Pulse 186 prop suggestions

[customfab]

Just picked up my first Checkmate. 1996 Pulse with 175HP. It currently has a 3 blade SS, 14.5 diameter, 23P prop. I ran 58 mph (GPS) at 5800 RPM with a full tank of gas, 3 people and somewhat rough conditions.
I noticed when I was towing a large tube with kids that the prop tended to slip on moderate turns (trying to swing tube on outside of wake). I've experienced this with other boats on severe manuevers but my Pulse appears to be very sensitive to it.
Also, isn't 5800 rpm at WOT kinda high?

Any thoughts or suggestions. I'd like to get a prop that creates good hole shots (when I have to pull up my 200+ slalom pals) and good all around drivability. I'd rather sacrifice top end, but I say this with hesitation as I do like speed!

Thanks, Devin

 

[daren34]

you might want to trty a tropy 4-blade

i would stay with 23 pitch

rpm's sound ok at wot

do you have a jack-plate?

the 185 is kinda heavy for a checkmate, most people run a 200 on them


daren

 

[customfab]

you might want to trty a tropy 4-blade

i would stay with 23 pitch

rpm's sound ok at wot

do you have a jack-plate?

the 185 is kinda heavy for a checkmate, most people run a 200 on them


daren

No jackplate. Mercury's site doesn't recommend a 23 pitch when I input all the info for their onsite calculator. General performance and top speed filters recommend a 24 or 25 pitch prop with 13.5 to 14.0 diameter. (in general) I guess it doesn't mean that it is correct for this particular hull.

So what's the difference between a 3 vs 4 blade?

 

[gchildre]

4 Blade Works Well on a Pulse 186

Devin,
I started with a 22" Laser II prop on my Pulse 186 closed bow and found similar results to yours. Slow to get on plane and prop slip in corners but decent speed. I read that 4 blade props give better stern lift out of the hole so I bought a cheap aluminum 4 blade 19" prop last year from Overtons and it has much better out of the hole performance. The 19 is a good prop for tubing and wakeboarding but it's not much to look at. Over the winter I bought a 25" Trophy Plus 4 blade stainless and am going to try it out this weekend.

As far as 200's on 186's, I'm pretty sure that my Coast Guard plate says 175hp max. That is an entirely different argument that has been covered well in other forums here, I personally wouldn't do it as I figure someone smarter than me did the math.

Good luck

 

[fiftyp]

As far as 200's on 186's, I'm pretty sure that my Coast Guard plate says 175hp max. That is an entirely different argument that has been covered well in other forums here, I personally wouldn't do it as I figure someone smarter than me did the math.

Good luck[/quote]


I run a 200 on the back of my 186 with a 10" jackplate. Motor on top holes
jackplate 80% raised up. Running a 25' Turning point classic. Tucked in she jumps fight up on plane, trimmed out she flies. Great combination, no problems with the 2oo hanging on the back. WOT trimmed is about 6200

 

[daren34]

you can figure 200 rpm per pitch and 500 rpm for 1 inch dia when you change props

adding another blade is about the same as going up one degree in pitch

so if you go to a 14 x 23 4-blade wot should stay about the same

you might get away with a 25 at less than 1/2 a tank and 1 or 2 people
a 25 would be alot slower to plane

going with a 4-blade you can probably raise you motor higher on the tranasom for more top speed without sacraficing handling and driveability (easier with a jack plate)

hope this helps daren

 

[customfab]

you can figure 200 rpm per pitch and 500 rpm for 1 inch dia when you change props

adding another blade is about the same as going up one degree in pitch

so if you go to a 14 x 23 4-blade wot should stay about the same

you might get away with a 25 at less than 1/2 a tank and 1 or 2 people
a 25 would be alot slower to plane

going with a 4-blade you can probably raise you motor higher on the tranasom for more top speed without sacraficing handling and driveability (easier with a jack plate)

hope this helps daren

Very helpful. So what impacts planing? You mentioned I could probably get away with a 25P at 1/2 tank. So it seems that 25P is too much? I typically have 3-4 people in the boat and would like to get to a quick plan while maintaining a good hole shot for slalom pulls.

