I have a 1989 Ranger 364V with a 150 Evinrude and i was thinking of trying to get a little bit more out of my engine performance wise! Top speed ive had is 46 mph and i was trying to see if i could get a little more out of it.

 

I've already made adjustments according to this video, which really helped! 

 

 

Now I'm looking to change props. I dont know much about props but i was wondering if anyone had a prop that made a big differance?

Thanks, Allen

How far below pad is your prop running? Start at 3 1/2" below pad and experiment in 1/4" increment up or down. Keep on eye on water pressure!

What are your current WOT RPMs? You should be within 200 RPMS of Evinrude's recommended WOT for that particular engine, ideally you should run right at the recommended number or a bit over in the winter months, since you lose some RPMs in the Summer's warmer weather. I would assume between 5500-6000, but you need to check.

What is the gear ratio on your outboard? This to a degree determines what your starter prop size and pitch should be. (I assume that it was a 1.86/1, so a good prop to start with would be a Raker 3 blade 24" or a 24" 4 blade Powertech TRO4

What's the pitch, number of blades and model of your current prop?

Ranger's are a bit portly, but I can tell you that 46 MPH on your particular setup is much less that what you should be running. I bet you can be in the mid 50s at least.

With that motor, not much you can do performance wise that would be cost effective. About the only bolt on mods are 1 3/8" carbs and early, higher compression heads and and with those you might see a penny's worth of gain for the dollars spent. Anything more than that will require a tear down and porting, which because of the exhaust it has, will give very little and WILL take away hole shot. You can easily spend a couple of grand and not gain 3 mph.

You best bet is working on setup. Those older Rangers like to ride heavy in the water and getting a setup that gives good bow lift can give you more bang for the buck than anything you could do to the motor. BTW, max rpm on that motor is 5,500. Those motors also DO NOT like four bladed props.

One other bit of food for thought, has the boat been stored out doors? Those early boats used open cell flotation foam that can become water logged, adding as much as a couple of hundred pounds to the weight. When water got in the open cell foam, it did not want to come back out.

With that motor, not much you can do performance wise that would be cost effective. About the only bolt on mods are 1 3/8" carbs and early, higher compression heads and and with those you might see a penny's worth of gain for the dollars spent. Anything more than that will require a tear down and porting, which because of the exhaust it has, will give very little and WILL take away hole shot. You can easily spend a couple of grand and not gain 3 mph.

You best bet is working on setup. Those older Rangers like to ride heavy in the water and getting a setup that gives good bow lift can give you more bang for the buck than anything you could do to the motor. BTW, max rpm on that motor is 5,500. Those motors also DO NOT like four bladed props.

One other bit of food for thought, has the boat been stored out doors? Those early boats used open cell flotation foam that can become water logged, adding as much as a couple of hundred pounds to the weight. When water got in the open cell foam, it did not want to come back out.

that's what i was thinking. the boat sounds like it might be heavy. like others have said, I think you should work on the set up and leave the motor alone.

Yes it is actually stored outside and that makes sense because my older 1989 ford f150 could not put it that well and i always thought why is the truck having such a hard time. Got a 2009 ford f150 now and have no problem of course but thanks for all your help. Im looking into buying a new boat in a couple of years so ill just keep on fishing with it!

Thanks Allen

Yes it is actually stored outside and that makes sense because my older 1989 ford f150 could not put it that well and i always thought why is the truck having such a hard time. Got a 2009 ford f150 now and have no problem of course but thanks for all your help. Im looking into buying a new boat in a couple of years so ill just keep on fishing with it!

Thanks Allen

Until you can buy a faster set up, the only thing you can do is try different props and play with the motor height. I have a 1987 Ranger 373 and it runs best with a 22P 4 blade prop. The 3 blade props were giving me a lot of slippage. You have to get the bow up to get air under that hull. As it lifts, you will see the speed increase. I am running a 2L Mercury 150. It will run 56 MPH @ 5700 RPM loaded and 62 @ 5900 - 6100 RPM unloaded with no trolling motor batteries. The motor is 4 inches below the pad. When the hull rises, at 3.5 inches I start to have low water pressure issues. Do not over prop causing your motor to lug and bog down - not good for the motor in an attempt to gain speed. Your hole shot will suffer. Remove all unneeded weight from the boat, and try some different props. Hope this helps.

I think it says i have a 14 1/4 21" prop.

So if i go up or down in pitch what will happen? and ive been looking at props and do i need exactly the 14 1/4 size? I know nothing about props or boat motors as you can tell! Only 19 so trying to learn!

So if i go up or down in pitch what will happen? and ive been looking at props and do i need exactly the 14 1/4 size? I know nothing about props or boat motors as you can tell! Only 19 so trying to learn!

The first number is the DIAMETER of the Propeller the second number is the PITCH. So from your statements you have a 14 1/4" Diameter and 21" Pitched prop.

The more important number is the PITCH, since the diameter won't vary too much for your particular application. How many RPMS does your boat have when you are at wide open throttle while running down the lake?

The way to test this is make a long run and begin with your engine trimmed all the way down. Apply full throttle until the RPMs and speed with you engine trimmed down are maxed out note RPMs, GPS speed, and water pressure. Now slowly trim the engine up (give it small bumps while mentally noting RPMs, Water pressure, and speed) and you should notice that you gain speed and RPMs as the boat comes up on pad, it is vital that you keep an eye on your water pressure making sure it doesn't drop below manufacturer recommended minimum water pressure. There should be a sweet spot where you get the maximum speed while not over revving (>400) and losing water pressure, this is the WOT setting.

Read this excellent articles and PM me if you want some pointers:

http://www.kencook.net/Setupart.html

http://www.insideline.net/2005/bassn-rig.htm