I'm new to this site and have been reading the numerous threads on prop to pad height. My apologies for beating a dead horse, but I have some more questions regarding that subject on my current gambler. This is the second Gambler that I have owned. My first one was a 1988 20' 6" dual console with a 200 Black Max running a 26 pitch chopper style prop. The boat ran consistently over 70mph fully loaded, so to be honest I never touched the manual jack plate setting after I bought it. Unfortunately, since I never bothered changing the setup, I don't have a clue what the pad to prop shaft measurement was. Just a side note, that boat was painfully slow out of the hole. I tried a 24 pitch chopper style prop and it seemed just as slow so I went back to the 26 pitch in an attempt to keep the RPM's down. Trimmed up however it would still turn close to 7200 rpm.
My current rig is a 1991 19' 4" dual console Intimidator with a 2004 Yamaha 225 V MAX running a 23 pitch 3 blade prop. The guy that I bought it from had just finished putting it together more or less (he bought the hull and then hung the motor on it). I have only had it out so far on the reservoir that is about 2 minutes from my house that only allows electric motors, so I haven't ran it on the main engine yet. I am attempting to get the set up somewhat close before I take it out. Here is my dilemma and I have attached images in an effort to better illustrate the issues I'm having:
Let me start out by saying that I almost always have the kids in the boat with me now so I'm not concerned with ringing every ounce of speed out of it. I just want it to perform somewhat close to the potential it has while having a good hole shot along with a descent top end. When I checked the pad to prop shaft distance when I got it, it was approximately 5 1/2". I raised the jack plate as much as physically possible and got the distance down to between 4 and 4 1/2" depending on whether you measure to the top of the "tunnel" of the pad or the bottom of the pad. The motor is mounted as high up on the jack plate as is physically possible. Thus, as far as I can figure I'm out of upward adjustment (I did verify that the motor has a 20" shaft and that the guy didn't hang one on it with a 25" shaft). Everything that I have read on this site says to start off at 2 1/2". Is this just for rigs with hydraulic jack plates or are people achieving this set up dimension somehow with the stock Gambler manual jack plates? Also, a 23 pitch prop seems a little low to me. Does anyone have thoughts on prop choice considering my set up dimensions? It seems to me like a 25 pitch may be a better choice, but budget is an issue nowadays, so I would need to find a used one and sell my 23 pitch. If anyone sees anything in the pics that I attached that I have done incorrectly, please let me know.
You will probably need a 25 or 27 prop.
As far as the height, I ran my 19'3" intimidator even with the pad but i had a 12 inch jack olate. Maybe the short jack olate wont allow for enough adjustment. The 12 inch plates are cut at an angle.
1991 Intimidator Prop to Pad Height Issue
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