The Issue With My New Lowe I haven't Talked About Much...Been Sorta Quiet About It...Please Weigh In (Page 2): If I'm not mistaken that catfish model may not be the same deep V...

woodguru Loc: El Dorado Ca

Lowescatfish18 wrote:

ok i really must of miss your 1st pose i have a 18... (show quote)

If I'm not mistaken that catfish model may not be the same deep V configuration that has a 20-1/2 transom

I've tried three props, the engine is electronically limited to 5300rpm no matter what prop I use, 4blade 17p, 4 blade 19p, or 3 blade 19p, it should pull 6000/6200...the dealer said they will look at the electronic mapping.

woodguru Loc: El Dorado Ca

DocB wrote:

Wg, I know Fred and I got off on a side discussion... (show quote)

I did look at jack plates as a solution but for this it could cause some cable rigging issues...plus we are looking at a dealer/manufacturer problem and I can get pretty stubborn about businesses making things right, Right is a 25 inch shaft.

It will be cheaper for them to take care of me than a few dozen other people when they end up with a marketing nightmare and start losing boat sales in a very competitive market, this is a $45k boat out the door set up the way mine is.

woodguru Loc: El Dorado Ca

Whitey wrote:

Is this a NEW boat if so they would be making it right. I'm sure you payed dearly so make them make it right. Dealership an Lowe's need to be talked to about this

$45k out the door with the Terrova, 2 group 31 lithium batteries, and fish finders...

I'm about 100% sure I can get them to see reason, and Mercury said they would give them a really good price on the parts.

OJdidit Loc: Oak Creek Wisconsin

Definitely seems to me it is a setup issue from the dealer and they should make it right! Good luck!

Fredfish Loc: Prospect CT.

woodguru wrote:

$45k out the door with the Terrova, 2 group 31 lithium batteries, and fish finders...

I'm about 100% sure I can get them to see reason, and Mercury said they would give them a really good price on the parts.

If Merc agrees with you Guru, then by all means, pressure the dealer into converting it to a XL. Then you can reposition it exactly where it belongs. Good luck and sorry for side tracking your thread.

woodguru Loc: El Dorado Ca

Fredfish wrote:

If Merc agrees with you Guru, then by all means, pressure the dealer into converting it to a XL. Then you can reposition it exactly where it belongs. Good luck and sorry for side tracking your thread.

Thanks, It's all good, that's what this site is all about is sharing perspectives and stories, I'm pretty easy going about the topic related side interactions, I do it too.

MuskyHunter Loc: Torrington, CT

So, I have to weigh in here although I have nothing new to offer...I would definitely ask dealer to rectify. There is NO way they should have rigged the boat that way! If you don't get it fixed, every time you turn or cross a wake, you will be reminded of the poor job they did.

On a similar note, everyone refers to cavitation and that isn't the problem. The problem is called ventilation, which is when a prop gets air delivered from above. Cavitation is a chemical reaction that occurs when water boils on the back side of the prop blades.

Here is an excellent video that explains both problems:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbFa1fmlAXg

woodguru Loc: El Dorado Ca

MuskyHunter wrote:

So, I have to weigh in here although I have nothing new to offer...I would definitely ask dealer to rectify. There is NO way they should have rigged the boat that way! If you don't get it fixed, every time you turn or cross a wake, you will be reminded of the poor job they did.

What sort of blows me away is that Lowe supports putting the wrong motor on their boats...they should be advising dealers of the motor shaft depth they recommend, and refusing to support issues that might come up.

Now here is an interesting thing that involves the electronic rev limitation, I think that they intentionally did that so that when you catch air with the prop and it revs up 1000/1500 rpm, this keeps it from over revving to 6500 which it would do if the engine had that available throttle input. This would support the idea that they know there is a performance issue.

My next step is to talk to Lowe and see what they say about this, I've already talked to Mercury about the rev limitation issue and the shaft length, and they back that the engine should do 6000rpm period. They also said that they would give the dealer and Lowe a super good price on the longer lower unit and shaft linkage to help them resolve this.

MuskyHunter Loc: Torrington, CT

woodguru wrote:

What sort of blows me away is that Lowe supports p... (show quote)

Best of luck! I hope this is resolved soon.

Lowescatfish18 Loc: Wesley Chaple florida

yes you are right my lowes is a semi V hull but i do have the 20 1/2 transom with 115 murcy short shaft.but on each
side i have jack plates welded to the transom they are 6" long 2" wide. i hope this helps ???But if all else fails i would
find a different dealer and see if they can help you.

tight lines

woodguru Loc: El Dorado Ca

Lowescatfish18 wrote:

yes you are right my lowes is a semi V hull but i do have the 20 1/2 transom with 115 murcy short shaft.but on each
side i have jack plates welded to the transom they are 6" long 2" wide. i hope this helps ???But if all else fails i would
find a different dealer and see if they can help you.

tight lines

So then those jack plates are allowing another few inches of adjustment huh? Which is what I need.

It is the 115 I have too.

I'm assuming your engine has no problem pulling 6000rpm?

I have talked to some other dealers, they say they have never had any complaints about the 20 inch motor on this boat, I attribute this to people not knowing what they should be getting.

Lowescatfish18 Loc: Wesley Chaple florida

yes i can run wide open but if the lake is flat my boat will try to chime walk at 55miles per hour.so i like to see a small ribble on the water.
ok i check those jack plates are 11" out from center of transom .i think you can buy jack plates that have a shock
attached to them and they bolt right on.do you have a place called west marine near you ????
or pro bass shop ?? or look on line????

tight lines

DocB Loc: Bama

woodguru wrote:

I did look at jack plates as a solution but for this it could cause some cable rigging issues...plus we are looking at a dealer/manufacturer problem and I can get pretty stubborn about businesses making things right, Right is a 25 inch shaft.

It will be cheaper for them to take care of me than a few dozen other people when they end up with a marketing nightmare and start losing boat sales in a very competitive market, this is a $45k boat out the door set up the way mine is.

Wg, I totally agree that the dealership should take care of the problem, not only for the reasons you stated, but not only are you not happy with their set up, with the handling issues, they could be setting themselves up to liability issues should you loose control of the boat, and God forbid someone was to get hurt or even killed.. I was just trying to help you with a possible solution if all failed with the dealership... Good luck and please keep us posted on the outcome.
Doc

airmailmiller

Obviously the dealer thought this would work for you. They will probably deny any liability, you can get shorter depth jack plates for the transom, thus putting the prop in cleaner water from under the boat. i built an aluminum jack plate for a Stratos 179. Talk to the dealer and see what he will do, then look around maybe find a used jack plate to use to help you solve your problem. Also you can get 3 inch L stock aluminum and make your own jack plate. bolted together they set the engine back approx, 5 inches and adds very little weight to the transom.

NoCal Steve Loc: Dunnigan, CA

There is a lot going on here so I lost track of everything that's been tried but my Stratos FS 264 had the exact same issue as your Lowe's. I replaced my 3 blade prop with a 4 blade prop the exact same size as the 3 blade prop. Result? Took care of all the issues and the only negative was losing 2 to 3 mph at full throttle. Other than that I have to agree with Fred. A hydraulic jack plate should be the best solution.