dad giving me a Bass Tracker with issues!

[ezmobee]

Re: dad giving me a Bass Tracker with issues!

I'm no expert on flat bottom boat performance but do you have a whale tail on that motor? And perhaps the motor is mounted a little too low.

 

[atcra]

Re: dad giving me a Bass Tracker with issues!

I removed the whale tail as someone requested that i should (earlier in this thread)...the bow of the boat does not rise up too much at all when starting off. Would the whale-tail help with raising the bow while at that speed (28-32 mph)...i thought the whale tail was used to keep the bow down while jumping on it from the start...I can raise the motor 2 more holes (1.5" or so). Thank you for your advice.

 

[fishrdan]

Re: dad giving me a Bass Tracker with issues!

at about 32mph (GPS) water will soak you from spraying from underneath the driverside bow.

How's the water spray coming back into the boat to soak the driver, wind pushing it back into the boat or something else?

 

[endurance]

Re: dad giving me a Bass Tracker with issues!

Don't know if you resolved your leaking carb issue. If you haven't. First. Leave all screw mixture adjustments as they are.
Then remove the starter. You should see two screws. On top of. The float housing remove

The two screws On. All three carbs you will be able to pull the. Cover off to access
The floats leave fuel line attached so you can. Pull all three simultaneously. Then using tweezers
Gently pull floats out. Check to see if you. Have any fuel inside of The float. This will cause
The flat to sink instead of float. If. They are light in wieght your good (no fuel inside of float)
Next the screw you mentioned on Carb three remove(you will need a Phillips to remove The fuel
Catch plate to be able to remove The screw do the same on 1&2 Carb. Be careful
When you remove The screw not to lose the black washer-casket. My guess is that why you leaking
From carb three once you removed the three screws spray carb cleaner in all of The open passages
Especially the bronze spout right in the middle of each of The carb.then spray inside of The fuel line
You should see carb cleaner coming out of top of float housing. I normally repeat thisba few times after
That use compress air to blow thru fuel line and also carbs. This should put you back in business

 

[atcra]

Re: dad giving me a Bass Tracker with issues!

The normal spray of the boat should move under the driver as the speed increases, it's like the front started leaning on my side as i increased speed and water caught the edge of the boat and sprayed it right back in on me ( i dont mean alittle bit of water either). At 27 MPH it was fine...after that i got wet. I looked under the front of the boat and everything looks normal, no major dents or anything.

As for the carbs...yes i fixed them with new floats and fuel inlet needles. Thank you for the info.

 

[scipper77]

Re: dad giving me a Bass Tracker with issues!

Now, this is a real long shot but what direction is the prop spinning?? Could you try putting some ballast towards the port side? Is the motor centered properly on the transom?

 

[atcra]

Re: dad giving me a Bass Tracker with issues!

Good call with the motor being centered...i have not thought to measure that. I will test the boat again when i have someone to ride with me. The prop (if i remember correctly) turns clockwise...could too much prop torque (if there is such a thing) cause the boat to dip the bow that direction? I have a 23 degree prop on a 115 Mer..not sure of the dia. Thank you for your thoughts...i will measure it (the motor being centered) when i get home this afternoon.

 

[SeaPro180]

Re: dad giving me a Bass Tracker with issues!

Good tip on checking to see if the motor is centered. Check to make sure it vertical, and not titled right or left, as well.

CW rotation (viewed from the rear) = Right Hand pitch, which will cause the Starboard (right) side of the boat to rise, and the Port to dig in. This sounds like the opposite of what you have.

Where is your helm? Where is your battery(s)?

Did you try trimming the motor up after you jumped on plane? This will let the bow rise and come clean of the water.

Finally - you checked the hull up front, but we should look at the hull in the rear right along the transom (on the Starboard/Right side) There may be something sticking down, or some sort of edge which is pushing the starboard side of your boat down.
Any picture of your setup - motor, hull underneath, transom from rear & bottom wil help us figure out whats wrong

That 115 is a pretty big motor for the boat, but you should be able to get it trimmed out OK.

