2008 Nitro Z7

[flashman252]

Doing some thinking for down the road, nothing is happening right away. It has a 150 mercury 2 stroke, and eventually would like to upgrade to a new motor 4 stroke. Weight difference is 80 lbs (mercury to mercury); should I be worried that this transom won't be able to tolerate the extra weight? This year model is stamped and rated for a 200 hp motor. Also, was thinking (and this thought may happen sooner than a new motor), about adding power poles to the current setup with a 150 2 stroke motor. Worth my time or will I see performance issues to the point I hate them?

Anyone running this series boat or similar with power poles?

Anyone put a new 200 on one of these boats and had issues with transom?

Anyone put this combo together and had issues?

I would think that the 200 with power poles shouldn't be an issue, but that is adding almost an additional 100 lbs on that transom if I were to go with the combo. Also, I may never upgrade the motor, the current motor only has 140 hours on it and I bought it with 100 and it has been flawless every time I have taken it out. All it needed was spark plugs, new fuel filter and new water impeller. So realistically, the idea of adding power poles with the 150 would make the most sense as I cannot see the need for a new motor at this point. Just worry I am going to dog it down and hate the idea of having them with the extra weight.

Thanks for all responses in advance.

[jb882]

My .02, the difference in weight between the new 4 stroke 200 and the old 2 stroke 200 Optimax Pro XS is almost nil, both weigh in the ballpark of 500lbs so i don't think you have anything to worry about there. The boat is rated for a 200 and quite a few folks have configured them this way so no issue there either. TRCM on this board has a 200 2 stroke on his and has for years.

I don't think poles will be an issue either, i know a couple guys that have dual pole setups on these and they seem to be fine and no performance issues. One of my best fishing buddies has dual poles on his Z7 and he has the same motor as i do. He has no issues with holeshot or top speed. Being a 2.5L motor the holeshot would not be much different than what i would expect from a 150. I think when it comes to poles you need to look at how you fish and determine if they are worth it or not. For me, i fish mainly deeper water for smallies so they would be useless for me in 20+ feet of water. I would never deploy them.

Personally if i were re-powering i would go with the 200 4 stroke for sure.

[flashman252]

Thanks Jb, I love the boat, only paid 15k for the setup, motor has next to 0 hours on it for being as old as it is and I cannot justify buying a new motor any time soon. Granted I would really like a 200 on the boat but wants over needs.... well you get it. Power poles are certainly a thought and I fish all types of ways. Don't get me wrong, spot lock is awesome but I love getting up in the shallows and flipping creature baits and getting into muddy water. At the same time, when the post spawn transition happens, I certainly like running patterns in 10-20 ft of water and this is where I certainly think they would be useless. I think I would use power poles and they would be added before I ever repowered. With that said, you state you have a buddy with dual power poles and have the same motor as you and I see you have the 175 pro xs. I have read the difference between the 175 and 150 is night and day and again, I still worry just a little that 150 might be a dog if I added poles. It would be an expensive test to figure out.

[06 SB]

The Z7 with a 150 is just an OK boat/motor combo. The 150 is just barely enough umph IMO. It will be fine with PPs but can struggle on holeshot without proper set up. It may need a jackplate, different prop and some test runs at different PTP settings to get it right for your load. At one time, the MLF Nitro boats were all Z7s with PPs so you can certainly do it. You said you like to fish shallow and that is where PPs shine. I would not hesitate to get them if I were in your situation.

If and when you repower get a 175 or a 200. The transom can handle the weight. IMO, the Z series was the first year when Nitro got the transom right. The 175 will make the Z7 a good combo and the 200 will make it a great combo. It is all up to you and your budget.

[jb882]

The night and day difference between the 150 and 175 proxs is on the top end. A buddy of mine used to have a Z7 with a 150 EFI on it and his holeshot was as good if not better than mine. Top end mine was close to 10mph faster.

Bottom line is any time you add weight you will reduce performance with a given amount of power. You can literally pick up top end speed by just losing 20lbs of body weight. If you are concerned about the weight of the poles maybe something like Lithium batteries would offset it.

