Need a little info and help........I have a 1992 Nitro 180 with a 1992 Johnson 115 pro series motor. The boat is 17'6". The engine has a 13.5 inch 19 pitch SS prop. I just replaced the prop with a brand new one a couple of weeks a go. Now here is the true question. My top speed is around 46mph, but the hole shot sucks really bad. The motor is taking forever to wind up. Acts like it is bogging down, loading up or something. Got clean gas going in, and the VRO pump is working. Anyone have any ideas?

you can drill some vent holes behind each blade on the barrel.

start with 3/8's holes and work your way up till the holeshot is acceptable.

you will want the holes about 1 1/4" from the bottom of the barrel and about 1" behind the blade.

if you don't want to do this yourself, most prop shops or machine shops can do it for ya. stainless steel is not easy to drill.
i've done a bunch of them.

if you already have small holes there, just drill them out bigger.

oh, something else.

you may need to raise the engine. if the prop is buried that will also cause your problem.
the engine should be mounted in the 2nd highest available position on the transom.

but, be careful as your rpms may also increase.

Steve are you saying to drill into the prop itself? I've never heard of this. How does this help the hole shot? And when you say drill 1 1/4" from the bottom of the barrell, would that be the nut end?

Steve, thanks for the advice. The new prop has relief holes already. I need to check with the old prop and compare the hole size.

Talk about information, this is great. Thanks a million jtexas, I'm gonna give this a try.

jtexas, thanks for the information. I printed it and will do some checking when I get home from work today, again, thanks

that charts works great, but only if you're gonna have a pretty small hole.

the bigger the hole, the more spacing is needed for clearance. You don't want the hole to be too close to the blade. for structual integrity reasons.

great info. jtexas.

4-Blade Prop.

Have you always had this problem with the new prop?

If not, the propeller is probably not the problem.

Isolate the problem before drilling that prop. Put your old prop back on and see what happens fist.

The vent holes will not help with top end, only coming out of the hole.

It is a 3 blade prop and yes it has had this problem since the new prop. The old prop is busted, spun the hub at lake fork. The boat has always been a little sick coming out of the hole but after spinning the hub I figured that was the proplem. But with new prop, problem is still there and worse. From all the information everyone has given, sounds like I have more than prop issues.

ttt

i am going to bet it is the venting on the prop as well. i have the trophy prop and you can change the vent hole sizes. i was baving major holeshot problems and steve told me to mess with the vent inserts. i finally got mine where i want it. i have a 4 blade with 2 holes completely closed off and 2 holes at a 3/8" diametever vent. i think venting will solve your issues.

if your not using all your trim up put some transom wedges on theyll give you a extra 5 degrees more of tuck in