I have owned several skeeters in the past from a zx20, zx200 and a tzx 200. How is the ride of these new zxr19 compared to the other ones. Also What kind of speed are they capable of. I am on the fence of a zxr19 or stepping up to the zxr20
I have owned several skeeters in the past from a zx20, zx200 and a tzx 200. How is the ride of these new zxr19 compared to the other ones. Also What kind of speed are they capable of. I am on the fence of a zxr19 or stepping up to the zxr20
I have a 2023 ZXR19.. best riding Skeeter I've own..previous boat was a 2022 ZX225....my buddy has a ZXR21, my ZXR19 rides just as good. I've had my boat up to 71mph with me, half tank of gas and fully tournament loaded..
I was always in 19 foot boats. I bought a ZXR20 and love it. I will say the 19 wasn’t being made yet when I bought mine but will say the extra length is noticeable when it gets rough compared to my other 19 footers I had.
Thanks guys I appreciate it
Mojo, FYI, I have a 2025 ZXR19, and I would never buy another one. Was set up poorly and porpoised all over the place at all speeds with any up trim at all. Two different dealers worked on it, first they added 3 degree wedges, and the second dealer then moved the engine down two inches. It now trims out well at 35 plus, but it’s the worst riding 19 boat I’ve ever owned when you have to run slower speeds in rough water. Rides way too bow high, even when trimmed all the way down, at 25-30 mph, so it doesn’t cut the waves well at all. Why any boat would be sent out like that with that original setup is still a mystery to me. It’s like their engineers never tested the boat and motor combo, and had no idea about how bad it porpoised. After two heated phone calls with “customer service” , Skeeter has now ghosted me and will not return my phone calls. Luckily, my original dealer has worked hard for me to try and get it right. I also have a non-functioning solenoid that needs a second try at repair, and had an improperly grounded main panel switch. So extremely unhappy all the way around with Skeeter right now. My Ranger Z519 rode waaay better, but I live in Tyler so I thought I’d support the local company and give Skeeter a try. Wish to heck I hadn’t. It’s crazy to me because this boat is 400 lbs heavierthan my Ranger, so it should ride better. I still think it would ride okay if it had a jack plate and could get the motor down even more when needed in rough water, but they wanted to try the other stuff first. Hope I get it solved. Maybe this post will prompt a phone call from someone at Skeeter that cares about a frustrated customer.
Oh wow! Sorry to hear that. Something is definitely wrong. My 2023 is the best riding Skeeter I've owned out of 5. Not one issue with it since I bought it in August of 2022. I purchased the very first one my dealer got on the lot.
Sorry to hear that jman1959. I ended up buying one earlier this month and mine is setup pretty good. I was surprised mine came with a 12” manual jack plate with 2” spacers on it. It rides great an all speeds and rides a little flat when fuel tank is full. 1/2 tank it airs out just like all my other skeeters have in the past. Hope you can get yours dialed in.
Mojo, Verkeith, thanks much for the info. Started a new topic of my own and all the Skeeter bandwagon trolls wanted to tell me I didn’t know how to drive it and offering no solutions, even though I told them it was porpoising at all speeds with the trim all the way down. My dealer has definitely gotten it better, put 3 degree wedges on it and dropped it down two more dots (six dots showing on the manual jack plate at the top now). It trims out nicely now at all speeds 32+, no problems. Just the slower speeds that you have to run in big chop that I’m trying to fix now. I’m probably just going to go jackplate, but would you guys mind sharing your setups, I.e. how many dots are showing on the top rail, or better yet, measure from the prop shaft to the bottom of the pad? I’d sure appreciate it. Thanks again.
I'll check tomorrow...I have a manual jackplate and pretty sure no wedges installed, 25P T2 stock prop..definitely was a small learning curve when I first drove the R hull...I was so use to the old Skeeter hull..trim and go...the new hull is definitely different..
I think I recall a thread where someone had similar issues as you're experiencing...the boat ended up having a major defect in the hull from the factory...
Following this with interest — I’m still weighing between the ZXR19 and 20 myself. Appreciate y’all sharing your setups. Haven’t pulled the trigger yet, just scouting and comparing for now. Been checking potential lakes and ramp access with a fishing app to help plan ahead once I do make the jump. Curious if any of you made rigging changes over time or stuck with stock setups?