[flashman252]

That is good to know Jb and thank you for your expertise on these boats. I love the boat so far, I am putting a 6" jp on it in the next couple weeks. I have looked and searched setups on this forum and have a general idea where to start. I have played with props and different setups and I have the boat jumping out of the hole in about 5 seconds with empty livewells and about 8-10 seconds with plum full livewells. So I am happy with holeshot right now, the top end I am seeing about 53-55 and I know for a fact I can do a little better by lifting motor and playing with plugs on the tempest prop I have. Our lakes are not huge, so top end isn't as important but I would like a little better performance. I do know that a 175 or 200 would be much better for top end, hard to justify a 20k motor for a setup I only paid 15k for though, especially when the power head I have now is working just fine and has low hours. I will look into power poles in the near future. Again, thanks for all your knowledge and help.

Also, it is hard to get great performance out of boats due to elevation where I live. I only know of one other nitro z7 and it has a 200 on it (no power poles) and it is only getting 63-65 here at our elevation. Granted, the owners of that boat are not super keen on setup and trying to get the best performance. They are just happy to be out on the lake and running from spot to spot and they are not in a hurry most days. So but what you are saying about the 10 mph difference makes sense. 1k per 0.5 mph..... that's expensive for some speed.

[jb882]

It sounds like you are getting it pretty close. The jackplate will help a lot, my buddy that had the 150 EFI had no plate on his when he got it and it was a dog both out of the hole and on top. Once he put a plate on it and we got it dialed in it ran great. Holeshot was under 3 seconds and top end high 50's with a reasonable load which is really good for a 150. He probably could have chased more speed out of it but it was not worth it and would have cost $$$$ to do. Mine can run up close to 70 loaded how i do for fishing if conditions are right and i feel like dealing with chinewalk. I rarely do these days since most of the lakes i fish have a 45mph limit and are patrolled. I don't feel like paying fines so i keep it reasonable....

When you put your plate on there watch the water pressure when you start lifting the motor. In my experience once you get into the 3" below pad and up range it can become an issue on these boats. I run mine at 2 3/4" and with my worked prop i get a lot of lift and it can drop below 12PSI if i don't trim it properly. I actually had to plug a couple of the upper holes on the intakes to make sure i am getting enough water. You need at least 12PSI at wide open, more is better.

Elevation can be a real pain especially when you are trying to chase performance. I have a friend that moved from where i am in the New England to West Virginia and he had to completely rework the setup on his Triton when he got there since it just wouldn't run at the lakes he now fishes. What ran great here would barely get out of the hole down there. You would think on a fuel injected motor the ECU would compensate for that thin air but i guess it cant since his feels like it has so much less power now.

[flashman252]

Jb now I know I am comparing apples to oranges and my duck boat motor is nothing like outboards but I used to run a carbed mudmotor and switched over to an efi and it is night and day on performance. Not near the hp or rating in those duck boats and the mudmotors are different animals but from lake to lake i would have to change jets in order for the carbed motor to run. EFI fixed all of that and it runs good everywhere I take it.

Elevation and performance do not go hand in hand I will say on these bass boats. I had to prop way down in order for it to get on plane. I was shocked but when I ran the numbers and saw the recommendations, I went for it and the prop made a huge difference. Went from only being able to turn a prop 4600 and struggling to get on plane to jumping up on pad in 5 seconds and seeing 52-55 at 5400 RPM. I am slowly changing one thing at a time trying to get it tuned in. I am sure hoping the 6" JP will help with performance as my prop to pad right now is 4" and shoots no rooster tail at all. I was going to put it at 2 1/2" - 2 3/4" so it is funny you said that yours is at 2 3/4". I am hoping for better hole shot and a little more top end (by plugging some holes on prop once I get holeshot a little better) and also hoping for that last 2000-3000 RPM. If I feel real good with the changes I make this spring, then i am ordering power poles to add at some point. Only time I could see myself really using them is in the spring when I am fishing all the fish on beds or in the dead heat of the summer when I get into shallows and flip dirty dirty water.

