As stated in title, i have a 36 PD on a 17x54 PD boat. Its a Gen 3 engine with the 3 blade prop. I'm getting 23mph with a fishing load, myself 245#, 3 batteries, trolling motor, ice chest, fishing poles and tackle bag. I get the same 23 whether I'm in deep water or shallow water. With all gear removed I'm getting 24.5, at most…SLOW boat to China…Pretty disappointed…Wasn't looking to get over 30 but 23 is not what i expected...

That's why they make $3000 worth of mods for these buggers.

What's your in the water and out of the water rpms?

in the water I'm running best around 4250. Can't tell you out of the water, haven't tried….And I'm aware there are a world of "mods" i could make but i was thinking i should be getting a little better than what I'm getting…i have around 75 hrs on the engine...

Speeds are low because of the Gen3 lower. Word has it they've got the prop perfected and will be available for Christmas.

That's bout normal and what I seen from them...only diff these were 18/54 console steer. But roughly same result

Call KP tomorrow.

Where do u have ur batteries located. I just moved my third batterey from the back to the front and picked up 1 mph and went from running 4250 rpm for best speed to 4380 they r supposed to run between 4300 and 4600 per KP. Not a huge difference but it was noticeable. Also the gen3 is naturally gonna b a little slower because they changed the gear reduction in the lower unit to produce more tourge they don't big down in the thick mud and veggie like the gen 2. Both are great motors tho and will get u anywhere u want to go. I am lookin forward to the new prop tho it is supposed to help with the speed

23 does seem a little slow. Mines no speed demon but I run about 25-26 with a similar fishing load except I'm only 190#. My boat is a 17.5x48 center console with built in rod boxes. It's not very light. I played around with batteries and gas tanks. Originally I had two batteries in the front deck, my starter battery under the console, and my gas tank under the hunt deck. By moving my tank to the front and the troll batteries to my console jump seat, I picked up 1mph.

Ya 23 is defiantly a little slow. I think he needs to find a way to bump up his rpms I'm runnin 23 with 3 ppl 3 batteries and a full 13 gallon tank in a 2048. Check ur Roma at idle and u may have to tune it up should b right around 1200 I think. Call ok he can help you out he's a very nice guy

Typical from what i see,,,no one running a Gen3 seem to be really happy. Or seem to have proof of them matching the Gen2 performance.

I know it will ruffle some feathers....But if you have found how to make it run like the old units please i would love to know about it.

Also, at some point someone had to test this and say yes,,,lets do this its works. Am i not "seeing the forest through the trees"?

The Gen 3 has a ton of torque, but flat out suck nuts on the top end. Even after mods it seems like the reduction and prop still kill any hopes of seeing a significant increase in speed because it doesn't take much to put them on the rev limiter...I know first hand of a couple people who chose to buy new GTRs instead of PD because of this - myself included.

My buddy has one on an 18/54 well built with me him and two kids hunting load it runs 24/25 and empty it runs 26 it's bone stock

Last weekend end I kept up with 2 different gen 2s all weekend. Both pushing 1854s one a pd boat the other a brother boat and we all had the same load. Empty it's not gonna happen but they carry a load good
Oh and by they way you just met someone completely happy with it I didn't buy a mud motor to run clean open water I bought it to push the limits of where u can go in a boat and it most defiantly does that.

sorry for jacking the thread.. but frogsnatcher, you mind sendin me a pic of the digital camo on your boat? i am thinking of doin the same thing, but just dont have any examples to look at

Mine ran about as fast as a Gen II with a fresh prop

well that aint good. not one bit

thanks for all of the replies, fellas…i have the two trolling motor batteries and the 6 gal gas tank under the bow….the starting battery is in back with me...i am anxious to get this new magical prop i have been hearing about for the past 6 months or so…attached a picture of the boat for the hell of it...

