Has anyone tried 16" setback on a 21xd vs a 14" setback? If so what are the pros and cons? I'm thinking of doing some experimenting to see if there are any benefits. I'm currently using 14" on my hydraulic plate.
Has anyone tried 16" setback on a 21xd vs a 14" setback? If so what are the pros and cons? I'm thinking of doing some experimenting to see if there are any benefits. I'm currently using 14" on my hydraulic plate.
On fastbass there was just a post about a 21xd with 16.5" of set back that is flying.
You can look for that thread
I've tried to get on fastbass before and couldn't figure it out. I don't have a computer I use my iPhone or iPad. I'm sure someone has tried it I'm hoping to hear some experiences. I'll more than likely try it regardless just out of shear curiosity.
What is the thread called and is it in the bullet section?Originally Posted by 90 5.0
Shooting the bull section
titled " new sherif in town"
rocko went 91 and some change with troller on with a 250
That is impressive with the troller and a 28 pitch prop.
PN is saying it should run a bit better yet.
Interesting.
I've run 8'' 10.5'', 12'', 13'', 14'' 15'' 16'' and 17'' on a 21xd/300PM with a Sportmaster. I found no increase in speed after 14'' but the holeshot, midrange and backwash was worse the further I went back. While running in the mid range (with the Sportmaster) the boat had very little lift past 14'' which made the boat ride worse. You can get away with a Sportmaster on a 21'er/250 as long as you run LIGHT, with a TRUE fishing load a T-master gearcase will beat it on holeshot and midrange and ride better and still be within 1.5-2.5 MPH of the sportmaster. The further you go back with the jackplate the harder it is for your prop to lift and push the boat down the lake. There is always a negative to any postive, you help one thing and then you hurt another.
So you're saying more setback gives less lift ? This seems counter intuitive. I always thought that the increased setback gave better leverage and aided in lifting the bow requiring less positive trim to get the bow up.
You do get more lift to a point, but the further you go back the higher you have to run your motor or you will run slower due to more drag(when the water leaves the pad it rises). Your prop when close to the surface is getting a mixture of water and air, when you have more setback you are making the boat longer(the motor is further from the bow) which makes the prop have a harder time picking up the ''longer'' boat and pushing it down the lake. If more setback is better why not just put a 20''-30'' jackplate on it...lol. The negative effects outweigh the positive in my opinion. When adding more setback your getting cleaner water to the prop and changing the fulcrum point of the boat, but the prop is main issue. The longer boat the harder it is to lift.
All over the bullet boat owners Facebook page too with a video
Thanks for the reply Nichols. That was exactly the info I was looking for. You saved me time and money. I'm Very happy with the way my boat runs but was wondering if anyone experimented and what were the results. You know "good enough is never good enough" lol. I'm willing to try some things but no need if someone else has and has s good explanation for why they don't recommend it.
Paul is a great resource for us bullet owners.
When I had my 20xrd I followed his advice and he was bang on. Bought a used prop from Paul he said it would run a certain mph (don't remember the number) and it did.
my 21XDC with a 250XS with a sporty screams when it light, but with a good load slows some what but still not too bad
Willie message Bryan Lajaunie on Facebook or on here (forgot his name) he can activate your fastbass account for you then u can use your phone
20XDC / Promax
Paul, I would like to talk to you about that. And I'm not trying to be a know it all, I just like to learn all I can learn. First off, I think we both agree that a sportmaster on a 21 is not the ideal gearcase most of the time. When I bought my boat, it was with no motor and a 12" Bob's hydraulic plate. I started looking for a used 250 or 300xs to put on it and found one about a month later. It was an 06 250xs with a sportmaster with 1.62s but it had low hours at a good price so I bought it. I was gonna try to trade the sporty off for a TM but I thought I'd at least try it and see if I could make it work before trading it for a TM in unknown condition, at least I knew mine was good. Then I started thinking about setup- the complaint about a sportmaster that I'd always heard is it won't carry a load unless you bury it. My feelings were if it can't be run at least 1" or more above the pad it will be slower, less efficient, and drive worse than a torquemaster. So I went to the lake with an armful of props and my 12" jackplate and ran them. I had no lift unless I ran below the pad. I added 2" blocks and could sorta get lift, but it had a porpoise from about 70 on up. So that told me its TRYING to lift, but cant hold it. So I removed the blocks and added 4.5" spacers to bring it to 16.5" and FINALLY it lifted like it should. It was surprising to me how hard it is to get lift on a 21' Bullet. I had a 21v once and a 20xrd that was no problem. Anyway, now I can fish at 1.5" above, and the 90+ runs mentioned earlier in the post were at 1.75" above. As far as having to run your motor higher by going further back, isn't that the point? Get the most gearcase out of the water you can without losing lift or WP? And my thoughts on the prop lifting have always been that I think it has to work less the further you go back. If you're lifting the bow with trim, your prop has to lift and push, whereas if you have natural bow lift it can push much more than it lifts. Here has always been my thinking- you can lift a boat 2 ways- with trim, or naturally. If you lift it with trim, you are digging the back of the pad in, and digging the front of the gearcase in.. Even more so with a sportmaster. If you set the motor back enough to lift it naturally, you don't have to overtrim, the bow can lift with neutral or slightly positive trim, which is what we're after, right? the pad and gearcase are running straight through or on top of the water? If you have to run with negative trim, then obviously you're too far back. Kinda like a seesaw in my elementary way of thinking.. If you got a guy weighing 200 lbs on one end representing the bow and 300 lbs on the other representing the motor, you can't put the fulcrum under the 300 lb guy and expect him to lift the 200 lb one, right? but you set that 300 pounder further back off the fulcrum and he will start to lift the light guy. But if you set him back too much the light guy is way up in the air and you need negative trim LOL. Just gotta search for that perfect balance. What are your thoughts on that? Again, I realize I'm not running the ideal setup, it is alot of setback, and I'm not encouraging anyone to do what I did but it seems to work pretty good, I've not heard of any running like mine. But I always want to learn all I can, and boat setup has always interested me, I really like to dial em in.
Ok let's address the hydraulic plate, the setback, the load you carry, props and the average 2 way speed one at a time.
The 16" hydraulic jackplate did not give you anymore speed than a fixed 16" jackplate...right? Because from the time you nailed the hotfoot until you got to top speed you never touched the hydraulic jackplate. So if you were at 16" of setback with a fixed at 1.75" everything would have been the same with or without a hydraulic plate...right?
Last edited by Nichols; 12-19-2015 at 04:31 PM.
Yes that's correct, I don't think the hydraulic plate helps on top end at all. Where I feel the hydraulic helps is on holeshot, bc it comes out much better lower, and mid range.. I can lower it at mid range to keep plenty of WP, lift, and less steering torque. But I don't monkey with it if I'm trying something new, especially since I don't have a gauge yet and it's still kind of a new combo for me.
Rocko, can you post the video on here for our viewing pleasure ?
I can't get it to load to photobucket, i can txt it to someone's phone tho if they can post it? It was taken with my cellphone taped to my chest so the quality and angle isn't the best.
Send to me 606-312-1017
Steven Eversole, KY
BLAZER 202 PRO V / MARINER 225 SUPER MAG
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