150 Pro XS SLOWER than regular 150?

[wdr2064]

That does not mean that other items like jackplate, etc. don't affect things but it is simply a fact that with all things being the same the Pro XS will be slower. I did not ask them how much larger a prop could be used and so on that may make it perform better. I just wanted to establish that fact.

[fishnfireman]

OK I Called technical support for mercury motors and the technical person told me that if you have the regular four stroke 150
And the pro xs 150 And Send them out on the same hall with the same prop the regular four stroke
Will absolutely be faster than the pro xs Because of the gear ratio

All things being equal-- that is absolutely correct.

[contium]

OK I Called technical support for mercury motors and the technical person told me that if you have the regular four stroke 150
And the pro xs 150 And Send them out on the same hall with the same prop the regular four stroke
Will absolutely be faster than the pro xs Because of the gear ratio

That's not completely true. Stick a 25p on both 1980's and see what happens.

[TritonTRXV8]

Its no different than the command thrust model on the 115 pro xs. Much lower gears on that model making it able to spin a 23-24p prop on the same boat that normally runs a 20p prop but has better holeshot and speed because the the higher rpm range and slightly better performance of the pro xs engines. Like said put a bigger prop on the pro xs and see what happens. The. Put that same larger prop on the regular 150 it wont get full rpms with it.

[wdr2064]

That's not completely true. Stick a 25p on both 1980's and see what happens.

I have no argument with that. I started down this road because my boat is slower than my friends who has a regular four stroke. In trying to figure it out I got a whole lot of non-answers. Some from the dealer but that was because they simply did not know. I also got non-answers from the manufacturer which was very frustrating to me because they should know. In fairness to both they are getting different props for me to try after the manufacturer had me try some different things (height of motor and so on). I got frustrated because I did spend a lot of time trying to figure out some basics. I am not in the boat business and am about as far from being an expert as there is so it was frustrating for me not to have the one basic thing I found out verified by them as being true. I had to do all the digging myself. For most questions my customers ask me I know the answers. Very occasionally something comes up that I do not know but those are not basic things. To me this should be pretty a pretty basic item you should know if you are in the boat business. I thank all of you for your suggestions, help and input.

[MichaelJ3]

While you are looking at the Announcements- note the "Performance Info" that's suggested. Please provide ACTUAL data from running YOUR boat ...
Be glad to help- but that REAL WORLD data is absolutely critical. Nothing but the real-run facts gets the best chance of arriving at a favorable solution.

^^^^^
This is the single most important info you can get/need to get to optimize your setup...with this, your dealer, Merc, and Don can all guide you well to the right solution...without it, its guess and try again...

Then you have to decide, do you want better hole shot, or better top end, best economy, etc...because that will affect which setup items you pick...

[gehol]

I suspect that it has a lot to do with the "moment of enertia" (in laymen's terms, the balance point between the weight of the engine and the weight of the hull, or point at which you might find the center of gravity). Keep in mind, that's a very "rough" explanation.

In short, I think that the 150 has a hard time lifting as much hull up and out of the water, while balancing on the pad. Moving the engine further AFT increases the amount of full that must be lifted (as the above mentioned point moves AFT when you set the engine back further).
Keeping the engine right on the transom moves that point back forward, and does, in some cases result in better performance.

This differs from the big-displacement, higher-torque and horsepower engines, which often "thrive" on more setback.

Don is 100% correct, and it is true for a boat like the OP or a boat like mine, 20XD with a 250XS. First, what is the purpose of a jack plate? Primary is to allow changing the height of the motor easily. The secondary purpose is to move the prop back into better water for those boats that run a motor very high.
There is a lot of mis understanding out there on jackplates. The fulcrum is NOT the pad. The fulcrum is the face of the jack plate where the motor is attached. Think of it like this; wrap one arm around the front of the motor cowling and push forward on the prop with the other and attempt to raise the front of the boat. This is what the motor is doing. The farther back you put that fulcrum the harder it is to pick up the front of the boat. As Don said moving the motor back makes the effective length of the boat longer. Pick up a sledge hammer by the very end of the handle. Hold it out parallel to the ground. Now choke up about 6 inches and repeat. Which position is easier to hold the hammer parallel to the ground?