[jb882]

I would start at 3" below the pad and work up from there in 1/4" increments. I had mine up at 2.5" a while ago but water pressure was an issue so i ended up dropping it back to 2 3/4" which seems to work pretty well overall. I have tried 3" as well but with my worked tempest prop it runs better up higher. My 4 blade trophy plus on the other hand likes 3" just fine.

Not sure what you are putting on for a plate but the slidemaster that would have come factory if it was optioned is really easy to adjust on the water when you are testing.

My friends Triton you can tell its down on power vs what it is closer to sea level and i don't think they are near as high in elevation as you are out west. His is down on power enough that he could feel it and a simple return to lower elevation and its a different engine. He had to drop 2" in the prop pitch to get it to pop on the pad like it did when he lived here. His boat has a 225 Opti on it and he went from a 25 to a 23 to get it out of the hole and get his wide open RPM back up where it should be.

[flashman252]

I went from a 23 to a 19..... Yikes lol. And I will start at 3" as recommended. I went with a hydrodynamics magnum jp and waiting on hole shot plate with xdcer mount to come in from Uniqueboatproducts to come in. I should be mounting it in the next couple weeks, I am hoping it warms up in about 8-10 weeks to start using the boat again. It was 14 degrees at my house this morning and I am too much of a weenie to get in a bass boat when it is that cold. All dependent on if we actually get to go fish this year as well, our lakes are still closed for COVID in the lovely blue state I live in. So who knows, maybe I can get the boat all set up to gawk at all the fine work I have put into it just to say wish i coulda this year as well.

[BMCD]

Where does one fish in New Mexico? I am in Santa Fe this week.

[flashman252]

BMCD, PM sent. Not sure they would allow you on our lakes right now as a non-resident. I bought my boat out of Texas last fall and it still had TX numbering on the side. Got stopped every time and had to verify that the boat was now a NM boat. With that said, I did find out a couple days ago, they are allowing fishing from 7am - 5pm. Be very careful fishing our puddles right now, all of our lakes are down 10-15 ft. Closest lake to you is about an hour and a half away and it is strictly a smallmouth lake and more known for walleye than bass. Good luck to you if you get out, message me via PM if you need anymore guidance.

[einsteins]

I have been running a 200 Pro XS on my Z7 for 5 years with no issue. I run an 8" Bobs Action Jack. and 2 8ft PP.

The boat handles the weight and HP just fine. My sweet spot for PtP is 4.5" I know that sounds deep but that is where it wants to be. at that depth water pressure is never an issue.

24 Fury is ideal for me...67MPH tournament load with two 220 pound + anglers and 70/71mph with just me. Crazy good holeshot!

Hope that helps...

[howard47]

I’m the second owner of my Z7 and it was ordered with a 200 Pro XS and a 6” Slidemaster jack plate. He ran a 27 fury with very little weight and showed me GPS pictures of 76. I usually have a kitchen sink when I go and would run 72-73 with me and half a tank with a 25 Fury. I’ve added two 8’ blades and now run 71-72. Big difference, no, but there’s guys with 150’s that will run around 60 but you gotta remember every single boat is a little different somewhere. 10 factory built motors would dyno at 10 different ratings.
Yes your boat would absolutely handle a 200 no problem and I will tell you it will be a HUGE difference in handling. I’ve had 20s and 21s that would run the same speeds but and 18’ is a different beast all together.
It sounds like you gotta solid boat already and you can add accessories like you want same as I did. If anything ever happened you could hang a 200 on the back and keep going with the boat and what you’ve added.
Good luck with whatever you decide.

[flashman252]

Thanks Howard and einsteins. Sounds like I just gotta find the money to set it all up. It will happen over time. Not in a huge hurry, and I gotta wear this old motor out before I consider a 200 to put on it. Power poles may be coming soon though. Like the idea of having them at certain times.