Does your boat have the 12 inch jack plate or the 12 inch with the 2 inch spacer added to it for a total of 14 inches. My ZXR 20 came with a 12 inch and a 2 inch spacer added to it and I have seen the ZXRs come with either setup. I am wondering if the additional 2 inches are there to help with the porpoise issues.Originally Posted by Jman1959
Okskeeter,
The 3 degree tapered wedges are about 2” thick, so they likely emulate the spacer setup you have, but also providing more downward trim capability as well. I have to give Skeeter some props because they did clean up the porpoising at high speeds and gave me normal trim up capability at the higher speeds. But it still rides too bow high at low plane speeds for a very rough ride in choppy water on big lakes. I’m curious, when you guys are running say 25-28 after getting on plane, do you have any up trim capability at all without causing porpoising? Because I do not. One bump up and it’s a carnival ride, which tells me it’s riding pretty far back on the pad at that speed, causing the rough ride. Okskeeter would love to hear your pad to prop shaft measurement as well, as well as what year boat you have.
Okay, I finally had a conversation with a different Skeeter rep. Standard ZXR19 setup is 2” spacers with a 12” jackplate setback, on both manual or hydraulic jackplates. On the ZXR19s, standard height is 8 dots showing. So why the first rep had the dealer add wedges before moving the motor down to the standard eight dots is beyond me. I had already gone to six, so now I’m going to go down two more dots to eight and see what happens. Haven’t had a chance to measure prop to pad yet.
On my boat 8 dots is a higher engine setting than 6 dots. I have a 2021 ZXR20 and I tested today. I can get to at least approximately 30% trim at 25-28 mph without issues. I would be spearing waves if I had to run rough water trimmed all the way down like you said you had to be. My prop to pad is approximately 2 5/8”.
You are exactly right about the dots, Okskeeter. Went to adjust my boat this a.m. My dealer thought he was lowering the motor when he was actually raising it up (he made more dots show). So he was undoing some of the good that the 3 degree wedges had gained me back. Now that’s assuming you buy the theory that a lower motor creates more down trim. From what I’ve read, that’s generally true, but they say you can over shoot and recreate the problem too. What’s nuts is that Skeeter will not commit one way or another as to which way I should adjust it to get more down trim. Too many variables, they both said. Gotta experiment with it, they said. Ugggh. So I got their standard mount specs 8 dots, lowest jack plate holes, and was done with it. There are three different jackplate mounting hole positions. Skeeter tells me they are supposed to be mounted in the 3rd hole, which is the lowest motor position. If your motor got mounted on one of the other holes, Skeeter’s eight dots recommendation goes out the window. I forgot to look at mine to see if it was mounted in that lowest position, assuming it was. At my last setting of six dots though, it was still really high. Prop shaft was maybe an inch below the pad. I’ll find out when I go over there tomorrow if they used a higher mounting hole on the jackplate. It would explain a lot. If the mounting holes are two inches apart, that would take up eight dots, meaning you would need to have zero dots showing (ironically, where I had to set mine this a.m., lol.). When I put it almost all the way to the top, it’s similar to yours now ok at 2.5 inches. Per Skeeter every dot is 1/4”, but 4 dots/1 inch can make a pretty big difference. Thanks so much for all the help everyone. Hope this helps others dodge some bullets, and I will update with progress.
Okay a couple of new observations after going back yet again to look. I do not have two inch spacers, just the wedges, and they are only about 3/4” thick. My service guy thinks the spacers would make it worse, which I agree with at this point, because the wedges made it much better. The jack plate has four mount holes, not three, and it’s mounted on the third from the top, which is per the factory spec. So my next experiment tomorrow is to see how it rides with more motor in the water. I’m at one dot from the top, almost the limit of down depth adjustments (unless I completely remount at a lower jackplate setting). If that doesn’t work, I’m going counter intuitive, all the way up to the eight dots factory setting just for shirts and giggles. Shouldn’t have to do any of this, Skeeter Boats!
I’d pay good money to be able to spear me some waves…
I have the 2” spacers on mine and don’t have a problem with mine at all. It rides like a dream. I believe it rides just as good or better than any of my other skeeters I have had in the past. I would have the dealer install the 2” spacers and play with the motor height until you get it dialed in. Remember 1/4” adjustments are major on the performance of these boats. Put a line with a pencil each time you move it and write down how it is performing.
I dialed In my old fx with a 1/8" inch turn when I got it close. It made a huge difference with the trim, and the handling at wot and trimmed
Mojo, how many dots are showing at the top, and are you mounted on the jackplate at the third hole down?
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