trex232

Anyone have one, how do they handle rough water, 2-4ft, what kind of room, what speeds with 502efi and 26p prop

Randy Nielsen

iTrader: (4)

I have one & my buddy has one. They handle the river just fine as far as rough water they handle boat wakes fine but I don't know if I would want to be bouncing around in 4 ft waters all day. Mine is whippled with hyd steering, =2 shorty & 30 pitch labbed bravo 1 & it is stupid fast. It accelerates so fast it will ripple your face, above 85mph it chine walks real bad. Needs tabs so Im told. My buddies is stock with headers, not sure about prop runs 80+ & he loves it. I talked to the factory & they told me about putting tabs on it the hull was designed for 80-90 mph & will do about 80 stock. Not a lot of room but comfortable cuddy is just 2 small couch seats & a bed plenty of room. I like mine but with the power it needs help to be safe IMO. I have never been beat when out playing around but I have to back off before I get to full throttle so I don't know how fast the boat really is. Hope that helps ya out. Randy

LVSeng

I owned a 97 Eliminator Eagle 250 XP (two step hull) for 12 years (sold it in 99). It was great up to about 2' waves, anymore than that and it starts to get too rough for the sit down seats. The hull is really more of a fast river and lake boat, as it has a shallower (relative to larger offshore boats) V entry and a delta pad keel. It was fastest in about 1' of chop. The most passengers I ever had on board was 5 (+me = 6 total), but that was a bit crowded. If you're just marina hopping then a total of 5 or 6 is fine, if you're hanging out on the boat all day, its really best for a couple or maybe two couples. With my high speed prop, I had trouble getting on plane with 4 big guys on board (had to have the fat guy stand front center or go in the cabin to get on plane without blowing out the prop--we were all 200+ lb guys)! I did not have trim tabs though. My boat had the 502 MPI (415 hp at prop) and std 1.5 ratio Bravo I. Fastest was 80 mph with a Hydromotive 29 pitch 4-blade Quad IV. Yes, 29 pitch. With the hydro, the engine turned about 4,900 rpm at 80 mph. I tried the Bravo I prop 26 pitch which topped out at about 75mph. I also had the Mach Sterndriver 26 pitch prop, which was a little faster at about 77 mph. The boat seemed to like stern lifting props the best. With the Hydromotive Quad IV 29 pitch, I could cruise at 3,600 rpm at about 55 mph. For heavy loads, I used the Mach to help get on plane a little easier. Note all speeds are true GPS two-way average speeds. Overall I loved it, and was faster than most boats on the rivers/lakes. Of course there will ALWAYS be someone with a faster boat out there! ;-) Good luck!

LVSeng

Also, I bought the boat with std rack/pinion push/pull cable steering. IMO, an 80 mph boat is too fast for std steering, and I upgraded to IMCO dual ram full hydraulic steering the first year. With the full hyd steering and a competent driver, it is fine and safe up to 80 mph (as fast as I ever went with the stock 502). I agree that much faster than that and you may have some instability and chine walk. Cruising at 55 mph is great, as most other regular boats on the water (sea rays, bayliners, etc. not other offshore or go-fast boats) are cruising only 30 to 40 mph. LOTS of times, guys with decent fast boats would think I was close to topped out at 55, and they would want to race a bit. I'd play along for a while at maybe 65, then put the throttle down and wave bye bye! Boat was lots of fun for 12 years, but I sold it to buy a 39 foot twin engine classic flat deck boat.

Randy Nielsen

iTrader: (4)

I agree with LVSeng cruising at 55-60 & someone comes up to play they are in for a shock cause these boats are FAST out of the box & the midrange punch will set you back pretty good stock, built like mine it's a guided missle. Randy

WR-1

Not trying to hi-jack your thread but what do you guys think a twin stepped 28 Eagle mid-cabin with a carbed HP500 would run at WOT and cruise?

IROCDave

I bought my 99 25 Eagle XP last spring and put alot of hours on it this past summer. Couldnt agree more with LVSeng's opinions.

Mine has a 502 EFI Mag, K planes, IMCO lower and IMCO dual ram external steering. With just me, the wife and two sons on board and the 100 pounds my wife always stashes in carry on's (750 ish pounds) it runs 72 ish MPH. It hits the rev limiter as soon as it's trimmed. The prop is a 26P BRavo 1, not sure if it's labbed. It will blow out the prop getting on plane if I keep it pinned. I have had 9 people on board and it consistantly blew out the prop getting on plane even with the tabs down. It was sluggish once on plane. Combined weight of passengers was around 1350 pounds.

Mine doesnt do well docking in wind, not enough depth to the V. We boat on Lake Washington, it's a decent sized lake with a lot of larger boats. Hitting 3' - 5' rollers is not fun in this boat. It is not made for this and mine has several stress cracks at the mid cuddy pass through to prove it. They were there when I bought it, bought at one time in it's life was in Minnesota.

Mid range punch is fantastic, feels alot like a low 12 second street car nailing it from 40 MPH and dead hooking.

They are fun boats, but not a true deep V. Stay in the rivers and medium sized lakes and you will be happy.
Hers a pic of the business end of my boat
I doubt anyone one is running near 80 with stock 502 power....

trex232

Bought a 260 Velocity instead

cuzinnote

I agree with IROC dave, they are not doing 80 MPH with a stock 502 at 415 HP. I did 81.4 with 660 HP custom 498 and that was with a 3 blade 25 pitch prop. Tried a 26 pitch Bravo 1 and it slowed me down to 73 and had me chine walking all over the place at 70 MPH. The motor would only spin the 26 at 4900 rpm. I am at a loss on how to get faster. Any tips?

cloudmaster_321

Either someone is pulling your leg on the horsepower big time, or your X-dimension is pretty low. My engine dynoed at 465hp and i'm spinning a BBlades labbed 28pitch 4-blade Bravo at 5,100 between 78-80mph gps depending on conditions. I will say, that the dyno operator said that HP500's dyno about the same as what my modded 502 made, but there is absolutely no reason why 625hp should only be spinning a 25p to 4,900! Those numbers just don't make sense.