Hydra-Sports 175E question

[Hydra175E]

Hello all,
New here and this will be my first post. I have a set up question about my boat and looking for a little advice.

I purchased a very nice (looks almost new, original carpet , seats, etc.) 1997 Hydra-Sports 175E last summer, It has a 1998 Evinrude Intruder 150 on it. It came with 23 Renegade Bass prop., no jack plate and motor mounted in highest possible position. Needed steering cables because it was a little tuff to steer so I installed the u-flex silver steer hydraulic steering. I Will never go back to cable steering!

The boat comes out of the hole pretty well, will run 59ish (gps) at 5500 rpm with full tank of fuel, live well empty, 2 people and all our tackle. Very little chine walk with this boat trimmed up and running WOT. I keep all the heavy stuff in the compartments behind the seats with very little weight up front except for the rods in the rod locker. When the live well is full it is a little slow coming out of the hole compared to the Stratos 270 I had, which I sold several years ago, with a fast strike motor but the Stratos had a 24" Raker on it.

I was thinking about adding a 6" jack plate on and trying a 24" Raker or a 25" Renegade to see if it will benefit the boat any, performance wise. Do you all think doing this will have any benefit or is this boat about maxed out performance wise as it is? Thanks in advance for the replies.

[tdt91]

I JP will absolutely help. You will be able to fine tune your set up that way and use bigger wheels thus likely more speed. If it were mine and I added a JP I would ditch the OMC props idea and go with Merc props because in my experience they perform better, have many more sizes to choose from and have PVS vents. If you do go the Merc prop route, get the Michigan Wheel #200 hub kit for them. Trust me on this! Another reason for Merc props is they are plentiful in comparison. I'll bet with a JP and set up right a 24 Tempest or Trophy will be a great match.
That said, you are close to max speed already so expect 2-5 MPH more with the changes.
I also suggest getting new props because you really don't know if the used one is any good and you cannot tell by looks alone.

[Hydra175E]

Thanks for the reply. I'll check those out. Found a good deal on a slightly used 6" manual jack plate I am going to check out.

[pmgoffjr]

Don’t buy a rite hite. Don’t use a free one. Yes that bad.

[Hydra175E]

The one i was looking at was a Z lock.
$125.00 sound like a good price?
Looks like new.

[pmgoffjr]

Rapid jacks are best, rite hite the worst, everything else is somewhere in the middle. That one might be fine, but I've never rigged one.

[Kb444fishing]

Mis my 96 hydro sport nice boat

[Hydra175E]

Haven't had a chance to go look at that jack plate yet ,been trying to decide if I might be better off looking at a new one as well.
Out of curiosity I did check my prop to pad height yesterday and it is 5" below pad. Again, the motor is set in the highest possible position on the transom so I am sure the jack plate will help some.
Since tdt91 mentioned the PVS system in his reply and I'm going to try a new prop anyway, I thought I'd try a little experiment until I can get the prop and a jack plate.
While looking online I found an OMC service bulletin on drilling vent holes in props. for better hole shot. The bulletin was for a 3 bladed prop but I applied it to the 4 blade Renegade that I have. I drilled the four 7/32" holes in the locations indicated on the bulletin. I thought it might help a little getting out of the hole with the live well full. I may try to go to the lake and try it out after lunch today if the temps will warm up a little more than it has been lately. If I get to go, I will post if it made any improvements or not.

[vin059]

i bought a Z lock manual last summer....it was hard to adjust up and down....i ended up taking it off, never used it....bought a hydraulic....so much better...spend the money...you'll be glad you did!!!

[Hydra175E]

i bought a Z lock manual last summer....it was hard to adjust up and down....i ended up taking it off, never used it....bought a hydraulic....so much better...spend the money...you'll be glad you did!!!

Your right, I've decide to wait on a jack plate until I can get a hydraulic one. Me and a friend took our boats out today and I got a chance to try his with a hydraulic plate; its nice being able to raise and lower the motor with the flip of a lever and also have your tilt and trim separate.

Also, The vent holes I drilled in the Renegade Bass prop did help with the hole shot alot. Jumps right up on pad now, even with live well full it's much quicker. When I drilled the holes to the specs. on the bulletin I thought they would be way to small, since the ones in the Raker that I had on the Stratos were quite a bit larger, but I was wrong. RPM's on hole shot went to about 3800 or 3900 before getting on plane and the prop didn't blow out at all. Didn't even have to feather the throttle. Works great!

[rchavis]

I brought a Z lock manual for my older Stratos 201. No problem ,but it only had about 8 hr's on it . It was on a new Multispecies -Fish boat with a 300 HP .That he ran on the Great Lakes. He replace with a hydraulic one for the waves .
I really don't need a hydraulic one for the type of fishing I do . Just set the boat up for the type of fishing and the max speed and lock it in. Don't have to be doing a lot of adjusting. The one it replace has been on the the boat 30 yrs with out any problem . Just changing it out because the age and got a great deal on the Z Lock one.