So why do we move the motor back on high performance boats? Many of these boats run motors very high. I would expect the OP's boat may have the prop centerline 3-4 inches below the bottom of the boat. A boat like mine runs the centerline of the prop 1-3/8" ABOVE the pad, some even more. If you run the motor that high without a jackplate, the prop would be more than half way out of the water. Therefore we have to shove the motor back to where the water is higher relative to the bottom of the boat and is better water. At higher speeds even with my 12" setback my prop arc will have the top blade 1-2 inches out of the water. It is a constant trade off with set back verses lift. In my case I have enough horsepower to weight to move the boat fast enough to start generating lift. Most boats with a pad generate little lift below 60 MPH. You have to stuff air under the hull along with the motor torque to actually "fly" the hull.
Many think pushing the stern of the boat down is the same as lifting the front, it is not.

I have no experience with a boat like the OP's but if what Don says is correct about lift it may help to make the effective length of the boat shorter thus getting the boat up a little easier.

Full disclosure: I stole some of the wording and examples from Paul Nichols over on the Bullet page. Many think Paul is one of the best in setting up high performance boats, I would agree.

[justsomeguy]

My 2019 150 Pro XS came with a 24" Tempest, said it was recommended by manufacturer. On a 2019 Tracker Pro Team 195.

[lpugh]

Be sure your GPS is set to read mile per hour, instead of knots as that would make almost the exact diffreance you are seeing. 50 knts = 57.53 mph, been there done that. thought I had motor problem developing when indicating 66 on my GPS!

[wdr2064]

That has been checked. The dealer actually has run the boat also.

[Buttermilk412]

My son went to a 25p prop on his Merc 150 Pro XS four stroke. Dealer put a 24p prop on it when he purchased it. It would only do 52 mph at 6000+ rpm. With the 25p prop he gets 60 mph at just under 6000 rpm with 1/4 tank of fuel and just himself in the boat. Two people and fishing gear is about 57-58 mph with the 25p prop. Prop is a Tempest plus I believe, if I remember correctly.

He had to go around and around with the dealer and boat manufacturer on the prop before they changed it out. The non-Pro XS model has different gearing in the lower unit. Just the gearing alone shows the need for prop with more pitch if you do the math on the gearing.

The issue my son was having is they would look at the prop recommended by the manufacturer and confuse the two stroke with the four stroke and also the standard four stroke.

Boat he has is the Tracker 195 Pro Team TWX. With the new 25p prop it runs like it should now.

[wdr2064]

My son went to a 25p prop on his Merc 150 Pro XS four stroke. Dealer put a 24p prop on it when he purchased it. It would only do 52 mph at 6000+ rpm. With the 25p prop he gets 60 mph at just under 6000 rpm with 1/4 tank of fuel and just himself in the boat. Two people and fishing gear is about 57-58 mph with the 25p prop. Prop is a Tempest plus I believe, if I remember correctly.

He had to go around and around with the dealer and boat manufacturer on the prop before they changed it out. The non-Pro XS model has different gearing in the lower unit. Just the gearing alone shows the need for prop with more pitch if you do the math on the gearing.

The issue my son was having is they would look at the prop recommended by the manufacturer and confuse the two stroke with the four stroke and also the standard four stroke.

Boat he has is the Tracker 195 Pro Team TWX. With the new 25p prop it runs like it should now.

Thanks for the feedback. Yes the Pro XS has lower gearing which does show the need for a prop with more pitch. Pretty basic stuff after checking into it but frustrating not getting straight answers from outfits involved. My dealer does have some props on order so I can try them. We shall see what happens.

