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If so , what Prop are you running, and what engine? how is it performing? I have a 300 Verado with a 14x19 3 blade stainless ( not the eco) - and my WOT is only about 4900.
Also- what do you Whaler owners think of the new 220 and 250 Dauntless, and the new hull design? To me, it seems un-whaler like... and really blurs that line between the Dauntless and the outrage.
Then again, it'd be nice to have an anchor locker actually larger enough for an anchor!
She's a 2019 that I bought brand new. Not my first boat by any means, but my first brand- spanking new one. :) Right now, the 300 Verado has about 80 hours on her. Unfortunatly, the dealer I bought it from -( The only whaler dealer within about 300 miles) shoudn't be trusted to fix a hole in a pool floaty, much less be counted on for that legendary whaler service.
I was hoping to connect to other Dauntless owners- my next question would be " if you're running the 300 verado, how high is it mounted?" .
Mine is the 2nd hole from the bottom. Trimming it out helps , of course, but I start to porpoise before breaking 50MPH GPS speed.. Thats alone on a calm day, but with a full tank of both fuel and freshwater..
That is a very nice boat. Congrats. Since you are the only owner and it has always ran like this then that makes it easier. You need to get your rpm higher. I would try a 17' prop. 14" seems small diameter too should be 14 1/2 or 15. Maybe an Eneria or Mirage 2 17" prop. Sounds like the boat was never setup for the correct prop by the dealer. Every boat and owner is different, but for whatever reason, you now can try get the best prop for how your used the boat. Dealer probably set the prop for no gas and lighter load.
Full throttle and porpoising means trimmed too far. Rpm with go up because the prop is catching air. Slight down tabs may help. Trim for full throttle motor should be closer to level for a Whaler. It is not a performance hull.
When you say it is mounted on the second to bottom does that mean that it can only go up one more hole? Or second to the lowest position?
Mercurys do like to be mounted high.
Archie
What is your GPS speed and RPM's at WOT, trimmed out?
Do you have a T-Top?
Do you have bottom paint?
How much gear and passengers at the reported WOT speed?
What are the water and air conditions at the time of the reported speed?
Breaking 50 does not read like a performance issue.
All boats after 200X integration with Mercury come from the factory with the engine mounted either 1 or 2 holes up and an installed propeller that is matched to the engine/hull. The engineering division undertakes significant performance testing and selects the engine and prop prior to the model introduction.
I doubt replacing a factory installed prop is going to gain significant results that justify the $6-800 cost assuming you get it right on the first selection.
Edited by Phil T on 06/12/21 - 6:45 PM
1992 Outrage 17 I
2019 E-TEC 90, Viper 17 2+
2018 Load Rite Elite 18280096VT
Same question different boat. 2021 Boston Whaler 280 Vantage, 65 hours, twin 300 Verados, Lake George NY, 300 ft above sea level. Boattest.com and Boston Whaler performance info show 6000 rpm. In April and May she was running around 5500 rpm. Now down to 5250. one person onboard, trimmed out I understand air temp and density. Dealer has nothing to0 do with the setup of boat, motor, propeller, mounting height. At 70 and a life time of boats. I was taught you want to be at high end of rpm with out going over. Does this still hold true? or is a prop change in my destiny. I never owned a V8 outboard
It is reasonable to assume new Whalers factory powered and propped, are set up correctly.
The issue in these cases is engine maintenance or service problems. The Mercury engines can be serviced under warranty by ANY Mercury dealership, and it does not have to be a Whaler dealer. On these modern 4-stroke Mercs, it is highly unlikely anyone here can give meaningful repair advice. these are not "do-it-yourself" engines. Get the boat in for knowledgeable Mercury service where they can properly diagnose the problems! I do agree that loss of RPM is a problem to be corrected.
For Mercury Verado outboards, the veradoclub.com might be worth checking out.
I spent some time on the water this weekend, specifically to look at numbers ( which wasn't my focus on other trips).
I've come to the conclusion that the boats' to smart for me. :)
WARNING: What I'm about to share doesn't seem possible. But when you've eliminated the likely..
To clarify the engine mount per the verbiage, I'm only " one hole up" - so it just seems like that motor is mounted deep, too me. There's a whole lot of trim before the prop starts airing ; which says to me that she could be mounted a bit higher to get the prop thrust more in line with the hull, rather than at an angle as I'm trimming up. ( This is based on my basic understanding of physics.. not actually boat knowledge.. :) ) Now that I'm not buying a prop, maybe I'll spend my hard earned dollars on a jack plate I now "need", :)
What I realized this weekend was I Don't have a prop issue- I have a tach issue. And while I'd still like to get a better holeshot and maybe get the motor higher.. I'm getting just about exactly what Whaler got on her test boats.
I have the Mercury "smartcraft" digital gauages, as well as both vessel view and vessel view mobile, and both an AXIOM and a Hummingbird MFD's with GPS. So I can get speed on 4 different devices, and RPMS as well as engine data on up to 4 simultaneously. I do not know what I would want this, ever.
What I realized was that the "smartcraft" gauge, the one I was using for RPMS because I'd pulled up my GPS plotter on one screen and had the other shut off - is only accurate up to about 3500 RPM. After that it starts to "jump around" and lands usually around 4950-5100.
Meanwhile- if I turn on the vessel view mobile or the hardwired dashboard info for the Axiom , those gauges are showing WOT at 5970 and agree with a 49.8 MPH via GPS ( once up to 51.2 and 6010 ) , speed showing on all 3 devices within .3 MPH of each other. I didn't check paddle speed, since I'd have to duck down to read it on those goofy gauges, and that isn't wise at any throttle much less WOT.. .. while the dash gauge bebops along at 4950.
They should all be reading the same signal, but I'm significantly less concerned about a gauge being off under warranty than a $1000.00 prop that I'd have to replace out of pocket, once their back in stock around June of 2165. The fact is that Verado 300 is SO quiet, and So smooth compared to my older Yamaha 200 4 Stroker, or my Merc 115 Skeeter killer from back in the day, that it doesn't seem reasonable it sounds like THAT at WOT. Good times. good times
