Rooster tail?
 

Anyone know if a '04 38 fountain lightning with staggered 525s will roost or must be way trimmed up? In particular, this boat.... http://www.offshoreonly.com/classifi...o26312-en.html

Ohh yeah, and anyone know anything about this boat? Im interested in upgrading....

Thanks!

Only if you over trim it. Nice boat though.

That boat is very very well cared for. The owner ran it on fresh water in Lake Michigan. Super clean,very well maintained. You will not be disappointed.

Nice boat! I bet it will throw a tail cause its a stagger boat. It depends on the X and centerline I would guess. All the newer 38's and 42's do but the drives are closer together.

Id love to have that boat......!!

Make an offer! Could be had at a very resonable price. It makes a 3' rooster tail but not way up in the air like the #6 boats. I'm looking for a picture....


F

The rooster tail does not come from trimming up. It is from staggard engines and high x dimension. My 42' EX with stock 525's throws a 15 foot tail when you just start to trim, at about 2-4 on the trim gauge. As you bring the engines up to cruising/top speed trim the rooster tail will calm down. When I am trimmed correctly at top speed, around 5 on my trim gauge the rooster is smalllest. If you over trim it will damage the drives. Good luck with the boat.

Thanks for the input. I kinda understand the X-dimension, and such. I currently have a T-454 mag mpi boat, non-staggered and we were just talking about a roost since were staggered. i noticed they call it a short staggered, since if you look at PR version boats, the drives are much closer. not really a concern of a roost or not, just just a conversation piece.

FountainClimber - Im assuming its your boat? I am highly considering the boat if the deal is right. I dont need a new boat, but deff wouldnt mind moving up. The boat looks well maintained and is pretty much exaclty what Im looking for. As long as motors/drives/hull are good, im content. everything else can be fixed/modified with a lil elbow grease.

Will throw a small rooster because it is only a short stagger not a full stagger. They come from high x doimensions though. Put 2inch short cases on it and it will throw some h20.

Gerrit,

You never let me know how them Maximus' worked out.

Beamog,

Yes it is my boat. I moved to FL and need a 20' fishing boat. The boat is at Suncoast Powerboats in Sarasota FL and has not been in the salt water down here. It is in very excellent condition! Make an offer.

Yes the rooster tail is all gone by 45. Drive trim angle has almost no effect.

That thing should haul azz. :coolcowboy:

FountainClimber - I noticed you posted somewhere before that the silent choice diverters leaked a bit of water into the bilge. Any issues there? And as for the header gaskets, ive read of leaking issues causing hydrolocking. Any info on that? Did you endup replacing the header gaskets at one time; i saw a post that you were loking for CMI gaskets. Thanks in advance.
~Mike

Fountainclimber, they worked great. Excellent hole shot, good mid-range, and top speed. Only problem was I was all over the rev-limiter in rough water. Long story short I am an idiot.:eek: I traded Shogren for a set of brand new labbed 30P Maximus blades. Scott and Mercury said they would be perfect. Not so much. Poor hole shot, blows out now under load, decent mid-range and acceleration, top end about 2 mph less than the 28's. Max rpm on the 30P labbed is 4900-5000. I should have had BBlades tweak the 28's instead. You don't have another set laying around, do you? I have been looking ever since. I am willing to trade the labbed 30's for a set of stock 28's. It would be a good deal for someone.

My rooster tail will stay with me until my speed maxes out around 65-70 mph. In order to move up in speed past that I have to start trimming it up and as I hit optimum speed the tail drops way down. Speed has no effect on my rooster other than I am limited by trim angle to about 65mph. I also have full staggard engines.

Last I knew shooting water in the air had nothing to do with the boat running fast. Jet boats throw water all over the place, but generaly have a hard time getting out of their own way.

Aren't rooster tails basically lost energy on Bravo style drives? #6 drives are different because now we are talking surface props.

Just like stated, it is do to the higher X and stagg engines..

John jr

The silent choice diverter has a seal for the blade that can drip water isnide the boat. I would bet most of them leak a bit. At that point in the exhaust, the water is already mixed in the gasses and couldn't cause water to get into the engine. 525 headders are supposed to be longer than say, HP500 headders and have a much lower chance of hydro locking.

F

That's where the higher x dimension on Fountains with staggerd engines come in. Also the props need to turn in bound to do the tail. My buddies '05--42 EX is almost identical to mine and he has his props turning out. He has almost no rooster tail. I am a little faster and have a slightly better acceleration. His boat handles better around the docks. I wish I could post pix on this sight, to show you.

What does your boat run with the 525's?

With 28P unlabbed Maximus props and cool weather it runs 84-85 mph @ 5200 rpm on the rev limiter. With 30P Labbed Maximus props and cool weather it runs 82-83mph @ 5000rpms.

So being the cheapskate that I am, I re-newed my membership. Here are some pix of my boat and it's tail.

sweet pics

[QUOTE= Originally Posted by gerritm View Post
With 28P unlabbed Maximus props and cool weather it runs 84-85 mph @ 5200 rpm on the rev limiter. With 30P Labbed Maximus props and cool weather it runs 82-83mph @ 5000rpms.[/QUOTE]

That is pretty good for a 42 with basically mild power. I see in the pics your flying, what kind of drives?

Good looking boat.

You really need a full staggered boat to throw a rooster tail. A #6 boat will do better, but an arnerson boat the ultimate rain maker.

Thanks, Bravo XR drives. Nothing fancy.