Hello all im new to the site, hope to learn a lot also cause im new to surface drives... Just wanted to share some of my experience's with my new rig


boat hasn't changed a bit

17.6"Lx44"WX18"H 1/8"T crawfish pointed aluminum skiff, 18gal alum tank up front( I know way to big),front hatch, 1/2' plywood floor, 6 coats of gatorglide(like that matters) if I had to guess the boat weighs in around 500lbs empty

started out about 6 years ago with a 23hp longtail godevil... was a very nice set up.. had a lot of bottom end power but lacked top end and with a load.. Best I ever got empty was 21mph deep water and loaded 3 men and hunt load around 17mph deep water... Needles to say im young and wanna go faster


upgraded to a 2016 25hp Subaru Gatortail EFI 80hrs on it.. and wow this thing was night and day in driving compared to a longtail!!! Not as good in bottom end torque but rolled on top end better... I was seeing 25/bumping 26 empty @3920rpm and 22 deep water with a 3 man hunt load.. Again the handling in itself was worth the change not to mention the speed increase



now I have a brand new Gatortail 40EFI with 3 hours on it now....All I can say is wow!!!! This thing is an absolute beast!!! I cant even explain the bottom end torque and top end speed change... Best way I can compare it is to a 100lb fella on a YZ125 dirtbike who knows how to drive it... LOL... Empty I can get it up on step in less than 50ft and be rolling... I haven't tried it in to much shallow water but a good bit if vegetation, 2ft tall hyicens lilies ect.. Best speed I have gotten out of it is by my self 33 bumping 34 in deep water @4740rmp, and ran it with me,wife, 3 kiddos, 45qt rtic full of drinks and snacks, 18gal tank slap full and was able to keep 30mph bumping 31 @4760rpm a couple times... This thing is night and day diff in beast mode!!! Only issue I am having is being able to handle deep water turns, lol I guess im just not used to going 34mph in that boat and trying to turn it vs 24mph, guess I just need to slow it down in the turns cause it either power slides or wants to "hook turn" or bite.. I mean even with the family load I was able to keep 29.5mph in the hyicine lilies for well over a couple hundred yards and this thing didn't even check up... I even stopped in the thick of it just to see how it would do they were about as tall as my sides on the boat around 18" and I just trimmed down and hammered on it and it just went into beast mode!! Straight savage...





I have a couple questions for yall professionals, Im running a stock 2 blade and 75% of the year its in deep water and the other 25% its in south Venice.. I know the 2 blade would be king down there for hunting but how much gains would I see on a 3 blade? can I turn a 3 blade merc? 3 blade merc worked? gt 3 blade worked? Just now sure about what the Stock 40 can handle.. and don't wanna fork out $400+ for a prop to find out it wont work. I am hoping a 3 blade will take the little bit of tiller torque out, gain a little speed and take and be a little easier on my motor...

Also I have seen mixed messages on this question my transom is 10deg and was at 21.5".. I cut 5/8" of and put it in the closes pin to the boat and it seems to run great only issue I have is it seems as if the front end wants to bite a little on a turn and hook... is that just the nature of this beast ride or would adjusting that have any effect on it? I did wedge the motor/transom the other night and put it in the factory 3rd pin from motor and trim motor back to correct height and the shaft angel was the same, so I put it back to flush on 10 degree transom and 1st pin by transom. I just didn't know if something with my set up is causing it to bite on a turn, Do I need to move more weight to the back? Or is that jus the nature of the beast of having a crawfish skiff going 34mph... Thanks in advance fellas for all your help and look forward to the new forum

I've got a stock 40 HDR that came with the raptor 3 blade. I will be corrected if I'm wrong, but I believe a stock 40 can turn a 3 blade merc with no sweat.

With the 3 blade prop you will feel a lot less vibration in the motor, but as far as tiller torque goes, it'll still be there. Turns at speed will continue to work the shoulders, chest, and back out.

The merc 3 would be fine at 11 pitch. Anything over that, you won’t be able to turn stock. If you are turning 4700+ with the stock 2 blade, I would add an inch of pitch and get it worked, you would see a gain in top end and still maintain a good holeshot and load carrying because you would be pushing around 4400 rpms at wot.

As far as the hooking, that is to be expected with a crawfish skiff with that lower rake. That’s the nature of the beast with a skiff. I had an 18x48 crawfish skiff that was nice as could be, but that was one of the reasons I sold it. Be very careful with passing people up or with a cross wind, because that skiff can get away from you very easily, and once it bites, you are coming out of it.

nice rig! keep an eye on the valve lash if you bump the revbox a lot. mine hits around 4830 or so and I hit it a lot. lol

That 40 GTR can get it done