speed

[tenntom]

i have a 16 ft polar craft bare essential trolling motor and seats. have a 25 horse yamaha with ss prop. on gps it only shows 22mph at full speed. Is that all should be expected or is there something i could do to get up the speed?

[Moose1am]

Reduce the drag on the boat if possible. Some paint on the boat bottom may reduce the friction between the boat and the water. It depends on the shape of the boat surface. Friction will reduce your speed. Cleaning the bottom of a boat will increase the boat's speed all other things being the same. Algae or in salt water barnacles can grow on the boat's bottom and thus increase the friction or induce more turbulence at the water/boat surface interface

Check the motor and give it new life. Add some sea foam to the gas to help clean out the carburetor. New spark plugs in the proper heat range may help too. Help increase the engine's power and thus the boat's speed.

Check your propeller for any nicks and make sure it's in good shape.

Check for fishing line that may have wrapped around the propellers shaft and remove any that may have wrapped around the spindle.

A good tune up of the motor can't hurt.

Good gasoline may help. Throw out any old fuel and get new gas and make sure that it's a quality gasoline. Not sure how to test this without sending samples to Haliburton. Core Labs will test fuel for you but they are located in Houston, TX.

Get a new stainless steel prop that matches your motor properly.

Get your motor in the proper trim for your boat.

Reduce the weight carried in your boat.

Make sure that there are no objects mounted on your boat (transom or bottom) that will create friction with the water.

There may be more that you can do but this covers a lot without having to buy a new boat and another motor. LOL


quote=tenntom]i have a 16 ft polar craft bare essential trolling motor and seats. have a 25 horse yamaha with ss prop. on gps it only shows 22mph at full speed. Is that all should be expected or is there something i could do to get up the speed?[/quote]

[Speck]

Moose is right, also check the pitch on your prop. You might be able to get a little higher pitch prop and squeeze a few more mph out of it.

[papasage]

this boat does 30 mph by gps . with 2 people

[ShilohRed]

My 17 ft war-eagle Tiller with a 25 hp Yamaha 4-stroke will only run around 22 to 27 but this boat is not light.
When the motor was on a 14ft john it would run around 30 mph.
This is by the GPS
Pete

[izzysfishin]

Got a 16ft Lowe with a 25hp Merc. It does about the same, without power trim i would think thats about normal. On the old Merc theres a rod that you can move to different positions to get the bow up, but you lose the hole shot...izzy

[mehill10]

i have a G3 16 foot with a 4 stroke 25 yamaha it does 23 mph on my gps loaded with 2 people

[gcromer]

tenntom

I have a Polar Kraft also. Yamaha 40, 4-stroke. It came with a 12 pitch prop and was turning 6200 RPM's .. I played around with different props and ended up with a 14 pitch. It gives the best top speed, 35-36 by my self but with a good load of stuff... Rpm now down to 5700, sounds better, it now uses less fuel. I tried a 15 pitch, same speed, same fuel use, but it took to long getting out of the hole... There is a happy, sweet, spot when I use the trim that gives max Rpm, max speed, best ride, and no pulling of the steering wheel. Running the 12 pitch cut my speed 5-6 MPH and used a lot more fuek also.

Now I have the 15 pitch S/S that I need to move, don't need 5 props...

Gerald K4NHN
Cayce, SC