How fast should our merc. 50hp be?

[bassin5]

How fast should our merc. 50hp be? Me and my cus have a 2006 bass tracker pt 175 and we get the rpms to 5500, and our speed is between 29 and 31. Also our boat is 17' 5". Is this the normal speed for our boat and motor?

[powerman970]

I have the new Stratos 176 with a 50 Yamaha and I'm turning around 5200 rpm and getting about 34 mph if the trim is just right.

[Team_Dougherty]

That sounds about right. You could try a higher pitch prop or a stainless prop of the same pitch and get a couple of more MPH. The higher pitch prop will lengthen your hole shot and your motor might not have enough power to turn it to 5500 RPM. It worth a shot.

FWIW I just got a 40HP on my 16 footer with a 17" prop and it will turn 5300 RPM and go 32 MPH. I order a 15" prop to see if I can get that extra 200 rpm.

[HPBB]

That sounds about right with 2 guys in it. I have some freinds that have 17 foot lowe's with 50 johnson's on them and run right around 30mph. I run a 17' 6" sea nymph Deep V with a Suzuki 75 Hp and get right around 35-36mph on GPS with 2 guys & tournament rigged. That's with a 17 pitch prop. I am moveing to a 19 pitch  stainless this year. The rpms where red lined with the 17 and I added a jack plate so I went up a size to 19. I'll hopefully get the boat out this weekend and see what she will run now.

[dizzy5868]

My friend had the same boat and motor, his was an 1986, we ended up running a 15 pitch prop stainless and put a power trim plate on it. Top end with 2 guys was 36-38 mph. The trim made all the difference. We tried every prop from 12-17 and 15 seemed to be the magic number. Without the trim he pretty much got what you are getting now.

[GobbleDog]

I've got a 1988 (88 i think) 16 foot Bass Tracker made out of fiberglass (back with Trackers still made fiberglass boats).

It's got a an old 80 horse Merc on it and I can get it up to a max of 45+ mph, when the trim is right, the water is calm, I'm the only one in the boat, with no water in the livewells and low on gas.   ;D

Most of the time, it tops out in the high 30's.

[Sam]

I have a 2003 Bass Tracker Pro-185 with a 50 HP motor which we decided to get so our son would not use the boat for skiing on the river.

I added a stainless steel prop and I can easily travel at 33 MPH on a calm day.

Of course, my friends who have their Rangers, Bass Cats and Tritons look down on me, except when I can get back into the coves and back brush and they can't since my Tracker is so much lighter than their heavier glass boats.

And 33 MPH is fast enough.  The others can run like crazy to their favorite fishing places and fish them first; just to let me cruise on in after they leave to pick up what the did not catch.

[Jimzee]

You're about right in the ballpark, I also have a 2003 Tracker Pro 185 but mine has the 90 HP Merc. I was getting 37 - 40 MPH (choppy vs. flat water) with 2 people and gear until I put a stainless prop on last year. Now I can get about 40 - 43 MPH (choppy vs. flat water) with 2 people and gear @ 5300-5500 RPM. I measured both times with GPS. My speedometer says that I top out at 49 - 50 MPH on flat water @ 5500 RPM. This will show you how much they can be off. :-/ I trust the GPS more.

[Pa Angler]

That 29 to 31mph sounds about right according to Tracker's specs although I have a 2004 Tracker Targa 17SC with a 90 and the specs stated 39mph as tops but I'm getting 44mph with a full load and myself I'm running a stainless Merc prop.

http://www.trackerboats.com/boat/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.motors&boat=2111