Z185 speed with 1 Talon vs stop spinning with 2 Talons?

[MHS Boat Captain]

Have a new Z185 with one 12' Talon mounted to the side of my 6" manual jack plate, and a 150 Merc Fourstroke. Out this weekend and hit our top speed so far of 58 mph. That was with about 1/3 tank of gas.

Wondering how much speed I would lose with a second Talon?

Minn Kota website says that Talon weighs 47.5 lbs if I added a second one.

I love my Talon but would be great to not spin with the wind and stay out exactly where I hit the down button at.

Not sure what's better -- keep the speed or stop the spin?

[jc2bg]

My guess? 1-2 mph.

[STRETCH1]

You got a 58mph boat. Not the fastest on the water so just get one so you can make the boat function like you want. I would also say 1-2 MPH.

[BoatBuggy]

The Talon is 47.5 lbs but there is also the weight of the bracket. At the end of the day two Talons/PPs are better than one.

The speed cost of two 12' Talons on my Z520c is 3 MPH. The issue I had was with the holeshot but I eventually figured how to get most of the holeshot back.

[rubberdown]

If be more concerned with hole shot than top end. That will potentially be all screwed up.

[Syncros]

I had 2 10s on a Z7 with a 150 Pro XS. They knocked 3ish mph off but my holeshot really took a hit in summer heat and hummidity. I repropped with a 21 p Bravo FS and got my 3-4 second holeshot back pretty much no matter what my load was (gas, livewells, people). I'm not sure if that would be the prop you would need on your boat or not but it's an awesome prop across the board and the only one I like more is a Fury 4 blade.

There are some set up things that might help, mounting the elbow of the bracket as high on the jackplate as you can (I actually use the top hole instead of the slot), don't have the arms swept back, keeping the base of the talon as high as you can as well. That will help with drag keep the weight of the Talons more forward. You might still need to reprop, though.

I'd do it again in a heartbeat, though. I had two incredible days that would have never happened with out shallow water anchors (I've always had 2 so I'm not sure if 2 made a difference or not). Those 2 days have changed how I fish.

[Rangerdawg]

Ultrex?

[SHatten]

I have (2) 21' Talons on the back of a 16' Z518 with a 8" plate.
Getting 59MPH with GPS full of fuel and just me.

Scott

[badMackrel]

your doing pretty good. I have a Z118C and top speed is about 52. I doubt removing the talon would effect your top speed because its in the rear of the boat. my top speed was 52 before my talon and 52 after my talons. it probably effected you holeshot a bit.

[cwilt]

I have (2) 21' Talons on the back of a 16' Z518 with a 8" plate.
Getting 59MPH with GPS full of fuel and just me.

Scott

are them the new deep water anchors?

just playing with my new phone....Screenshot_20170518-223951.jpg

[Bass newb]

your doing pretty good. I have a Z118C and top speed is about 52. I doubt removing the talon would effect your top speed because its in the rear of the boat. my top speed was 52 before my talon and 52 after my talons. it probably effected you holeshot a bit.

Wind resistance negates the "rear of the boat" argument. Every extra bit of it slows the boat down.

[Locknload59]

I would guess a pair of Talons is about 3 mph on the top end. I have had them on (2) boats and the hole shot was the issue on both.

IMO, they are worth it.

[Syncros]

There was an article in the FLW magazine last month that was about getting the most speed with tips from Alan Stinson. He stated that wind resistance has almost 0 effect in terms of things you add to a boat, it's all weight and water resistance/drag with a bass boat. The example he gave were tests they did (at Stratos I think) with seats on the deck. The seats in or out made no impact on top speed.

He went on to say that your best speed will come when your boat is running flat because there is less water drag vs bow up with the stern down.

120-130 lbs on the back of a boat push the stern down and creates more drag and will make a difference in top speed. And if Stinson is right the wind resistance of Talons or PP would be none to very little impact.

[buster502]

i guess you could get the weight of a talon or pole then put the same amount weight in your livewell and see what the speed difference is,like pole 60 lbs or livewell with 9 gal of water in it and see the speed difference is

[Bass newb]

There was an article in the FLW magazine last month that was about getting the most speed with tips from Alan Stinson. He stated that wind resistance has almost 0 effect in terms of things you add to a boat, it's all weight and water resistance/drag with a bass boat. The example he gave were tests they did (at Stratos I think) with seats on the deck. The seats in or out made no impact on top speed.

He went on to say that your best speed will come when your boat is running flat because there is less water drag vs bow up with the stern down.

120-130 lbs on the back of a boat push the stern down and creates more drag and will make a difference in top speed. And if Stinson is right the wind resistance of Talons or PP would be none to very little impact.

It's believable I guess.

[Syncros]

It's believable I guess.

Yeah. I don't know. I don't have tons of experience driving a boat fast because everything around me to fish is pretty small. I was a really avid mtn biker years and years ago and magazines always said to get all the weight off the bike, like water bottles, and put it on you, like a camel bac. I took their word at it but it made no sense to my non match brain because I'm still on the bike pedaling so why does it matter where the weight is? I know water has more resistance than air so I can wrap my brain around that part of it and it makes more sense to me than the water bottles on a bike thing.

At some point physical size would start to have a big impact, like if you put a sail between the talons. It would add almost no weight but I can't imagine it wouldn't slow you down noticeably. Talons are 85 to almost 90 lbs a pair. The brackets are roughly 16 lbs each. So it's a lot of weight.

[cwilt]

also consider size of outboard. putting two talons on a 150 powered boat would have more effect on speed than putting the same size talons on a 250 powered boat.

[Bass newb]

also consider size of outboard. putting two talons on a 150 powered boat would have more effect on speed than putting the same size talons on a 250 powered boat.

This is probably true too.

I know that when I tow my trailer with the gate/ramp straight up in the air instead of flat in the trailer I get a LOT more wind resistance and my mpg gage loses 2-3mpg. I would think every little thing counts, especially on a small boat. My 115 powered z175 gets 46 or 47 top speed when I have all my seats mounted and more like 49 or 50 when the deck is bare.