Trim Techniques.. Tips? Tricks? Porpoising?

[65fordguy]

New to the big boating world.. I grew up on a 16' tri hull hustler bass boat... My boat is a 19.5 VIP valiant 4.3.

I have several friends who boat... and I get a few stories on how to trim an i/o boat... few say trim it as far up as it will let you then bump the trailer up button a bit.. others say all the way down... some say half..

so I did some testing.. for take off im all the way down, then ease up to 3/4 trim.. this seems to run the smoothest and lightens the load on the engine.. any higher and I start to bobble in the water.. no gains in speed.. when it starts to hop I bump the trim down and it goes away... is this right? Do I need smart tabs? III duunnnoo! a buddy of mine thinks just like me.. he has a 19' larson he does the exact same thing... but a old time boating friend says its hard on the motor and transom to do that. .. .

Looking for advice from the I boat gurus.. school me!
Thanks

pic of the boat

Josh

 

[Lrider]

Re: Trim Techniques.. Tips? Tricks? Porpoising?

Sounds like you know what you are doing, from what I have read in the forum you already have a feel for your boat.

Why would you need trim tabs

 

[nlain]

Re: Trim Techniques.. Tips? Tricks? Porpoising?

Trim should be where the boats runs best and usually the fastest which is what it sounds like you are doing, I will say never bump the trailer button for more trim, that takes the drive beyound safe operating limits. You trim up and down depending on the water you are running in, rough water trim down slightly to smooth the ride, smooth water trim up for the best handling and speed, all the way down to take off. Now with all that said, Smart Tabs can improve your boat if you want to install them, if you go to their website and read what they say I will say they do everything advertised. I won't tell you that you have to have them, I will say that they will improve your boat.

 

[Mischief Managed]

Re: Trim Techniques.. Tips? Tricks? Porpoising?

You are doing it right. Trim up until speed peaks out. If it porpoises, trim down a smidge. It's not hard on the motor or transom. Smart tabs often improve a boat and would probably be an upgrade to yours.

Nice looking boat you got.

 

[Rocky_Road]

Re: Trim Techniques.. Tips? Tricks? Porpoising?

If every boat needed trim tabs, they would be shipped with them!

What you are doing sounds perfectly correct for your setup.

Happy boating!

 

[65fordguy]

Re: Trim Techniques.. Tips? Tricks? Porpoising?

well, I've been in a boat that porpoises alot and mine doesnt hardly at all... only at the upper end of trim. at the 3/4 trim its a smooth ride... my friend who has a stingray, hops all over the water, he says its normal and stingray makes the best hull blah blah .. he was trying to sell me on it. I didnt buy it. It hops out of the water the quickest and he has a 4 blade on it ....another was a bayliner it didnt do it as bad, didnt plane as fast as the stingray ( he has a 3 blade prop).. but it was a smoother ride... my VIP is slower to plane but rides like a Cadillac no side to side and hoping like the stingray..

So that said my biggest complaint for the VIP is the time to plane out... I run a 4 blade prop too.. Its not terrible or anything... and Im not a hot rodder... at least not on the water lol.

Thanks for the compliment on the boat...