My boat pulls hard to the right, I mean hard.

[Axlman]

I own a 2000 18 foot Smokercraft 182 Pro Mag, with a 2000 135 Mercury motor, 2 stroke. The problem I am having, is that at higher speeds of 10 mph or faster, I have to hold on to the steering wheel with everything I got, or else it will do a 360 to the right. This is not safe, and I am worried about it. We tried to adjust the little skag, in several directions, but it has little to no effect on the steering. I need some help with this, anythinbg would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for this great site as well.

 

[merc200]

Re: My boat pulls hard to the right, I mean hard.

The little skeg you have been adjusting just finely tunes your steering pull.....Try trimming your motor up. If the motor is trimmed too far down then it will be trying to push the bow of the boat down into the water at higher speeds, especially if you have quite a bit of weight up front, therefore reducing your speed and creating a bad steering pull. Anyway, that is what I have learned from my boating experiences.

 

[emckelvy]

Re: My boat pulls hard to the right, I mean hard.

Adjust the trim tab in the direction that the boat pulls. In other words, since your boat pulls to the right, point the back end of the trim tab to the right.<br /><br />Power trim, as noted, will change the feedback on the wheel. You may find that it'll pull a bit with the motor trimmed all the way down for takeoff, but as you get up to speed and trim for best running attitude, steering torque will decrease.<br /><br />The selection of a hi-rake will prop also have quite an effect on steering torque.<br /><br />There are zero-feedback steering systems available and you might consider fitting one of those to your boat if you continue to have problems.<br /><br />HTH........ed

 

[rickdb1boat]

Re: My boat pulls hard to the right, I mean hard.

Did it just start doing this or has it always been this way? No matter though, it should not be that extreme. Something is worse than the trim tab being off a little or even trim setting. Try the back of the tab all the way to the right and trim up and see what happens. But it sure sounds like there is another problem. Check out the hull and prop for starters... Check motor alignment to make sure it vertical side to side..