Negative Trim vs Top End ZX225

[Thamelau]

I am currently running the following:

2.75” Prop to pad
25 t1
05 Yamaha HDPI
05 Skeeter ZX225
5 degree negative wedge
67mph gps alone with full tanks and tourney load
5750 rpm

Would I gain some top end taking the wedges out or would she become a bear to handle? I was hoping to take the wedges out, and lower it a little to make up for the increase in trim capacity to keep better bite in rough water and increase positive trim for speed.

Am I thinking about this correctly?

[ssmithboats]

when you take the wedges out it will be slower out of the hole an develop a slow speed porpoise thats why they were put on.

[Thamelau]

That was what I was wondering. If I don't run my trim vs rpm correct it will porpoise with the wedge on. I didn't know if people had taken them off and were able to keep the boat from porpoising using trim or throttle.

[ChooChooSnakeMan]

Don't know about a ZX225 or how long / experienced you are with Skeeter so please don't see my input as knocking you or your boat. I have a FX21 - 250 SHO as my first Skeeter. When I first got it I thought I had made a big mistake. I couldn't drive it at any slow or even cruise speed without the dreaded Skeeter porpoise. I was really bummed out cause I really liked the boat. Anyway I did a lot of reading and spent time on the water and this worked for me and I've posted this before and have gotten feedback that it helped others, hope it helps you.
Skeeters unlike most bass boats can't be trimmed up as they are getting on plane. I guess it is just the hull design but what works for me is to have the trim all the way down and just accelerate until the boat is on plane, then and only then trim up. I was amazed at the difference this made. Using the trim up as it gets on plane method like I had used with every other bass boat I had caused the hull to porpoise and once that was started it didn't want to stop until I was running really, really fast and had trimmed up a lot. What I found was that by delaying trimming until the boat was already FULLY on plane that the porpoise didn't get started. Then I could trim up for best speed at the least engine rpms. I found that the boat would stay on plane at a lower speed using this method than any other method. Once the hull is stabilized and you add power and trim you can then really air it out. Skeeters (at least mine) like a lot of trim to really hit their maximum speed. I proved this the other day when I was running down the river and noticed that I was only making 57 mph (gps) at 5000 rpm. I looked at it seemed I was trimmed up ok but I knew this was slow compared to what was normal for 5000 rpm. I thought I was maybe overtrimmed and bumped it down and the speed decreased. I then bumped the trim up past where it was and my speed picked up to 61 mph (gps) which is normal. So just a little out of trim made 4 mph difference. It is that way if not more when running WOT. I hit 74 mph (gps) at 5850 rpms when I have the trim set right and that is with full tanks, me (200 lbs), and a tackle store of rods and stuff. I hope this helps. I don't have any wedges in my set up and think with this method you won't need them.

[mrdeath]

I've taken the wedges off of my ZX200 before and it made no difference in top end. I had the same thinking you do - remove the wedges to add a little more positive trim. It gets all the positive trim it needs with the wedges on, and they help in holeshot and low speed porpoising. You could probably gain a little with a different prop, or by having yours worked. I run a worked 25 Tempest at 2.25" PTP, 5450 RPM and 67 mph. I've tried other props and have a 25 T1 as a backup. It turns about 400 more RPM than my Tempest, but is 1 mph slower.

[wpaul]

Don't know about a ZX225 or how long / experienced you are with Skeeter so please don't see my input as knocking you or your boat. I have a FX21 - 250 SHO as my first Skeeter. When I first got it I thought I had made a big mistake. I couldn't drive it at any slow or even cruise speed without the dreaded Skeeter porpoise. I was really bummed out cause I really liked the boat. Anyway I did a lot of reading and spent time on the water and this worked for me and I've posted this before and have gotten feedback that it helped others, hope it helps you.
Skeeters unlike most bass boats can't be trimmed up as they are getting on plane. I guess it is just the hull design but what works for me is to have the trim all the way down and just accelerate until the boat is on plane, then and only then trim up. I was amazed at the difference this made. Using the trim up as it gets on plane method like I had used with every other bass boat I had caused the hull to porpoise and once that was started it didn't want to stop until I was running really, really fast and had trimmed up a lot. What I found was that by delaying trimming until the boat was already FULLY on plane that the porpoise didn't get started. Then I could trim up for best speed at the least engine rpms. I found that the boat would stay on plane at a lower speed using this method than any other method. Once the hull is stabilized and you add power and trim you can then really air it out. Skeeters (at least mine) like a lot of trim to really hit their maximum speed. I proved this the other day when I was running down the river and noticed that I was only making 57 mph (gps) at 5000 rpm. I looked at it seemed I was trimmed up ok but I knew this was slow compared to what was normal for 5000 rpm. I thought I was maybe overtrimmed and bumped it down and the speed decreased. I then bumped the trim up past where it was and my speed picked up to 61 mph (gps) which is normal. So just a little out of trim made 4 mph difference. It is that way if not more when running WOT. I hit 74 mph (gps) at 5850 rpms when I have the trim set right and that is with full tanks, me (200 lbs), and a tackle store of rods and stuff. I hope this helps. I don't have any wedges in my set up and think with this method you won't need them.

Same advice that I would give in terms of trim, plane, and speed. The same held true with my 04 ZX225 and now on my 18 FX21.

[Thamelau]

Could I ask what your outboard specs are? A lot of people have been telling me to run my 2005 HDPI from 5800-6000 RPM's and that scares me. I have seen the manuals that call for 5500 rpm's and you are one of the first that I have heard that are running at or below 5500.

[Thamelau]

Thanks for the advice everyone!

[mrdeath]

I have an 08 200 HPDI. Manual says 5500, but you're right, most people run them higher. The rev limiter is set at 6150, so they'll run up to there, but from what I've been told, they quit making power after 5500. If you have a good prop, you shouldn't need to turn it any higher.