Okay guys,
I'm trying to help my buddy find the right prop for his boat without having to do much if any in the way of experimenting. He has a 17 1/2' Champion with a 135 Merc. Currently, he has a small hub Trophy in 21P, no jack plate, and no exhaust ring. His boat behaves as if it had a Chopper on it coming out of the hole. The motor revs to 5000rpms, the bow goes straight up because the prop has only air in it, and it takes the nose about 7sec to drop. When coming off the pad, the same thing happens, and no matter how hard he tries to feather it, tucked or not, quite a bit of water comes in or over the splash well. The blades on the prop just aren't helping to lift the rear when coming off plane because of all the ventilation.

Anyway, his top end is slow because he's definitely under propped and can't open it up anywhere near all the way. He typically carries a lighter load than most people (at least a heck of a lot lighter than I do). I think with his boat length, even without a jack plate, a Tempest would be the best for him. I would think a 24P would be just about right. Remember, all you 150hp runners out there, the 135 motor is geared with a higher ratio 2.00 versus 1.86. So, before you jump out there and say that you're running a 24P or even a 23P, remember his motor isn't turning the prop as fast as yours is. Furthermore, his Champion is a 17 1/2' boat, not 18 1/2'. If any of you setup experts (especially Champion guys) could steer him in the right direction, that would be great.

If you have any Trophy suggestions, I'm open for those as well. Although, I think with his short and light boat, that a true through the hub prop designed to lift the rear would provide him with the best results, especially on the hole shot. Thanks, in advance.

Propeller: 14 1/2" x 26" Stainless 3-blade.

Setup: Manual Slidemaster jackplate with 8" of setback.

Propshaft: 1 7/16� below the pad.

Cajundaddy,
Can you be more specific?
Actually, what 3-blade are you referencing? I would assume a Tempest. Is that correct? No kidding, a 26P. That won't be too much? What would you recommend if he doesn't go to the jack plate? I don't think he would fork over the dough for one of those as well. He's not crazy like the rest of us.

BassHog, I had a 181 which is a little longer but with a 150. It was slow out of the hole and did not have good bow lift. I changed from a 24p trophy to a 25p Tempest and it made all the difference in the world. Made the boat perform much better, with more bow lift and less rpms on the top end, with a little more speed. I got my information from James Propeller and they were right on. Why don't you give them a call and see what they recommend. They are very good. And if you buy a prop and it's not right, you can bring it back as long as it's not damaged.

Good luck

I had a similar boat with a 99 merc 135 V6 and 6 inch plate.... 26 trophy and the 25 tempest both performed well on my rig... but without the plate, I am thinking maybe a 24 trophy would be a good one to try !

I've rigged and setup plenty of what he's running.

24 Tempest, 6" plate, prop shaft to pad distance 3 1/2" one vent plug out, two medium in.

Should give him all around performance, and cure most of his problems.

Tempest is a good prop but I would not overlook the value of a jackplate.

26" pitch is not overly agressive, from the above mentioned results there several options available.

I think every boat or outboard should be sold with a jackplate as standard equiptment even smaller engines. It's hard to properly setup a boat with out one. I have a 16' Express jon with a 40 hp Merc and it has a 4" jackplate, trim, & tilt.

Thanks for all the responses, guys. I know what you mean about the jack plate, Cajundaddy. I totally agree, but I don't know that he'll be up for it. I'll talk to him and see. Maybe if someone was looking to sell their 6" manual plate because they were moving to a hydraulic or 8-10", he might be in the game, but a new plate would probably not be an option. If any of you know who might be looking to sell theirs, let me know. Heck, I've actually thought about putting one on my 17' fish 'n ski with 115 Merc, although I do think that would be somewhat silly looking. It just makes everything a whole lot easier to adjust. Plus, in my scenario, it would give me the extra leverage my nose heavy fish 'n ski needs. Anyway, let me know if you guys know anyone looking to sell the plate, or even a prop (24P or 25P Tempest or 24P Trophy). Again thanks.