Top Speed of 50 hp Merc

I bought a 1999 Bass Tracker Pro Team 175 with a 2 stroke 50 hp Mercury. Right now with 2 people and gear I am maxing out at around 28 mph according to my phone gps. I wasn't expecting to be flying accross the lake when I bought it, but figured I should be around ~35 mph. Any thoughts? Thanks.

i have a 14 foot boat with a 30 merc fourstroke and top out at 28 with just me and 26 with 2 and were not small both over 270

You're doing good with that setup, 2 guys and gear. You have a couple options though. Change your prop(you will see a little increase) or max the hp(you will see more increase). It beats the heck out of rowing either way.

I have a 16 foot boat with 50 hp 4 stroke Merc, and it tops out at about 30-35 mph depending on how much weight is in the boat. Hope this helps.

I have a 16.5 foot boat with tiller and 50 hp mercury. With me and fair amount of gear and 2 anchors it does 29 mph. Fast enough for me!

Could go to a higher performance stainless prop and b&b it to correspond with rpm's and hull design plus add some carbon fiber reeds to get every last ounce of performance out of a relatively small package. But is a couple mph worth the cost?

I have a 2006 175 with a 50 merc. Never checked on gps but speedo says 33 with two guys in boat. Might not be accurate but was only 30 before I put a hydrofoil fin on it. My buddy has same boat right down to the color and with one guy in the boat each I walk away from him with mine with the hydrofoil. Only $40 and I think was worth the money. Some other ideas is it has a 21 gallon tank and with a 50 you can go on that forever. Keep it at half or less. Another is keep weight off the bow storage area. Weight over half way front on the boat is deadly on speed and gas. Arron Martins from the bassmaster trail has a great article about that. Also I mine came with a 14 pitch prop from the factory but a 12 seems to be more fit.

Thanks for the help guys! Glad to hear I'm right in the ball park for speed. Motor runs great and has no issues and I don't plan on putting any money into it other than maintenance.

As others have stated, you're not too far off of what can be expected from your rig. Different prop could help. Also, you may want to experiment with moving your motor up higher. If your motor is set too low you are creating unnecessary drag and wasting power dragging the lower unit through the water. Making sure the motor is tuned properly is important too. Rebuilding/cleaning the carbs may help. Fresh plugs can't hurt.

my boat is the same design, and length and is rated for 70hp, its 4 years older, and gps is how I judge my speed.

denesox........The only way he will ever see 40 mph with his boat the way it is set up now, is if it is on the trailer being pulled by a vehicle. The hull that he has produces twice the drag that a V-Hull boat will produce. His hull has so much more contact(drag) with the water it is unbelievable. If you are having trouble getting out of the hole, then try a Mercury 4 blade prop, but that won't gain you anymore speed. His boat is rated for a 75 HP motor, weighs 1050# and it is 17 1/2" long. I will guarantee you that your boat with that 30 HP is not running those speeds on a GPS. You have a happy speedometer!

Just to give you a conparison I have an 18 ft. Crestliner Canadian with 03 60 4 stroke, top end is 31 mph. Its a fishing boat that plenty of speed. It spends a lot more time running at 2 mph than flat out.

I have basically the same hull, and with that, you should be getting a lot more speed with that 50. That hull is in no way under powered with a 50hp. I only have a 30hp johnson and it runs 27 with that hull when loaded (28/29 with just me). With that boat and motor I would expect at the least 40mph. No way that motor is producing proper power! Modified V-hull's produce less water resistance than most boats out there with the exception of a jonboat. Mine's a bit underpowered with a 30, but it still jumps onto plane for me without issue. How's the prop? A comparison with a deep v isn't a fair comparison at all.

I have had 5 Boats since 1990 all with the 50 Merc. the last one a 4Stroke all 16 to 16.5 Ft. Lund or Alumacraft Boats. 28-31 Mph.depending on prop. You are right in the Ball Park!!

I agree with Tuffy. You can try a different prop and you may see a bit of improvement, but likely is not worth the extra $ to upgrade to a bigger hp.

Your boat is under-powered with that 50 Mercury on it. You can spend $1000 or more to get your speed up to 32 mph, or you can upgrade your motor to a 75 hp and really spend some big money. You have a nice fishing platform, so I recommend you just keep going along at 28 mph and save the cash for some nice fishing trips. I just noticed that you expected your speed to be around 35 mph. With that 50 Mercury on there, that is never going to happen, no matter how much you spend on props, jack plates, or whatever. You can help yourself by only putting 10 gallons of gas in the boat at a time. Look at the tackle that you are carrying around. How much of it do you really use? Travel as light as possible.