28 Eliminator stock what's the best setup
 

I have just purchased a 28 Eliminator with twin 496's, 30 pitch lab 5 blades, & a 1.35 gear ratio. I was wondering what the best setup is for this boat. Should I change the gear ratio or the prop pitch? Right now I am getting 93 GPS.
Thanks, Tom Earhart

A couple of Earhart Engineering TT motors would be a good start!

Will you have the boat at Hardy Party in a couple of weeks?

As for your set-up if it has boxes you'll likely end up with the propshaft being 1-2" above the bottom of the boat. Without boxes probably even to 1" below the bottom. A few of my friends have had 28's and they are a great boat. One had twin 1000ish HP motors and it did 145 MPH!:eek:

Craig

WETTE VETTE Yes I will be at Hardy, I am still learning how to drive the boat, I am not sure how much trim to run, it seems to want very little.
Tom

Congrats on your purchase. I had a 2007 28 daytona, also w/stock 496 HO's. I had 1:36 gear ratios, and the best props I had were labbed 32 5 blades. I saw 101mph a few times in ideal conditions...but consistently ran in the mid to high 90's.

It's a great boat and was my first cat.

If you haven't had a performance cat before, you might want to think about taking Tres Martin's performance boating class. It was money well spent. It'll teach you how to drive that boat. You can get yourself in a bit of trouble with high speed cats, a whole lot more than a traditional vee hull....I had 15 years of vee experience prior to getting in my 28, and had a couple of hairy situations. Since taking Tres' course, I've managed to avoid those.

Good luck!

Adrenaline Junkie how much trim did you run? My drives are stamped 1:35 ratio, they also have a big prop shaft. You mentioned that your drives were 1:36. I know that my prop shafts are above the bottom of the boat, I'll get a good measurement tonight.

I was just in Mich too!!!!!! Traverse City

Tom has had performance cats. Probably one of the fastest singles around. Congrats on the purchase. You are going to love the ride of the bigger cat.


If you haven't had a performance cat before, you might want to think about taking Tres Martin's performance boating class. It was money well spent. It'll teach you how to drive that boat. You can get yourself in a bit of trouble with high speed cats, a whole lot more than a traditional vee hull....I had 15 years of vee experience prior to getting in my 28, and had a couple of hairy situations. Since taking Tres' course, I've managed to avoid those.

Good luck![/QUOTE]

My prop shafts are 1.5" above the bottom of the boat and I don't have any transome extensions.

Yeah, my xdim was about the same as that as I recall (I traded in my 28 for my 36 a few years back, so I don't remember the exact xdim, but it was about an inch or 2 above the bottom of the boat.)

The higher the xdim, the more you're going to need that 5 blade prop. We struggled getting on plane with the 4 blade, but there was no issue with the 5 blade props.

Has anyone tried the 1:26 gear ratio with 30 pitch props on a 28 Daytona?

I tried 1.26 gears and 32" props on mine and it was a dog. Acceleration was terrible compared to my 1.35 gears and 34" props.

rbtnt: Thanks for the come back I was just ready to pull the trigger on a couple sets of 1.26 gears. What kind of speed did you get with the 34" props? Have you modified your engines, if so what did you do?
Tom

I have a TD 28 with a pair of 540s. My boat is set up for poker runs and long river cruises with a lot of add ons that slow it down some. I can top out at 116, but run a poker run all day at 90 - 100 without overheating drives or engines.

I am going to try a set of 34" pitch herrings this weekend, probably knock her right to her knees.

I sent you a pm, I would like your input.

I tried the 34's gained 4 mph. They are harder to get on plane, the acceleration seems to be about the same. I never used the trim tab before to get on plane, but I'll be trying different settings to see if that helps. If I could stop the cavitation it would be perfect

What lower housings are you running ?

GPM Stock Mercury with shaft center line 1.5 above bottom of boat.

Try some 32 5-blades Maximus props. That will eliminate the trouble getting on plane and will give you almost the same top end.

I was running the XR with a nose cone, could barely get on plane with a 34 Bravo, changed to the Imco lower, same prop no problem at all. I don't have to trim the Imco as high and it runs the same speed.

GPM What is your shaft height to bottom of boat?

rbtnt: What was the horsepower of your 540's?

[QUOTE=Tom Earhart;3503156]GPM What is your shaft height to bottom of boat?[/QUOT

Center pod is 4.5" above sponsons, prop shaft center is 1.5" below pod.

625

I took the boat out tonight to see if I could stretch out those 34 herrings. Perfect conditions small chop, 60 degrees, and not much traffic. 104 mph GPS, 4750 rpm, 1.35 gear ratio = 8% slip. I can't believe how easy the boat did this.

Has anyone tried putting a lighter motors in the 28'? I have developed a 3.8 for my 19' eliminator that has big torque numbers and 600 HP at 6000 RPM on pump gas. A pair would probably take 750 lbs. off the stern. I am thinking that this combination would go 120+ mph with the stock drives.