Bought a 2004 mud buddy 27hp Kohler long tail first of the week. Got everything installed. Moved my 6gal gas tank to the front of the boat. Only weight in the rear of the boat is a battery and me (190lbs). Boat is a 1648 semiV Weldbuilt, 0.080" hull. Has elec trolling motor up front with a deep cycle battery. Not the lightest setup in the world.

Ran it last night. I forgot my GPS so I am going to guess its running around 15mph with all the weight I have in the boat. Its a beast to drive, but a hoot to hit the shallow water with. I can say it takes a man to maneuver that thing in tight quarters, lol.

Question:
1- Running at wide open throttle I am only getting 3150 rpm's in deep water. Everything I have read says I should be getting around 3500-3600 rpm's. Its a pretty new prop from Mud Buddy for the 27 kohler I was told when I bought it. Only scratches in the prop are the ones I put on it last night. I can not see where it tells what pitch it is. How can I tell what pitch it is? Out of the water it runs around 3650+/- rpms.

2- Running in deep water I have to fight it to run strait. Can I bend the bottom skeg a tad to compensate for that? Using the search function I have found photos showing the bottom skeg bent a tad, but no info on it.

Any help is appreciated.

Broski-

If you have to fight it to run strait, it is probably off center on the transom.

Turn your OOW rpms up to no more than about 4200 and try shifting some weight to balance the load. It doesn't take much, a 2.5 gallon can of gas on in the wrong spot will make mine pull.

Mississippi Hunter: Its dead center on the transom.

Kibb: You may be right. I have my cranking battery on the same side as my 6gal gas tank. Tank is up front, battery in the back. I will move the battery to the other side and run it again tonight.

This may seem like a stupid question, but how do I adjust the motor to run more than the 3650 its turning OOW right now? This is my first Kohler engine and I have not tinkered/looked around on it any.

Go to the mudbuddy forum they have a pretty detailed explanation.

Thanks for the info. Got it turning about 4050 out of the water now. Only turns 3250 in the water with me and a light load. Beginning to think it has too fast a prop on it.

You need a 9 x 7 on a 27.

whats up with that grab bar?