Is this your boat model? 99 Bass Tracker Pro Team 18 Jet Its gt some Vee in it, which is good.

Do you have power tilt/trim?

 

[SeaPro180]

Re: dad giving me a Bass Tracker with issues!

Found your pictures in the thread.


Can you take a couple of pictures of the bottom near the transom - perhaps some with a straight edge on it (running fore-and-aft and 1 on each side running side-to-side)?

 

[atcra]

Re: dad giving me a Bass Tracker with issues!

I have attached several different pictures of the back of the boat, from front to back underneath with middle rail running down the middle, both sides from front to back, and the bottom weld alone with the bottom back edge of one side that is the same on the other. The edge is not as smooth as it may look...it does have an edge on it. Both sides run smooth with out major dents and dings. I think the motor may be alittle too low. I do not think that bottom weld really affects too much. Please let me know what you think!

 

[SeaPro180]

Re: dad giving me a Bass Tracker with issues!

Humm - the rivets along the rear will tend to push the nose down, but the boat should run "OK" regardless.

I see that you do NOT have power tilt/trim, and also do not have a bar inserted across to set the trim angle (see the holes in the picture below?). You should get the pin, or buy a stainless steel bolt (1/4" or 3/8" x 6 or 8" long) to run across there to set the trim up 1 notch (from the bottom) - the 6th hole in the curve from the rear. Try this ad let us know how how it does!

 

[Faztbullet]

Re: dad giving me a Bass Tracker with issues!

That engine has trim as you can see the fill cap. That is a flat bottom boat with what we call ice runners and it will not trim up the bow as the entire hull is setup for displacement. If it had a pad it would trim up.

 

[oldman570]

Re: dad giving me a Bass Tracker with issues!

Once the boat is up on plane trim the motor up till is wants to porpuss, then trim down till it stops wanting to porpuss, that should take care ot the bath one gets. As for the carpet in the boat, have you ever thought about replacing it with truck bed liner lie Dura Coat or Herculiner. Did my 18' Alumacraft several years ago, and it still looks like new, and can be cleaned fast an easy at the car wash with a couple of Quaters.
Best of Boating,
Oldman570

 

[oldman570]

Re: dad giving me a Bass Tracker with issues!

Once the boat is up on plane trim the motor up till is wants to porpuss, then trim down till it stops wanting to porpuss, that should take care ot the bath one gets. As for the carpet in the boat, have you ever thought about replacing it with truck bed liner lie Dura Coat or Herculiner. Did my 18' Alumacraft several years ago, and it still looks like new, and can be cleaned fast an easy at the car wash with a couple of Quaters.
Best of Boating,
Oldman570

 

[atcra]

Re: dad giving me a Bass Tracker with issues!

You are correct...i do have power tilt/trim (sorry for not stating that earlier). Please excuse me but what is a PAD??? Do i need one? SO...the front of this boat will not raise up out of the water like my Stratos did? thanks again for all the feed back.

I have looked into doing the truck bedliner stuff instead of carpet but the reviews on Cabelas/bass Pro shop were not up to my liking. Now that i am hearing first hand i may try...that is what my dad said i should do...i love fishing in the bays and creeks...that would make it easy to clean as you stated. thank you.

 

[SeaPro180]

Re: dad giving me a Bass Tracker with issues!

Aha - I see now that you DO have power tile/trim. I had forgotten that the older Merc's had the reservoir built into the casting.

Anyway - there really is no way to add a "pad", so don;t worry about it. Your boat will plane out without it. Odman570 is dead on, trim down to come out of the hole, and then trim up as speed increases until you begin to porpoise, then trim down just a bit by hitting the down switch just a split second one, 2 or 3 times until the porpoising is gone. Its a fine line .... good luck!