I have a 1993 19’3” Intimidator that I just hung a 2004 Yamaha 225 OX66 VMAX on. I have the motor as high as it will go on the 6” Gambler manual jack plate and the jack plate is mounted as high as it will go on the transom. I haven’t measured it, but the pad to prop shaft distance is probably about 3.5”. The motor had a 23M factory prop on it which I knew was not ideal. I assumed I would be into the rev limiter with the 23 pitch prop. However, when I took the boat out for the first time this week, it would only run 58 mph at 5400 rpm. I posted this on the Facebook Gambler page and a fellow Gambler owner replied that the M props do not provide nearly enough bow lift and will cause the Gambler bows to plow the water thus killing speed and RPM. The motor ran strong and did not cut out or anything, it just would not turn more than 5400 rpm’s. I was curious if anyone else has experienced this with an M prop. I do not care about ringing every single ounce of top end speed out of it because I don’t really fish tournaments anymore and usually have the kids with me, but I do want it to get up on pad and run somewhat like it was designed to.
My 1988 206 that I used to have had the same exact manual jack plate set up with a 200 Black Max on it and ran in the low 70’s with no problem with a 26 pitch prop. I was contemplating trying a 26 pitch Scorpion prop which is supposed to have tons of lift but everything that I have read on online forums says that the Scorpion props are 2 pitches stiffer than comparable props which means that I would need to try a 24 pitch instead of a 26. Has anyone run the Scorpion props on a Gambler and can you verify the pitch difference. Most of the forums that I read were regarding Bullets or Skeeters.
Thanks in advance for any advice / input.
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