22mph for me, 1854 extreme, 36PD, 4100 RPM, 280 & 200lb guys, 2 groups 27 batteries under bow, 24V troll motor, 11 gallons gas under bow, 48 quart ice chest, 11 rods, tackle, cranking battery in rear, 2 fishing seats. Disappointed with the speed.

Question can you put twin PD's on this boat and go with stick steer? What would be expected speed? 44 mph?

Bump ur Roma up to about 4350. Gen 3s r built to run between 4300 and 4600 you'll also have less tiller torque if u get ur Rpms right and should get you at least 2 mph

The rpm statement was to tayfu. And also if u run duels it does not double your speed. U do get a little bit of speed but not a lot. Where the gain is in the extra torque and carrying heavy loads u don't lose speed. Say a single u get 25 empty and 22 with a decent load dual u may get 27 empty and with the same load ull run 26.5. I have a buddy with a 2260 and we plan on runnin with about 8 ppl. It's still bein built so I don't know real world data

What I think u need to do is get a gps and just play with ur rpms mine has 0 tiller torque at about 4280 but get a extra 1.5 and just a little torque at 4380. That's worth a little torque for me

Mine runs the same, 4340 to 4380 it has just a small amount of tiller torque but runs the best at this rpm. 25 to 26 mph with a light load. 17 54" all stock

So 2-3mph slower than the old lower unit...Not good...

The briggs dont match well with this gear ratio IMO.

I had a stock 23hp GDSD that pushed a J-16 Carolina 24mph in deep water.

Doesn't have anything to do with the motor matching the ratio. It's the prop. They don't have it figured out 100% yet but are working on it. Should b out soon.

I hope your right! However I'm not so confident...

Big prop turning less rpm is not going to be good for speed! Simple as that...

This is exactly what happened when Suzuki four stokes came out! They wanted low end power so they went to 2-1 reduction and 16'' props! They did so at the cost of top speed!

I know baggy and Hopkins spent a lot of time working on these with no luck.

I believe brigg's power curve is too "peaky" to make much use of the 2-1 reduction! Ramps up quick and runs out of breath fast!! That combo = slow!!!!

I am going to try and turn higher RPM's and let you know how it does. Without a GPS & running I have trimmed up and the r's came up to about 4350 but it didn't feel like it picked up speed so I bumped the trim down a lil at a time and you feel the prop bite at about 4100.

This weekend with GPS I trimmed to 22 MPH, if I trimmed up a lil more it dropped to 21 MPH so I bumped it back down, felt the prop bite and ended up at 22 MPH @ 4100 RPM.

Since new this rig has only run loaded 2 peeps, all tackle etc. Haven't run empty or light yet

Thanks to all for the info

I have a brand new prodrive with efi E2 kit on a brand new prodigy1854 triple taper chine hull. My first mud hull and motor. Had lots of boats with outboards but wanted to into some heavily vegetated areas in the ca delta. Only have 8hrs on it so far but am running 4380rpms with two guys and a dog and getting 25 mph. Super happy with where this thing can go and boat turns on a dime compared to my buddy's GT Square chine. He has me on speed by 5 mph but I can get where he can't with the fpr. Curious about the new prop. Might give it a try for fishing season and use this for duck hunting.

So basically your Stage 1 is only getting 25 mph with a 2 man load. That's not good at all when talking speed. Many stock rigs with same load will run that.

Try ducking down u got too much wind resistance. You and I both know how to make it go fast.!

I'm sure I'll be getting close to the same speeds with a bigger load. Had 3 adults and a 12 year old and it comes outta the water quick and feels the same as far as speed. Didn't gps the speed with that load. Where I hunt I have to drive through a lot of tight turns and I can beat my buddy's stage 2 gtr because he slides so much that he can't stay up to speed. Plus I love having 0 tiller torque. That's what kept me away from gt. plus he always has to balance out his lost perfectly. No matter how much weight I put in my boat so far I have been turning 1380 rpms witch makes me think the only way to go faster is with a different prop but I'll take the low end power any day with all the primrose and hyison I have to deal with.

Y'all will learn Fuking Rookies