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20I Class 2021 Mercury Pro XS 250 repower
So, I did a thing. I blew a powerhead for the second time on my HPDI Series II 250 so I decided to go a different route for my 2010 Skeeter 20I. Part of the reason was the availability of motor, I was going to have to wait three months out where I'm at to get my hands on a SHO and even longer to get it installed. The pricing was also about $5,000 less than what people were wanting for the SHO. Now, it was a pain swapping everything from Yamaha to Mercury and there will be bugs I'm sure. Damn near everything had to be swapped from gauges, wiring, fuel hoses, controls, etc.
It is a completely different animal from the HPDI. I got the boat back on Friday and went to the river yesterday to put the first few hours on the motor. I'm running a 23p Fury for a prop and it seems like the motor likes to be all of the way down in the water on my Bob's jackplate. The acceleration is insane. It also handles way different, could be the prop. I have been running this boat for eight years with Yamaha VMAX props so I was used to how the boat handled with them. I don't know what the prop to pad measurements are yet because I haven't measured any of that. The boat hit 75 mph during the 1-minute full throttle bursts and I only had it trimmed about halfway. It was windy with a lot of water chop and I didn't feel comfortable trimming up more because it was staring to walk. The stern also felt a little unstable coming down from the speed. This is with the jackplate all of the way down, if I started to raise it much it would cavitate. I may need to drop the motor height down on the plate so I can get some function out of the jackplate.
Anyway, this is like getting used to driving a whole new boat again. It doesn't feel anything like did for the past eight years with the Yamaha HPDI on it. I've only put a little over three hours on it so there will be more to follow. Here a few pictures.
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Boarder, Nice looking rig! I am kinda shocked to hear about a 3 month wait on SHO.
IMO you will need to drop the motor on the plate if you are cavitating.
Question, Did you hit 75mph with your HPDI? Sounds like you got some speed.
If you have a gauge on your jack plate, how many numbers are you raising it when it cavitates.
Did your shop measure prop to pad? Maybe they can tell you where it's set.
Skeeter will give you PTP via e-mail, but dialing in, is a must.
You'll get an answer, numbers will help that answer. Good Luck!
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Yeah, no one on the west coast had a 250 SHO in stock back in early October. Everyone was looking at the end of December or early January before they could get one from Yamaha. I found a dealer in Beaumont, TX and some place in OK that had a couple. The guy in OK flat out told me that he would sell it for MSRP and no less because it was his last one and they are in limited supply. The TX dealer had a decent price on it but I would have had to have had it shipped to AZ.
I did get 75 out of my HPDI and it would be on 2-2.5 on the Bob's jackplate gauge. I know the numbers on the gauge don't give a measurement, but I think it was anywhere from 2.25" - 2.75" below pad.
When this new V8 cavitates it'll start around the #1 - #1.5 mark on the gauge while running. It also likes to be all of the way down during takeoff to get a good hole shot. I ran it pretty much the whole time yesterday with the jackplate lowered all of the way and it was like a rocket. My HPDI would feel like I through the anchor in the water if I ran it that low. I still have one mounting hole left on the motor mount bracket to lower it. I'll get some measurements eventually and post them.
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SHO engines are in very short supply.
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