Hey everyone. I am new here...

I just trade my RV for a 22' Scarab. It has a 260MERC in it with a Alpha drive. I am not sure of the pitch of the prop, but it is a stainless 4 blade prop.

I got alot of useful information from the people on iboats, but wanted to get more opinions.

I have taken the boat out 2x so far...

The first time I took it out, there were 2 of us in the boat with 1/4 tank of fuel (it holds 60 gals). The boat took of strong, got on plane and topped out at about 58MPH at 4800RPM.

The second time I took it out, there was 5 full size adults with a full tank of fuel. The boat has serious problems getting on plane. I had the trim all the way down and the first time I just went WOT pretty quickly and it took a full 20 seconds to get on plane. After about 10 seconds it felt like the prop was "blowing out". Once on plane the boat did well and shot up to 50MPH at about 4500RPM, not quite the same speed as before, but close. I took it down in throttle and back up a few times and could tell that the hub was not spun.

I got some advice on iboats and one thing I found was the transducer for the depth finder was mounted directly in front of the prop. I am removing it. It may be causing some aeration of the water going past the prop.

I am trying to figure out the most efficient way to fix this issue. I want to be able to pull skiers, but I don't want to sacrifice all of my top end speed either. I don't want to drop to 45MPH max, just to be able to get on plane quicker.

I obviously need to figure out what size prop I have... and go from there. I am also looking at a "Whale tail" (recommended by boat dealer) or a Trim tab setup.

Any thoughts would be helpful!! Thanks!!

and YES, this photo is March in AZ. It was 90 degrees the other day.

Don't get a whale tale. Those things are useless IMO. It may be helpful to drop down a pitch size in prop. You shouldn't lose much speed, and you may gain something if you can get your RPMs up to 5k. What motor do you have in that thing?

Another option may be to send the props to BBlades to have them labbed. It sounds like you may not be too far off in your prop selection. Some fine tuning may do wonders for your boat/setup.

Good lookin boat! The guy in the background has the tallest bimini top I have ever seen

You need to check your pitch AND diameter. You may be better off with a 3 blade with the engine you have. I had a 22 for several years. Mine had a 310 and if I remember right, the prop I found that ran the best back then was a Merc Laser? They have a lot of bow for a 22 and when they are full of adults there is a lot of weight toward the rear of the boat so they do take a little bit to come over on plane. Mine did have tabs and I would definitely use them in those types of instances. They are a fun boat. I loved mine while I had it.

the only thing I can think of is prop. I mean you have a boat that really is underpowered I had a crownline 225CCR and with 4-5 people would still take time to get on plane. So I have a more of people of thats just the capability of that boat with that engine. Getting 58MPH out of it seems pretty good with two people think my crown went 50-53

I had a 96 22' with a 330 Horse 7.4. 3 blade Mirage props are what worked best. We had a 23{ and a 25P. The 23 hopped up on plane but bumped teh rev limiter on the top end. The 25 was slower out of the hole but ran in the right RPM ranges. Other people have told me that 3 blades ar the way to go on these boats as well.

Here we go, dont put a whale tail on it , it will keep the bow lift down and loose top end. A four blade will come on plain a lot faster than a 3 blade . I have a scarab 22 with 600 hp or so and i run a labbed 30 bravo 1. i think maybe a 22 pitch would be great on the boat and come on plain real fast. I f you want put some electric tabs 8x12 on it and that would help when you have a full boat. . I think your rev limiter is set at 4850 so forget about going to 5000

The transducer's location should have no affect on getting water to the prop while you are coming on plane. I would leave that alone. Call Brett at BBlades and he will set you up. I would also considering adding a set of trim tabs. Also, sometimes less throttle is better coming onto plane. Roll into the throttle gradually and when you feel the prop start to blow out back off and let it "catch up" before giving it more throttle.

I tried to back off, but it didn't seem to help much just stayed off plane for longer. I am not suing the transducer. It is just hanging there and was from some Garmin equipment that the previous owner took off the boat. I am going to see about re-propping the boat, but would hate to get a new prop at $350+ and not get anywhere with it.