2014 Pulsare 2400LD top speed help....

[RDAGlock]

Hello fellas... Looking for some guidance here after doing a fair bit of searching/reading on the Pulsare 2400. (Wildman, I have been all over your page too and watched your vids A lot! .... And see where mid 70's seems to be average out of the box)

Quick backdrop- I just bought a gorgeous 2014 Pulsare 2400 Long Deck (the one Checkmate had at the Miami boat show) from Dean at Checkmate- great buying experience. It has a 300XS on it with a 4 blade Trophy Plus (25 pitch- I think) prop. Motor is "broken in" now...with about 13 hours on it...and I can only seem to hit 65mph (gps)... With me and girlfriend...and a 1/2 tank of gas in it...with no chop. Live in Ohio, so altitude shouldn't be an issue.

Any suggestions? Seem right? Prop changes suggestions? Motor still need more time? Any magic pixie dust?

Thanks in advance!

 

[keith4216]

Don't know crap about setting up an o/b but you my man have a beautiful boat.
Congrats and

 

[Problem Child]

Very nice boat . Welcome and congrats . Enjoy it!!!

 

[RNGRDVE]

What part of Ohio are you in?

 

[DropTop5.0]

Congrats and welcome.

How much setback are you running? How far is the center of the bullet below the pad? Do you get any porpoising?

 

[RDAGlock]

Keith and Problem Child- thanks much for the kind words. I did fall in love with the style and graphics/color when I first saw it.

Rngrdve- We primarily boat at Buckeye Lake. That said, looking to explore many others this year as well(Seneca, Indian, Caesar Creek, etc)

DropTop- honestly....I don't know how much setback(nor how far below the pad it is). I and guessing around 10 inches, but will call Checkmate next week and confirm. I have read a lot about 15-16 inches(still learning this stuff), but don't think it's anything that aggressive. Below is a link to some pics of the boat from the Miami show, one of them is of the motor and setback plate. Maybe you or someone here can tell?

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.724195487605226.1073741826.121860734505374&type=3

 

[nathan]

beautiful boat! by the looks of your picture your set back looks to only be a jack plate that are usually 5 to 5.5 inches wide.

 

[WILDMAN]

That's a 10" CMC bracket

 

[RNGRDVE]

Short notice but the lake Cumberland owners rally is next weekend if you up for a road trip.

 

[RDAGlock]

Thanks guys. I guess I will just chat with Dean at Checkmate. The 63-65 mph just seems a bit low, as I was made to believe that it was a 73-75 mph boat from the factory.

Maybe I need to do some more reading on props. Anybody have a point of view on the 4 blade Trophy Plus that I have on it now.... Or have any other recommendations for the Pulsare 2400(Bravo 1)?

Thanks again.

 

[RNGRDVE]

Have you tried raining/lower engine height and trimming up after on plane?

 

[ckaluger]

I was just over at Buckeye Lake this afternoon, I stopped at the public ramp just to get a boating fix on the way to my daughter's house in Columbus. I live on the Ohio River just 10 miles south of Wheeling Wva. And Seneca Lake is 1/2 way to Columbus for me. We boat on the Ohio and the pool from Pike Island to Hannibal lock and dam is 39 miles long plenty of high speed running. we also lock through to the pool to the north which adds another 30 plus miles. Anyway after the owners rally if you would like pick a weekend, and come down to the Ohio we have a number of props you could try, or maybe we might drag the boats to Buckeye Lake, I have owned Checkmates since 1977, and people always ask me why am I worried about speed, well I am worried about cruising efficiency and generally they correlate.

Talk to you soon,
Chuck

 

[88Mate]

Hi Chuck, congrats on the new boat. If you are ever headed a little farther north we hit Salt Fork on a pretty regular basis - feel free to stop us and say hi. We also boat the river but usually at East Liverpool or Marietta.

 

[keit29]

I live in grove city and try to boat alum or buckeye every weekend. I'll keep an eye out tomorrow. Pretty sure we are going to buckeye. I could definitely help get the speed up.

 

[RDAGlock]

Thanks for the ideas fellas... My hunch that the issue is motor related (vs prop, motor height, etc) was confirmed. I took the boat to Checkmate(I live in Ohio) and to see Dean Reynolds last week. We put it in the water and before we got up to 40, he said..."there's something wrong with the motor". He too was only able to get'r up to 60ish. He has the Mercury racing tech checking it out this week.

Hopefully more to come tomorrow.

 

[ChuckB]

Hopefully it's something simple with the motor because I agree with you that your should be able to get to at least 70mph. With my 2012 2400 with open bow I'm able to do 70 on gps with another person on board. I have the pro Verado 300 which is heavier than your Pro XS plus a few other things that add more weight.

I originally was only able to do low 60's max at until I dropped down from a Tempest plus 25P 3 blade to a 23P. I got creative with the power jackplate height while under power combined with trim to hit about 6200RPM for WOT at 70mph. For fun it's cool thowing a little rooster tail with some excess trim while getting beyond 40MPH.

I posted a few picts from the Chesapeake Checkmate Weekend.

 

[RDAGlock]

Beautiful boat Chuck!

 

[redrum]

I have had good luck with 19" setback. Best speed has been 79 and will run 72 to 74 any day on GPS. Boat seems to like the larger diameter of the bravo xs and Heiring 4 blade options.

 

[RDAGlock]

Redrum- your post makes me feel better, and consistent with other reports on this boat. That performance is exactly why I bought it.

Sounds like Mercury may be replacing the motor.(they certainly stand behind their product). More to come tomorrow.

 

[RDAGlock]

Update-

It ended up being a bad coil/s. Rectifying that, raising the motor slightly (based on Mercury Racing guidance due to the new Torquemaster 2 specs), as well as changing prop to a Tempest 27 pitch got me running 75mph on gps.

Thanks to Dean and team at Checkmate for chasing this down.