Dumped my Mercury and now I have a Honda

[rjd]

My 1998 Merc 225 is finally being replaced. That motor was a money pit for me. 2 lower end rebuilds and 4 upper end rebuilds finally got me in the mood to replace. I have replaced it with a 150 hp Honda. I know I will loose on the hole shot. I know I will loose on speed. But having a boat that is economical to run and dependable means more to me than being part of the "go fast" crew. My question to you guys is: I run a 19 foot Nitro and I was wondering what Prop pitch, below pad measurement and fuel consumption I can expect. I don't tournament fish and might occasionally use the boat to tow a toy with the grand kids. Give me your thoughts and welcome me into the fraternity of Honda owners. Thanks for you responses.

By the way the dealer set me up with an aluminum 19 three bladed prop. I've not had it on the water yet. I will go stainless when I decide the pitch and 3 or 4 blades. And yes I have a 6" manual jackplate. Any input will help me.

[Hickory Legend]

I had a X19 with a 159, I ran a 24 pitch Fury and a Power Tech OFX.
No issue at all with hole shot and ran 57!

Ray can help you out with a suggestion on props, I believe there is better options now!

[bamabassmaster]

Congrats. I'm going to guess you will be in the 22-24p range. If you don't keep it to the floor fuel economy will be great.

[basscat tyler]

You will have to let us know how hole shot is speed turns out for you.

[HondaRay]

The higher the motor...the better the hole shot. No vents in the prop and I would suggest starting with a 22" or 23" three blade propeller. Move any weight forward to assist hole shot. Your gas mileage will be unbelievable and forget about break downs...ain't going to happen.

[rjd]

Update time........I finally got out onto the lake today. Hole shot really needs some work. I was using the standard issue 19p aluminum stock prop. Since it was just break-in time I wasn't as prepared as I should of been. In hooking up the smart gauge my graphs ended up without power so I do not have any speed #'s to report. I did take it up briefly to 6200 rpm and still didn't hit the rev limiter. I was hoping to have a direction on what to do with the prop. Seeing the hole shot was not good when I got home I checked the distance below pad for the prop. After seeing it was 4" plus under pad I lifted it to 2.75" under pad. This stock prop set-up seems to have noticeable slippage especially when cornering and in the 3500-5000 rpm range. Any info is always appreciated from you guys. The new motor did purr really nice and no exhaust smoke to deal with. I'm running a Nitro 19' with a 6" jackplate. The dealer papers say my hull weight is 1475# (I'm assuming dry without a motor) my motor is aprox 475# and I had 30 gal of gas. Let's hear your thoughts..........Thanks

[Hickory Legend]

Make sure you have the Vent holes on the prop plugged, You dont want any exhaust coming thur the holes.
That aluminum prop is going to have a lot of flex also.
If you get a stainless and plug the holes next would be to move the batteries and charger as far forward as you can. even if you have to move the trays only an inch forward and remount them.

Did you have vent holes in the prop??

[rjd]

No vent holes in the aluminum standard prop.

[Hickory Legend]

No vent holes in the aluminum standard prop.