 

[daren34]

Very helpful. So what impacts planing? You mentioned I could probably get away with a 25P at 1/2 tank. So it seems that 25P is too much? I typically have 3-4 people in the boat and would like to get to a quick plan while maintaining a good hole shot for slalom pulls.

several factors will effect planing weight horsepower and prop are the biggest

the more the boat weighs the harder it will be to plane
the less horsepower avail the harder to plane
a bad prop that slips or "blows out" will be hard to plane with

choosing the right prop is a compromise at best
you have to decide what is most important
you may want 2 or 3 different props for different occasions
a high 5 say in a 21 pitch would be great for slolam skiing but you have to watch wot rpm's to keep from overreving
a 25 laserII might be the fastest but be real slow to get on plane

think of a 4-speed car and you only get one gear for all your driving.

daren

 

[daren34]

sometimes you can find a local prop shop that will trade and let you test different props as long as you buy one


daren

 

[customfab]

several factors will effect planing weight horsepower and prop are the biggest

the more the boat weighs the harder it will be to plane
the less horsepower avail the harder to plane
a bad prop that slips or "blows out" will be hard to plane with

choosing the right prop is a compromise at best
you have to decide what is most important
you may want 2 or 3 different props for different occasions
a high 5 say in a 21 pitch would be great for slolam skiing but you have to watch wot rpm's to keep from overreving
a 25 laserII might be the fastest but be real slow to get on plane

think of a 4-speed car and you only get one gear for all your driving.

daren

I understand. So I'm looking at two different props.
- A 4-blade Trophy Plus 13.75 w 24P. I understand that will be a better top end prop but most likely my low end or hole shot will suffer from my exisitng 3-blade 14.5 23P prop. -
- I'm also considering a 4-blade, 14", 21P. I believe this would be a great hole shot prop but my top end would suffer and I may above RPM range at WOT.

Any thoughts?

Finally, how will a 8" or 10" jackplate influence my boat. Will it result in overall performance increases both low end and top end?

 

[fiftyp]

Finally, how will a 8" or 10" jackplate influence my boat. Will it result in overall performance increases both low end and top end?[/quote]


You probably won't notice any diff between the two, so go with the 10"

If I could get mine further back I would. Adding the plate smoothed out the
right dramatically.

 

[zstevens]

hey fifty did you have to buy new steering cables ? does your j/p have the gauge ?

 

[fiftyp]

hey fifty did you have to buy new steering cables ? does your j/p have the gauge ?

Factory steering cables fit, never had to disconnect anything. Just hung the
motor pulled it back, fit the plate in and bolted everything back together.

Not sure what you mean by gauge?
There are no measurment markings on the plate if that's what you mean.

 

[zstevens]

mines hyd. w/a verticle gauge for j/p height , like a trim gauge .

 

[fiftyp]

mines hyd. w/a verticle gauge for j/p height , like a trim gauge .

Ahhhhhhhh. no, mines a good old fashioned manual, no gauges.

 

[customfab]

Anyone try out one of those HighFive props?

 

[fiftyp]

Anyone try out one of those HighFive props?

No, but I have run a laserII,Trophy,Chopper, and this Turning point is hands
down the best over all prop I found with my combination.

 

[C-mate 280]

set up for pulse 186

I have a Pulse 186 and my first motor was a 175 hp merc. I achieved 70 mph on radar. My best set up for speed was a 5 inch set back jack plate (it really needed 10 inches of set back), the top holes plugged on the water intake so I could run the motor as high as possible and maintain water pressure (a pressure gauge is a must) with a trophy 4 blade prop with a 23 inch pitch slighty modified. I ran three blade tempests and ballistics with 23 inch pitch but the 4 blade trophy had the best hole shot and handled the best with good speed. I was running about 6300 rpm. Mine is an open bow and when I put a cover over the bow I gained almost 3mph. I also installed a 200 hp exhaust tuner which increased my hp by about 9hp and I advanced the timing slightly.
I decided more speed was in order so after a few years I bought a 2.5 liter 280 hp merc and increased the set back to 10 inches. The new motor has a sportmaster lower unit with low water pick up and I run a 24 inch lightning et blue printed prop at 7800 rpm and hit 88 mph (gps) and on a cool day it touches 90 . The boat has no chine walk and runs as straight as an arrow as long as the jack plate is all the way up, if the motor is down it can get weird. My prop shaft is centered about 1/2 inch below the pad. Neither motor could turn a 25 inch prop and get good all around performance so I suggest 24 inches is the max.
If I had it to do all over again, I would buy a 200 hp merc with an adjustable jack plate that has 10 inches of set back, plug the top holes on the water intake, (getting the motor up is a must because it stops the chine walking and increases the speed) and experiment with 4 blade props. The boat would hit 73 mph, handle well, pull water skiers with ease and get pretty good gas milage. The 280 uses 50% more gas than the 175, is very loud, idles at 900 Rpm, needs the oil to be mixed with gas at 40 to 1 so it is very smokey . BUT 90 SURE IS FUN.
There is the coast guard issue with 175 being the max for the boat but as stated before, that is another issue.