Jump to content
  • GUESTS

    If You  want access  to member only forums on FM, You will need to Sign-in or  Sign-Up now .

    This box will disappear once you are signed in as a member.

  • 0

Another ? regarding getting front of boat down


LwnmwnMan2

Question

I was looking at my boat again tonight and was wondering. Would it make the boat plane out better if I raised or lowered the motor??

Not just trimmed it, but literally unbolted it from the back of the boat and moved it up or down a hole??

I noticed I still have one more hole in the top of the mounting plate, which would in turn drop the motor into the water more.

Would that make a difference??

Thanks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 answers to this question

Recommended Posts

  • 0

General rule of thumb is that most boats will run better with the motor raised up higher vs. dropped down lower -- better holeshot, faster speed. If you raise the motor you need to make sure you're getting water in the motor to keep it cool, the cavitation plate should be even with or slightly above the bottom of the hull, the nose cone of the gear case should be below the hull.

I think your biggest problem may be that you are under-powered, as was mentioned in your other thread. You said you have a 115, what is your boat rated for at max horsepower?

I think you should test the boat with as light a load as possible - you by yourself, remove as much gear as you can, run with 1/4 tank of gas or less. See if your boat performs better like that - then you will know if the load your are carrying is causing your problem.

If you are running a stock aluminum prop it is possible that a 4 or 5 blade prop will give you better stern lift, thereby bringing the bow down. But if you are underpowered this won't do much to help your problem.

IF ........ it is the case that your boat is underpowered and you just bought it, raise holy he** with your dealer and try to get a deal on a bigger motor (if it's something you can afford). If this is an option for you, don't wait. Tell them you want full retail value for your 115 against a trade.

Don't know if any of this helps, but good luck anyway. And if you don't mind, post the specs for your boat - length, width, hull weight, and max horsepower rating.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0
  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Creators

If your cavitation plate is below the hull then raising the motor will most likely improve hole shot and top end.

Trimming in should lower the bow even with an outboard not at a boats max hp rating, thats if the load isn't loaded in the stern.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

Quote:

General rule of thumb is that most boats will run better with the motor raised up higher vs. dropped down lower -- better holeshot, faster speed. If you raise the motor you need to make sure you're getting water in the motor to keep it cool, the cavitation plate should be even with or slightly above the bottom of the hull, the nose cone of the gear case should be below the hull.

I think your biggest problem may be that you are under-powered, as was mentioned in your other thread. You said you have a 115, what is your boat rated for at max horsepower?

I think you should test the boat with as light a load as possible - you by yourself, remove as much gear as you can, run with 1/4 tank of gas or less. See if your boat performs better like that - then you will know if the load your are carrying is causing your problem.

If you are running a stock aluminum prop it is possible that a 4 or 5 blade prop will give you better stern lift, thereby bringing the bow down. But if you are underpowered this won't do much to help your problem.

IF ........ it is the case that your boat is underpowered and you just bought it, raise holy he** with your dealer and try to get a deal on a bigger motor (if it's something you can afford). If this is an option for you, don't wait. Tell them you want full retail value for your 115 against a trade.

Don't know if any of this helps, but good luck anyway. And if you don't mind, post the specs for your boat - length, width, hull weight, and max horsepower rating.


Specifications -

18'6" length

96" Beam

Approx 1500 lbs

Max hp rating of 175.

I know the 2006 models come with a 135 hp standard.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

OK, now I know you're underpowered. That is a lot of boat you're trying to push with that motor.

I hate to say it but my opinion is that you need 150 HP to solve your problem, just raising/lowering the motor and repropping the boat is not going to solve your problem. If you keep the motor you have it would be worth it to try any performance tweaks you can get, but they are not going to be a cure-all.

If this is an option for you I would try to get your dealer to take back the 115 and give you full credit towards a 150 HP. Whether they will admit it or not, they KNOW that a 115 is too small for that boat, but they put it on there to keep the pricing attractive.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0
  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Creators

I'd say your under powered as well. I 135hp would be minimal and a 150 like PJ stated would be recommended.

Trying to get any dealer to take in your motor at full price is I guess worth a try but I wouldn't get my hopes up.

My above suggestions of lifting the motor or better yet a jack plate will improve the boats performance.

Something else I'd be looking into are trim tabs. Either in a automatic set(cost is under $150), or electric/hydraulic fully operational hydraulic trim tabs that will run you around $500.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

I think you are underpowered too, but still the boat should ride straight when on plane.

I have a beaten up Crestliner 1750 FishHawk with an old 100hp Evinride (which nowadays is a 85hp) and still can get on plane and ride boat fine.

Take a look at your motor, where the power tilt & trim rests, does it have a rod going across width of motor ?

Few years back they had this rod to set lowest trim position you can go, they were removable and you could choose another hole to lower or raise motor.

