Boat tilting

[mochosla]

Hi,

I just bought a boat and have a bit of a challenge when driving it. The problem is that I have to continually adjust my trim tabs as the boat tilts from side to side making the steering a challenge. If going fast it becomes a bigger issue as I can't adjust the TT fast enough some times and end up having to stop the boat as it tilts too much. I can counter the tilting by turning the wheel the opposite way but it then starts to tilt to the other side.

The boat is a 2000 2100 Walk-around Seaswirl Striper. It comes with a 2006 150HP Honda motor. The boat has no power steering.

Some people have recommended the wings that go in the caviation plate but I want your opinion before investing and drilling hole on my new motor.

Thank you.

 

[QC]

Re: Boat tilting

Forget the "wings".

What happens when you don't use any Trim Tab? Leave them all the way up, what happens? It sounds to me like you are holding down the Trim Tab switch and then the boat attitude follows behind your use of the switch just enough that it seems out of control. Let's see how she behaves with no trim tab. After that try using the trim tabs in single bumps of the switch. Wait 2 - 3 seconds and then bump again. Any pics of your installation? Would like to see them all of the way up.

 

[Boatist]

Re: Boat tilting

What type of trim tabs do you have?
I agree with QC raise them all the way up and then bring the boat up on plane and see what happends.
Do you have any of the AUTO trim controls?
When on plane is your boat plowing with the bow down?
Are you sure your motor is tight?
Is the trim tab on the motor loose?

What ever you find do not put anything on the motor stabilizer.

 

[SpinnerBait_Nut]

Re: Boat tilting

Check the tab on the engine.
Sounds like it's turned one way too far.

 

[mochosla]

Re: Boat tilting

Thank you all for your responses.

I did pull the TT all the way to the top and the boat still tilted. I tried tapping the TT switch to straighten it. it works a for a few a while but it then starts to tilt again.

No auto trim

The boat plows through the water according to my motor's trimming and Tt adjustments. I run it bow down. I have not tried pulling it up to see how it behaves.

The tab on the engine is straight.

Motor seems to be tight. It does not move at all and it was installed last year by a very good mechanic

Now, i must add that the boat load was not distributed evenly. I did have 3 people on board, rods, ice chest, one of the bait tanks was full (port side) while the other one was empty. But I figure that once you stabilize it should stay straight as long as the weight does not move. Right?

Here are some pictures:

http://s148.photobucket.com/albums/s27/mochosla/Videos/

Thank you again for your help.

 

[dingbat]

Re: Boat tilting

Your boat has a #1675 capacity. You have 3 guys on board, rods, coolers, ice, a full tank of fuel and one full bait tank which is going to put you border line capacity. Now throw in the fact that #240 lbs (30 gallons x 7#) of that are offset to one side via the bait tank and you’re bound to have roll problems as people move around and the fluids slosh around in the tanks.

If your going to run with only 1 bait tank full you need to counter act the weight somehow. On my boat the fish box is opposite the bait tank so we load it with ice and water in advance to counter the weight of a full bait tank.

The continuously variable Vee hulls they use on these types of boats don’t help the problem either. I love the ride but they are picky about weight distrubution when loaded up.

 

[Mischief Managed]

Re: Boat tilting

It keeps tipping from side to side, you may have some play in the steering. It should move back and forth no more than 1/2" at the aft end of the prop shaft without making the wheel turn.

 

[hadvisor]

Re: Boat tilting

I battled a problem similar to yours in a different style boat - I needed to sandbag the port side to even out the weight because of the load-then on top of it the tab controls were backwards from the previous boat so I thought I was using them correctly but I was making matters worse.
I would empty the boat and kick your buddies off for a couple runs and see how she handles empty. That may give you a good idea which direction to head...Right now too many variables could be affecting the ride.

 

[QC]

Re: Boat tilting

I did pull the TT all the way to the top and the boat still tilted. I tried tapping the TT switch to straighten it. it works a for a few a while but it then starts to tilt again.

It sounds to me like you have a trim tab cylinder that leaks back and allows the tab to come back up once it is initially set. This is conjecture only, but if nobody moves, and nothing is adjusted, and she was running correctly for more than a nano second and then she starts returning to a previous position that is not good, and then you apply positive tab pressure and it fixes it temporarily, and then she goes back to the previously bad running attitude, and nobody moved, then I can only surmise that one or both tabs moved on their own . . . Are these Bennett's?

 

[mochosla]

Re: Boat tilting

I don't know what brand the TT are. Where can I check? The cylinders? How can I check if they are working properly?

Thanks for all these helpful tips!!

