I just got a 10 hp Dixie late last week and have it mounted to my 14x36 riveted jon boat. I was expecting to get maybe 16-17 mph out of this thing but while hunting this weekend I found I can only run at maybe 11 mph. This is with just me in the boat (210 lbs) and a few dozen decoys and gun, all of which is less than 100 lbs, and with all of it piled up in the front of the boat to level it out. It's not plowing through the water, but doesn't seem to really slide along the top like it's fully planing out. I've had a 6.5 Copperhead on this same boat before with the same load and I was getting something like 13-14 mph with that thing and and thought I should do at least a little better than that with this 10 hp Dixie.

Additionally, this thing is supposed to be a surface drive motor and is supposed to run the prop right at the surface and throwing a roostertail to give you the best performance. Well, it won't even run near the surface, it cavitates and won't grab. I have to completely submerge it just to get it to catch and of course you can't adjust it or trim it up while it's running. In fact, this seems to run better when it's deeper than when it's just below the surface.

I've got a tach on it now, but haven't been able to get out and see what the rpm's are when running on the water. On the trailer it gets about 3700 rpm at the top which might be a bit light, but nonetheless I would think it should still be sufficient to push this little boat. My first thought would be it has the wrong prop on it, but beyond that I'm stumped. I've got a call in to the owner to see what he thinks but thought I'd ask here to see what other suggestions people might have on this. Any thoughts?

Is your transom angle/ height right for that motor if it was good for a cooperhead it proly won't be for a dixie

Certainly a valid question. It's a standard 16-inch transom, angle I don't know but basically looks like any other jon boat I've had or seen. There is a thread on this section of the forum from another guy that got a 10 hp Dixie and he put it on a 1979 14 foot jon boat, which I assume to be similar to mine, and he's getting 16-17 mph in deep water. That's why I think there's something not right about my setup. Once I hear back from the owner I might get more answers, but right now I have nothing to compare it to or go by.

Sounds like a transom height issue. Or motor isn't running right. But more on the height. A pic would help more than anything

Thanks for the reply, I appreciate all that reach out to help. I've since talked to Ben, the owner of Dixie motors, and he gave me some great advice on how best to make these motors work and what I need to do to optimize my setup. I think this will help me out immensely and hope to test it out in the next few days. He says this boat and motor combination should be optimum together, and I believe it will work out for me once I get the bugs out.

yeah something is not set up correctly. my little 6.5 dixie on a 1436 tin boat i get 15 all day long with just me 225. put another 200 pounds up front i get 13.

Has to do with the transom angle and depth. When I had my 13 honda(Dixie) tweaked it up to 24 mph. Then changed to a 23 hp Dixie and got the same speed ????

Finally after trial & error setup I got the 23 dixie up to 28 mph. Under load 2 hunters etc . got it at 22 mph all day long.

This is what I did.
1. Changed prop from 9x10 to a 10x8
2. Added small trim tab. 10”x12” both sides.
3. Bent the gov tab.
4. Reinforced my transom and moved motor inwards

I can increase the speed some more by changing the prop/pulley but I’m ok over 20. Just dangerous in my area due to airboats, bass boats and mud boats on some of these trails.

I’m going to buy a mud boat next year. Jon boats work OK but lots of work to get it just right.

Good luck.

I know this is an old topic but im having the same problems. Same size boat and motor. Not sure of the transom angle, height is 16 inches. Used photo tach to see what rpms were on the trailer 3500, so I moved governor spring 2 holes now its turning 3950-4100 zero difference in speed. It doesn't matter 1 person or 2 person loaded only gets 8-9mph at BEST. need some help please and thanks

Sorry to hear you are having the same problems I had. With regards to the RPM's, it's one thing to measure sitting on the trailer and out of the water but altogether different when it's under a load. You need to get the RPM's when it's pushing a load in the water to see how much difference there is. If it's a lot then you might need to consider a different prop. If it's not so much difference, say 200-300 lower, then there's something else going on. If you don't already have a Tiny Tach on there you need to get one.

I pushed up the governor on mine to about 4200, and when running in the water under a load it was around 3950-4010 which meant is wasn't losing that much and the prop was sized correctly. Have you tried moving yourself forward in the boat as much as possible? Putting more weight forward? I think leveling the load out will help as long as you don't get too much up front.

Another thing to note is that for whatever reason these motors seem to be designed to run the prop deeper in the water and not so close to the surface. It sounds counterintuitive but that's how it works. I found it ran better when trimmed down than when trimmed further up so play with that a bit to see where the sweet spot is with your rig. Again, having a tach on there when running will help out with that.

I had talked to Ben about this, shifted weight around and got to where I would run 12-13 alone consistently. Basically he said that maybe that was as good as it was going to get given my weight (210 lbs) in the back of the boat, but I don't buy that excuse. The end of the story is that I sold the motor (other issues, not speed) and went back to a Copperhead 7 hp motor. I'm getting the same speeds with this one that I was with the 10 hp dixie, plus it's a much better built motor quality wise, so I figure I'm ahead of the game. It ended up costing me several hundred dollars when all was said and done, but I wrote it off as a learning experience. I think there really is something about getting what you pay for...