Newb Prop question - 20' Schiada with Evinrude Etec 250

[Sig Ep Mock]

Picked up a 20' Schiada this winter with a Evinrude Etec 250 on it. Had it on the water briefly and it felt way under propped. Currently has 3 blade Viper 21 pitch. Looking for advice on new prop. We boat in Parker mostly. Looking for good all around prop with good mid, Need to pull skiers and wakeboard (Kids), and cruise, not necessarily looking for top end speed but would like to cruise in the 40 to 50 mph range. Thinking 4 blade in the 24 pitch range. I've been told small hub Hill 24, Hill Eagle 4x24, labbed 24 bravo, Hill pleasure 4. Hoping to get a little closer on starting point with some advice from this group. Thanks for the help.

Chris

 

[Outdrive1]

That’s a pretty boat. I know the old owner told me he was never happy with the performance of that motor. He probably needed to try some props and motor height. Do you know what gear ratio it is? I know my 20 with a 250XS worked well with a drilled 26 Bravo 1 and a 1.75 gear ratio.

 

[Flying_Lavey]

I'm not too sure about the ol' Jonrudes... but the Mercy 2 strokes mostly didn't care too much for 4 blades and I think a 24 may be a bit much getting on plane for that set-up though. But, I'm not sure really.

 

[TimeBandit]

what is W.O.T. rpm now? How fast is it?

 

[Outdrive1]

Chris, also how much set back do you have and where’s your prop shaft at?

 

[DWC]

Absolutely love that boat. You should sell it if you can’t figure out the prop

 

[Sig Ep Mock]

what is W.O.T. rpm now? How fast is it?

Didn’t think to get exact numbers only had 30 minutes of seat time before we brought it home and starting working on updating a few things, I could hit the rev limiter pretty easy but didn’t think to use phone GPS, just had the old school speedo and it was reading low 40’s. More seat of the pants feeling, coming out of the hole super easy and rev’d out fast. I was hoping someone had a decent starting point, if not I can take it out and get some real numbers and do the math with the prop I have. Thx

 

[Sig Ep Mock]

Chris, also how much set back do you have and where’s your prop shaft at?

I’ll get some measurements tomorrow.

That’s a pretty boat. I know the old owner told me he was never happy with the performance of that motor. He probably needed to try some props and motor height. Do you know what gear ratio it is? I know my 20 with a 250XS worked well with a drilled 26 Bravo 1 and a 1.75 gear ratio.

Thx. From what I can tell the 21 Viper is a stock Evinrude prop. I’d never driven a direct injection 2 stroke and I was surprised by the hole shot, felt torquey and under propped like our wake boarding boat first did with the granny gear prop on it. Not sure on my specs so I’ll dig in and get some info in next couple of days and report back. Thanks for the help so far, should have known you’d all ask for details… I was hoping to get an easy answer

 

[ChrisV]

post pics of the transom with the engine all the way down. Can't go wrong with a bravo prop.

 

[hallett21]

Id start with a 24 trophy plus or Bravo 1 (with exhaust holes). Gonna need to see prop shaft height though.

 

[Sig Ep Mock]

Ok spent some working on the Schiada. Ripped out carpet, floor is in great shape. Patched a couple small on used screw holes. Also got some outboard info: 2015 Etec 1.85 gear ratio. Prop shaft centerline is 7” below bottom of boat when trimmed down.

Chris

 

[Outdrive1]

Ok spent some working on the Schiada. Ripped out carpet, floor is in great shape. Patched a couple small on used screw holes. Also got some outboard info: 2015 Etec 1.85 gear ratio. Prop shaft centerline is 7” below bottom of boat when trimmed down.

Chris

Get that motor up. Closer to even or 1” below. That prop is tiny with that gear ratio. Try a 26 ET or 26 Bravo. My boat likes ET’s. Bravos. Right now I’m running a Chad Hill 4 Blade ET style prop. With 250hp though you’re pretty safe running a Mercury ET, and those are typically the fastest from what I’ve
seen. 300’s will break them sometimes, or I’d still be running one.

 

[Bajastu]

Do you have a Jack plate or a Gill tube stand-off? Looks like it was setup like my old Hallett. As of now you are way too low. MPH will steadily climb with raising your motor. Keep an eye on water pressure. It would be good to see a side profile of your transom and motor mounting. Does the engine have low water pickups?

Start off with a 24 and move up from there. I think that you will be most happy with a 26 for general duty. 28 for the fun days

 

[Sig Ep Mock]

Tube style mount, no jack plate. Looks like I have a few adjustment holes left. Help me understand raising the motor… will I be trading anything off going higher? This will be our family cruiser/skier for Parker. Also I see lower water pick ups on nose cone and side of case. Thx for the info so far guys.

 

[HST4ME]

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[Bajastu]

Ok, your boat is set up exactly how my Hallett 19SS was. I dumped the Gill 14” standoff and added a 10” Bobs jack plate (I wish that I would have went with an 8” due to the Evinrude built in standoff design of the G2 Etec). The Gill standoff sets your motor very far back and actually let’s your motor ride deeper in the water due to a swell created behind the hull once on plane. Your measurement of 7” prop to pad is way deeper than you may think due to that much standoff.

When my Hallett 19SS had the Evinrude 200 Etec G2 hanging on my Gill standoff, I could only get 62 mph out of it. Once I swapped to a jack plate and raised it up, I was just shy of 80 mph. I had Barron boats redo my transom, add some huge gussets, fill the old holes, and re gel coat. I also had to add some tabs due to some slight chine walking.

Adding a jack of plate will make your boat perform way better, as a family boat and at speed.

 

[Bajastu]

Raising your motor creates efficiencies by reducing drag. Thus increasing speed. With a jack plate you will have the best of both worlds. Lower it for cruising and skiing or raise it for faster cruising and speed runs. It makes your boat extremely versatile.

FYI, your boat is close to my dream boat. Some day I’ll own a 21RC with a 400R.

 

[Sig Ep Mock]

Raising your motor creates efficiencies by reducing drag. Thus increasing speed. With a jack plate you will have the best of both worlds. Lower it for cruising and skiing or raise it for faster cruising and speed runs. It makes your boat extremely versatile.

FYI, your boat is my dream boat. Some day I’ll own a 21RC with a 400R.

Thanks for the great info. Ours is actually a 20, I’m told it’s narrower and shorter than the 21, built specifically for OB and ski racing but I’m just learning. I was measuring today and I can only get about 3 more inches of height out of this mount. i ordered a lifting eye and will attempt to move it up as much as I can. That will have to do for this summer. im already late getting it back out to Parker. Any recommendations on where to buy merc props? I talked with the guys at Hill and they suggested their Eagle four but I think I’m leaning towards bravo 1 XS based on what I’ve been reading and your guys help. Boat just needs to be a fun cruiser this summer, if the family loves likes it, I’ll do some tweaking next winter. Thx again

Chris

 

[Bajastu]

Check eBay, I’ve bought quite a few props from there. I had real good luck with a four blade RX4 24p for family use and a Raker II 26p three blade for speed.