 

[QC]

Re: Boat tilting

Well they look like Bennett's to me . . Nice boat BTW. I would:

a) Learn more about them here "http://www.bennetttrimtabs.com/"

b) Check to see that both tabs actually go all of the way up while she is on the trailer. You should be able to measure the narrower shaft that comes out of the "cylinder" toward the tab itself. Put your fingers between the tab and the cylinder while feeling how many fingers you can get on the shaft. Check to see that both tabs go up the same height. Hold the switches in the down position to insure that both tabs are up (shortest extended shaft from the cylinder). Push on the top of the switches and hold and see if they both extended down and stay there. If you can see that the shafts have extended (down tab) then try and push them back in/up. They should not move up at all with you lifting the tabs as hard as you can and the switches left alone. If all of that indicates that the tabs are OK then,

c) Operate the boat alone to make sure that your test results are clean. Run her up onto plane and see if both tabs will make the boat heel over. If they are wired correctly the left tab switch pushed on the up side should make the boat heel to port (left), with the starboard (right) tab down. See if she stays heeled over. Repeat after lifting the starboard tab by pushing on the bottom of the left switch. Repeat for the opposite side. Once set, each tab should not move. So if she is listing to port (starboard tab down) then she should stay that way and visa versa. If either side heels over and then slowly corrects itself without touching the switches, then there is a problem with the trim tab hydraulic system allowing fluid to leak back or the switches are sticking. Basically the fluid used to push the tab down could be leaking back and allowing the fluid to return to the reservoir by itself. Not good.

 

[Boatist]

Re: Boat tilting

I would run it again with the tabs all the way up and do not touch them. Bring it up on plane and if your still plowing Like I think you said then trim the motor out until you get some bow lift. A plowing V hull will tend to wonder and is worse at sub planing speeds. If it still bow down with the tabs all the way up and the motor trimed out then you must find what is holding the bow down. Too much weight up front?

 

[Scaaty]

Re: Boat tilting

Lousy (tab) cylinders leaking/bypassing, but maybe a corroded steering tube/cable somewhere..you turn, it don't..until it decides too, then you have already corrected..
You.."Motor seems to be tight. It does not move at all"

 

[JCF350]

Re: Boat tilting

Check the bottom of your hull lengthwise for a Rocker, ie:the keel bulges down midway or farther back.
A hook would be the opposite and make your bow plow but I don't remember
that a hook would make it flop from side to side.

 

[mochosla]

Re: Boat tilting

Okay, I have checked the TTs and they seem to be working fine. Left side does not seem to have as much power as the right side but ONLY when going UP. Downwards they both push HARD (can't stop them by hand).

One thing that I found strange was that the right switch controls the left TT and vice versa. Is that normal?

The bottom haul looks straight with the center keel running to the back of the boat. Is that what you meant JCF350?

I know I already asked this but, my friend swears by his Hydrofoil that he installed on his boat. I forgot the brand but they are aluminum (not the wings) and are made in Australia I believe. He has a very similar boat to mine and claims to have had the same issue until he installed it. He even put bigger TTs before to fix the issue and it didn't. But claims that when he installed his Hydrofoil the boat handled 100% better. I will ask him for the brand and post it here.

I will try to take the boat out this weekend.

Thanks.

 

[dingbat]

Re: Boat tilting

Okay, I have checked the TTs and they seem to be working fine. Left side does not seem to have as much power as the right side but ONLY when going UP. Downwards they both push HARD (can't stop them by hand).

One thing that I found strange was that the right switch controls the left TT and vice versa. Is that normal?

Yes, that is the normal opertion of the tabs. The reasoning is becouse you push the button on the side you want the bow to move. If you want to lower the port side bow down you push the port side button down and vice versa.

 

[JCF350]

Re: Boat tilting

Just in case take a peek at the attachments.

 

[JimS123]

Re: Boat tilting

Hydrofoils are a fantastic thing, and I wouldn't have a boat without them. But, they won't solve YOUR problem.

When your boat is tilting, what are the water conditions? If its glass smooth, then you have a problem. Boats are supposed to tilt as they encounter swells and waves. Maybe your expectations are too high. Have you owned other boats before?

 

[QC]

Re: Boat tilting

I do not agree with the above at all . . .

Let's try and find out what your issue is and not mask it with a band-aid. I am not picking a fight here, but there is something either wrong or their isn't, don't slap stuff on to muddy the water so to speak . . .

OK, mochosla, now I have to be a little critical here. Checking the tabs while the pump is running has not eliminated the leak back issue as a potential concern. We know/knew that the tabs work, the boat's attitude can be adjusted, that has already been determined. What we need to know is if the tabs leak back or change their position when you are not manipulating the switches. That's the problem right? The boat's attitude changes after you have finished adjusting with the tabs . . . ???? Determining what happens while the switches are being held has not given us any new info. Try my plan as I wrote it and at least we have some more info to work with, what you did only confirmed what we already know . . . I also covered the opposite trim tab to switch issue above. Dude, we can make this right, but we need to take one step at a time.

 

[JustJason]

Re: Boat tilting

just kinda curious... and i'm not trying to sound rude or anything but...
1. how many boats have you driven?
2. all boats with single engines are going to want to roll/twist/steer/track to the left. Some are worse than others... and some are downright aweful. Are you possibley just experiences this and are confused by it?