I just purchased a boat from a buddy. Low hours on entire rig. Its a Tracker Grizzly 1754 with a 35 Hyperdrive pushing it. I test drove it before I sold my long tail rig and GPS on phone I could only get 18mph. Which was a small step up from what my long tail was doing but was more along the lines of the setup I was looking for. It is a tall transom motor and tall boat so that question is answered. My other questions and general consensus from searching this site and everywhere else is that the 3 blade prop that is on it may be the main issue as to why its not pushing any faster. I know it won't break records but mid 20s empty should be attainable I would think. I've got buddy that has an extra 2 blade prop I'm going to try and hope that makes a difference. Also I've read a lot of places that I may need to shim the motor some to get the angle right? My question on that is where to place the shims. Front or back of the transom and how thick to they need to be? 1/2" to nothing? thicker or thinner than 1/2? I'm going to change oil and filter, air filter, fuel filter, plugs, and new fuel in the tank as well as get a tach on the motor so I have as much info as possible. Any help is appreciated and I will update as I make it out to tinker. Thanks guys.

Does that boat come to a V all the way to the back or is it flat bottom?


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It's a v. It's not gonna run as good as a true flat, but 18 isn't it's limit with a stock 35.

What rpms are you running at 18mph? Is that phone GPS as accurate as you think? I've seen the same app on 2 different phones be 4 mph apart at the same time. What rpms does the engine run out of water?

Mod V up front and comes down to a flat bottom. Like said above not a true flat but definitely not a deep-v. As for RPMs, I just got the setup yesterday ( had test driven it previously) and going to service the motor and put new plugs in it this evening as well as hook up the tach that I ordered in. Once I get that I'll have more information and possibly try to get it on the water before the weekend as well to have all the info. The GPS was compared on two phones and one said 17 and flickered to 18 and the other said 18. My long tail rig I just sold hit 14-15 and it wasn't much difference other than it actually planed out but never took off. Thanks for replying and I'll update as soon as I get more info.

Rgr. And the grizzly, while not a deep v, has a deadrise at the rear, so it's not a flat bottom. Somewhere between 5-8 degrees, I believe. It's a mod v, not a hybrid v. Hybrid v by the most commonly used definition here is completely flat after a certain point, usually where the rake ends, but not always. Nothing wrong with what you have, but it likely won't run as fast as you will have less of the boat out of the water for a given speed, meaning more drag, than a true flat. You should be over 20, though, with that 35.

Exactly. I don't plan on it being a super fast rig but it ought to hit 20 easy. Ik it's not the ideal hull for the motor but it's what I've got and it'll work for where I'll use it just fine. Just got the tach on and in the drive way RPMs at WOT held at 3660. Hope to splash It tonight or tmrw evening to see what it gets to in the water.

You should have more than 3660 out of water rpms. Governor adjustment likely the culprit.

Tinkered with it a little at lunch. Turned it on let it idle a while to warm up good. It's 97 with heat index of 108 right now so that didn't take long. Hahaha. Anyway. Eased it up to WOT and it held at 3660 again so kept it held and adjusted the governor until it stuck at 4200. I did a bunch of reading lastnight on several different places and they all aimed for that 4100-4200 range. Guess I need to get it in the water and get readings while operating and see if it makes a difference just adjusting the governor. I've got a buddy that has a couple 2 blades he's gonna let me try next weekend so maybe that will add even more performance.

Was able to slip out this evening and splash it. Held 4150rpms with me (275) 2 dogs at the front (110 combined) and battery and fuel tank at back. Had the same load plus my buddy and his girlfriend at 200 and 105 and held just over 4100rpms and got 19.5mph. Solo I would guess 20.5-21mph. But I gave them my phone when I dropped them off to get the truck. Planed quick when I got it trimmed down enough and definitely had a sweet spot for top end speed but no rooster tail. When I trimmed it up more and started to get a small rooster tail it slowed down 2-3mph and ran deeper in the water. I'm wondering if that's where shimming the transom would help out? Also that was all with 3 blade prop in good shape. Planning on trying a 2 blade next weekend and see if that makes a difference. That's all the info I've got so far. 20 is a step up from 14 in the Longtail and felt quick haha. But if there's anymore I can get out of it might as well set it up right. Thanks.

I bet you're faster than 21 solo. Maybe not alot, but some. 4100 rpms and no load in that boat should be closer to 25 than to 20.

Sounds like you got the governor adjusted correctly now. More then likely that 35 has leaking heads. But with 3 people in that boat sounds about right. Stock heads with a modv like that should run around 25-27 solo speeds. Also that 3 blade is too much prop for that motor probably. Stick a Big Blade on it and see what she does. I also run a 5 degree modv. Not ideal, but it still works, I just don't get that big of a sweet rooster tail

Yup. Motor sounds like it's runnin fine and RPMs got to and stayed where I wanted/needed them. I'm thinking a 2 blade will see an increase. 25 will make me happy.

Another update for anyone that might care. Met up with a guy this morning to borrow one of his 2 blades and run it around. He said it was worn about and inch but we put it on and gave it a whirl. Wide open planed out I could carry a steady 25 @4100 rpm with me and a dog. Had a decent rooster tail as well. He's letting me hang on to it for a while to try it sometime with a bigger load and see what happens. Planning on buying a Big Blade and calling it good. If I get any more out of it I'll be thrilled but I'm content now with what it's running. Thanks for the help and suggestions fellas!

Good deal.

This an all stock motor right? If so, sounds bout right now.

Yep all stock. Eventually I want to put an aftermarket exhaust on. And quite possibly a carb kit. It'll all happen next year sometime if it does. Where I hunt mainly 25 is plenty fast. And for fishing purposes,setting lines and rod and reel fishing the river it will sure be better than the 8mph upstream speed I could get with my lomgtail. The local ramp is piss poor and the river has to be 1/2 full or higher to have enough water up the ramp to unload without dropping your trailer off the 4' drop at the bottom of the ramp. At that level the river runs about 5mph current. So evening running 20 upstream will help when we usually go about 4 miles to get to where we like to fish.