Please help! 55HP Evinrude wont plane

[Darinc]

Good running 1973 55hp evinrude on standard 16 ft fiberglass fishing boat but wont plane out unless someone stands on the bow........Prop? Tilt? any suggestions?

 

[joekarpovitch]

Re: Please help! 55HP Evinrude wont plane

Its simple. whale tail. solve all you probs. Cabellas got then dirt cheap. Do you know anything on replacing the trim rod in the cylinder?

 

[Boss Hawg]

Re: Please help! 55HP Evinrude wont plane

Lot of maybe's
Do you have power T&T?
Think about weight distrabution - more up front
Whaletail (not really a simple "solve all you probs" but something to concider -

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Please help! 55HP Evinrude wont plane

are you sure you are not carrying extra unwanted weight. like a waterlogged hull, water saturated foam under the deck? manual tilt pin, closer to transom, pushed bow down, farther from transom, pushes bow up. you have to find the happy medium.

as said weight distribution is essential.

 

[Darinc]

Re: Please help! 55HP Evinrude wont plane

Not really any weight in the back of the boat except 2 gas tanks and the battery. as for a saturated foam under the deck or floor i really wouldn't know, but when someone stands on the bow she goes pretty good. Dont have power tilt but i did notice the tilt set back a notch or two away from the transom so i will try to ajust the tilt. What is a whale tail? some kind of lower end fin? appreciate all the suggestions and will try ajusting the tilt this weekend and see how it goes.

 

[Chinewalker]

Re: Please help! 55HP Evinrude wont plane

Whale tales are wonderful at masking bigger issues. I would try to borrow a tach and see if the motor is running at its recommended RPM. It's it entirely possible you've got the wrong propeller for your rig and the motor is lugging its guts out to make things go (think starting a car in fifth gear - it may go, but it'll get going slowly). Find out where your top speed RPM are and what prop you've got on there now. If you're not peaking in the 5000 RPM range then you're lugging the engine and will need to drop down in pitch enough to get there... And TD's advice on checking for waterlogged hull is a good idea, too...