can talk to the man himself but thanks anyway

[blublazer]

Do you have the new 4 stroke Opti Max or 2 stroke?

[boyfromthelak]

not sure how relative it is but i have a 2019 sabre with the 150 pro xs and i am turning a 24p fury so you may need more prop not sure if the gearing is different on the 175 though

[Cajunhunter67]

Either with the JP flush or a 1/4 below.
If the steering gets stiff (Left steering torque) lower the motor. Too low and the steering will get loose and over sensitive to input.
You want slight steering torque present. Remember not to over trim. Watch your water pressure.
Throttle is power. Trim is speed.

[adchunts]

You can probably spin a 25 on that setup. 4.00” below pad should be a good place to start.

[1986bee]

It's my buddies boat. He's not internet savvy and I have tinkered with a lot of boats but never a bass cat. The reason I'm asking is because we are puzzled. I'm trying to help him set it up, first thing we did was measure prop to pad and it's about four and a half inches below from the dealer. The boat does not have a lot of water pressure. Pulls right at 12 with wide open throttle usually 10 or less at cruising speeds, drops off and the alarm goes off going around curves. We raise the motor up an inch to three and a half below pad thinking historically that's where they need to be starting out, lost even more water pressure. looks like we're going to have to drop it back down and go the other way to get the water pressure back up probably be 5 inches below the pad at that point

[adchunts]

How much trim does he have at WOT? Bass Cat boats use noticeably less trim than other brands. Usually around half on the gauge. That could contribute to the lack of water pressure. Wish you were closer, could probably have him squared away quickly.

[Cajunhunter67]

Sounds like he is over trimming.

The Merc 175 does not have a low water pick up like the 200-250 Proxs.
I added a Allen screw on the very top water pick up holes on each side and fixed my low water pressure issue.

Bass Cats do not require a lot of trim. Set up the motor as I described in my above post.
Set it up by going full throttle. Slowly bump up the trim. The boat will continue to pick up speed. Let it settle each time. Than bump up again. If the steering starts getting stiff, lower the engine. If you get no steering torque, raise the engine.
You want to have just a slight bit of steering torque.

If you are losing water pressure and the steering is loose at wide open throttle, it's probably the water pick up issue.

[1986bee]

Thanks, that's good info. He does have his top3 water holes plugged from the dealer. That's what had me puzzled with such low pressure at 4.5 below bad. we both noticed that it needed very little trim to lift. That's what had me perplexed about the low engine height. I have set up a lot of boats but never messed with a bass cat, it is certainly different then anything I have ever seen.

[CB_SabreFTD18]

I’ve got an ‘18 Sabre 175 Pro XS stroke. The 24 Fury at 3 3/4 PTP (1/4 below flush on plate) runs 69.2-.4 solo with 1/2 fuel. At 3 1/2 (flush), I’ve seen 69.6-.8 same load. No plugs in the lower unit, and I get 18 psi on the Smartcraft @ WOT. I like mine low as adchunts mentioned. On the rough water lakes I fish, my Sabre rides way better at 3 3/4- 3 7/8 PTP. I give up .5 mph on top end, but it’s worth it. I’d take those plugs out...at least the bottom 2 on each side. Mine stays at 12 psi in turns. Not sure how it would carry 2 people, but I’d like to see what a 25 Fury would do. Those speeds above are Summertime numbers.

[Cajunhunter67]

Thanks, that's good info. He does have his top3 water holes plugged from the dealer. That's what had me puzzled with such low pressure at 4.5 below bad. we both noticed that it needed very little trim to lift. That's what had me perplexed about the low engine height. I have set up a lot of boats but never messed with a bass cat, it is certainly different then anything I have ever seen.

When I first purchased my Sabre FTD (used) the top 3 holes were also plugged. I removed 2 (each side), and left the top plugs in. Fixed it right up. I was also able to raise the motor with no loss in pressure.