[fishnfireman]

Thanks for the feedback. Yes the Pro XS has lower gearing which does show the need for a prop with more pitch. Pretty basic stuff after checking into it but frustrating not getting straight answers from outfits involved. My dealer does have some props on order so I can try them. We shall see what happens.

[contium]

I got my ProXS November of 2019. It was the first my dealer had seen and one of the first Ranger shipped. It came with a 22P Tempest+ which was way under propped. I can understand them not realizing that the ProXS needed a higher pitch prop. But now that they have been out for a year, it seems the boat manufacturer should know what prop to put on them by now.

[Dontheduck]

I get 48mph ..still working on the proping and rpm thing 24 foot alum...with a jet tunnel and powertrans jack plate.20190910_191931.jpg

[boyfromthelak]

i would be trying a 23-24p fury, a 24-25p tempest plus and a 24 or 26p bravo 1 xs on that boat with that motor combination. i have a basscat sabre ftd 2019 with the 150 pro xs and i can run 65 with a 24 pitch fury and i just got a 26p bravo 1 xs i have been messing with this winter but dont have it fully dialed in yet but i am seeing 63mph pretty consistantly

[wdr2064]

I just thought I would update you all. The dealer got a 24 and a 25 fury for me to try. It was interesting to say the least. I got about another 3 mph out of both of them. Now here is the weird thing... going up from factory settings it actually got slower. I went up all the way to 2.5 inches higher than factory setting on jackplate. Water pressure and all of that was fine and RPMs went up but speed went down as it did not get on pad. When I LOWERED it from factory settings speed went up a bit, it got on pad better but RPMs went down to about 5500 to 5600 tops. RPMs went up to 5800 to 5900 when I brought it up higher. Now the dealer is taking the jackplate off and we shall see what happens with it off.

[gehol]

Be sure to post results without jackplate. Very possible speed will increase, especially if you are able to adjust height. Height adjustment without having a backplate is very difficult.

[berudd]

I just thought I would update you all. The dealer got a 24 and a 25 fury for me to try. It was interesting to say the least. I got about another 3 mph out of both of them. Now here is the weird thing... going up from factory settings it actually got slower. I went up all the way to 2.5 inches higher than factory setting on jackplate. Water pressure and all of that was fine and RPMs went up but speed went down as it did not get on pad. When I LOWERED it from factory settings speed went up a bit, it got on pad better but RPMs went down to about 5500 to 5600 tops. RPMs went up to 5800 to 5900 when I brought it up higher. Now the dealer is taking the jackplate off and we shall see what happens with it off.

To me, that sounds as if it support Don's theory that it just doesn't have the power to lift the hull when it is on the jackplate. While lowering the motor might put it in less turbulent water, I think it also give the motor more leverage to lift the bow.

[wdr2064]

Well here is the final update. I had the jackplate taken off and it is slightly faster without it. I ran a 24 and 25 fury. The 24 is the fastest will get up to 51-52 with two people in it (just touch it briefly). I also ran the 23 tempest plus. It will touch 50 with two people in it. It will not run up to the RPM's it should with those props. 5500 RPM's max. It runs 5800 and possibly a bit more with the 23 tempest. Bottom line on a Vexus AVX 1980 the 150 Pro XS is ABSOLUTELY slower than the regular Mercury 150 four stroke because of the lower gear ratio. It does not have enough oomph to get the RPMs needed with the higher pitched props. This has been a LOT of work to find this out. I had been going back and forth between the Mercury and the Evinrude prior to ordering and if I had known this I would have chosen the Evinrude. I don't think it's cool for Mercury to have had the former PRO XS models all a bit hotter at top speed than the non Pro XS to switch it and not make it crystal clear to dealers and manufacturers that it is indeed a slower motor. Yes, I do think the dealers and manufacturers should know but I can't get too frustrated with them for not knowing given the history of the Pro XS. My friends non Pro XS on the same hull set up in the same hole with no jackplate is about 4 to 5 mph faster than my boat regardless of what prop I use, etc....