I don't think new motors have it, but just in case you might want to take a look....

I hope you understand what I'm talking about.

Also be sure your motor is all the way down when trimmed, don't look at gauge, just look at motor, be sure it's all the way down.

If you look at it on the trailer it should have a 90 degrees angle with boat (boat level horizontally, motor 90deg vertically).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

I appreciate your help guys.

The cavitation plate is pretty much level with the top edge of the hull.

I'll run to the dealer the first of next week and see what they say.

Looking on the internet it's about $2-3,000 to jump to a 150 hp motor, retail to retail price, so I guess I have to figure out what it's worth to me.

I suppose some of the issue could be the shape of the hull as well, on how it rides on the water.

I know when we're cruising on the lake, all the water is being thrown off well behind the consoles, there's really no way we'd ever get wet from rougher water.

We're heading out to Goose Lake tomorrow night to go fishing.

Maybe I'll have my dad run the boat while I'm on shore so I can see how the thing sets in the water at full throttle as well, get some pictures of it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

try putting a fin on the motor they help out boats that are under powered get up on plane faster.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

Finally talked with the dealer. Said get more weight up to the front of the boat, ie anchors, people, whatever.

They're going to give me a new pedastal for the seat as well to try, something that's 6-7" higher.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.


  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • leech~~
      Nope not me.  May want to go nextdoor and ask around?  
    • smurfy
      Looks to me like Leech brought his chair home!!😅😆
    • Brianf.
      I'm not there, so I can't tell exactly what's going on but it looks like a large area of open water developed in the last day with all of the heavy snow on the east side of wake em up Narrows. These two photos are from my Ring Camera facing north towards Niles Point.  You can see what happened with all of snow that fell in the last three days, though the open water could have been wind driven. Hard to say. .  
    • SkunkedAgain
      Black Bay had great ice before but a few spots near rockpiles where there were spots of open water. It looks like the weight of the snow has created a little lake in the middle of the bay.  
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the south end...   Thanks to some cold spring weather, ice fishing continues strong for those still ice fishing.  The bite remains very good.  Most resorts have pulled their fish houses off for the year, however, some still have fish houses out and others are allowing ATV and side by sides.  Check social media or call ahead to your favorite resort for specifics. Reports this week for walleyes and saugers remain excellent.   A nice mix of jumbo perch, pike, eelpout, and an occasional crappie, tullibee or sturgeon being reported by anglers. Jigging one line and using a live minnow on the second line is the way to go.  Green, glow red, pink and gold were good colors this week.     Monster pike are on a tear!  Good number of pike, some reaching over 45 inches long, being caught using tip ups with live suckers or dead bait such as smelt and herring in 8 - 14' of water.   As always, work through a resort or outfitter for ice road conditions.  Safety first always. Fish houses are allowed on the ice through March 31st, the walleye / sauger season goes through April 14th and the pike season never ends. On the Rainy River...  The river is opened up along the Nelson Park boat ramp in Birchdale, the Frontier boat ramp and Vidas boat ramp.  This past week, much of the open water skimmed over with the single digit overnight temps.   Areas of the river have popped open again and with temps getting warmer, things are shaping up for the last stretch through the rest of the spring season, which continues through April 14th.   Very good numbers of walleyes are in the river.  Reports this week, even with fewer anglers, have been good.  When temps warm up and the sun shines, things will fire up again.   Jigs with brightly colored plastics or jigs with a frozen emerald shiner have been the desired bait on the river.  Don't overlook slow trolling crankbaits upstream as well.   Good reports of sturgeon being caught on the river as well.  Sturgeon put the feed bag on in the spring.  The bite has been very good.  Most are using a sturgeon rig with a circle hook loaded with crawlers or crawlers / frozen emerald shiners. Up at the NW Angle...  Ice fishing is winding down up at the Angle.  Walleyes, saugers, and a number of various species in the mix again this week.  The bite is still very good with good numbers of fish.  The one two punch of jigging one line and deadsticking the second line is working well.   Check with Angle resorts on transport options from Young's Bay.  Call ahead for ice road guidelines.  
    • CigarGuy
      With the drifting, kind of hard to tell for sure, but I'm guessing about a foot and still lightly snowing. Cook end!
    • PSU
      How much snow did you get on Vermilion? 
    • Mike89
      lake here refroze too...  started opening again yesterday with the wet snow and wind...  very little ice left today...
    • Hookmaster
      A friend who has a cabin between Alex and Fergus said the lake he's on refroze. He texted me a pic from March 12th when it was open and one from 23rd when it wasn't. 🤯
    • SkunkedAgain
      I don't think that there has been any ice melt in the past few weeks on Vermilion. Things looked like a record and then Mother Nature swept in again.   I'll give my revised guess of April 21st
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.