HELP! Adjusting engine hieght.

[parrisw]

I want to lower the outboard on my boat, Johnson 115, on a 64 Johnson Trihull, but there is these metal shim's there, and the hooks on the outboard wont go over the transom due to the thickness of these shims? They were on the boat when I got it with and older Johnson 115, so I just left them there when I put this engine on.

The reason I want to lower the engine is because in turns I get pretty good prop slip if I don't back out of the throttle quite a bit.

Thanks

http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk107/parrisw/P1020282.jpg

 

[mikesea]

Re: HELP! Adjusting engine hieght.

One solution is to remove the hooks with a grinder,OR,try removing the metal wedges.I believe I see TRIM and TILT on the current ENG.Did prior eng have TNT.If not,Its likely you wont need the wedges .Other than that its try to happy deal.I cant imagine why the boat needs a wedge like that

 

[Boss Hawg]

Re: HELP! Adjusting engine hieght.

Just do away with the "shims" -
The motor should set "flat" against the transom anyway-----

 

[parrisw]

Re: HELP! Adjusting engine hieght.

Ok, I think I'll take the wedged out then, I don't know why they are there, the old motor had trim and tilt as well. Wonder if I can slip one out at a time?

Thanks guys.

 

[Boss Hawg]

Re: HELP! Adjusting engine hieght.

Ok, I think I'll take the wedged out then, I don't know why they are there, the old motor had trim and tilt as well. Wonder if I can slip one out at a time?

Thanks guys.

If you dont have a hoist of some type you can use a jack of some type to releive the weight if your CAREFULL & do one bolt at a time

 

[parrisw]

Re: HELP! Adjusting engine hieght.

If you dont have a hoist of some type you can use a jack of some type to releive the weight if your CAREFULL & do one bolt at a time

I have a floor jack that I can put under the engine. I'll have to do both bolts at a time on one side to get the wedge out.

Thanks

 

[parrisw]

Re: HELP! Adjusting engine hieght.

Ok, I took those wedge plates out, and how should the engine sit at trim all the way in, it looks to me that the engine is trimmed up slightly, this is as far as the engine will go down.

Do you think this will be ok, I could have a 1/4 machined out of those plates and put them back in.

http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk107/parrisw/P1020286.jpg

 

[wilde1j]

Re: HELP! Adjusting engine hieght.

Ok, I took those wedge plates out, and how should the engine sit at trim all the way in, it looks to me that the engine is trimmed up slightly, this is as far as the engine will go down.

Do you think this will be ok, I could have a 1/4 machined out of those plates and put them back in.

http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk107/parrisw/P1020286.jpg

I don't think the wedges are the answer, unless the boat porpoises with the pin where it presently sits. The trim position for your motor is controlled by the pin at the bottom of the bracket, and it looks like you have it in the picture in the most bow down position. Run the boat and see how it performs

 

[parrisw]

Re: HELP! Adjusting engine hieght.

I don't think the wedges are the answer, unless the boat porpoises with the pin where it presently sits. The trim position for your motor is controlled by the pin at the bottom of the bracket, and it looks like you have it in the picture in the most bow down position. Run the boat and see how it performs

Thanks. Ya I was going to run it as is, and see what happens. Yes the pin is all the way down. Before with the wedges with the motor all the way down, the bow was really trimmed down, so now it should be a little better.

Thanks again.

 

[mikesea]

Re: HELP! Adjusting engine hieght.

My gut feeling is you will be glad you took them out,I see you have a ski bar,that could be the reason for the plates and wanting to keep the bow down,if the trim dont help you to keep the bow down ,WITH TRIM AND TILT all down,you might want to put those plastic tails on your cavitation plate.Without knowing what primary use for the boat is and what the hull did prior I cant do anything but guess.I do believe that boat manufacturers build hulls to accept the manufacturers standard assy.I have seen custom boats ,and fishing boats of different types with those plates ,but never a small rec.boat

 

[bailey]

Re: HELP! Adjusting engine hieght.

From the 1st. pic that wedge that was between the boat and your motor seems to be making the motor to be "trimmed" way under, this is alright if you want to get it up on "plane" quickly, but the down side is that your boat would almost surely be "plowing" not a good idea. In that picture there are 2 wires that can be seen coming out of the engine (just below the lower cowl) are these wires for the power trim and tilt, if so does this function work on the engine. The last picture shows the engine sitting on the transom minus that shim correct, you say that the "tilt pin" is in the most bottom hole, but your engine seems to be tilting out. If you were to put a "straight edge on the bottom of your boat and pull it back until it is beside the motor you should see if that the cavitation plate on your engine is parallel to the straight edge, if it is you are at the "optimum" position which is a good starting point. Now back to those two wires, if they are for your power trim and tilt that works then thats even better because you can take that tilt pin out put it in your tool box. Your motor will lower itself so that it is resting on the rods coming out of you p t/t cylinders at which time you can trim you motor up to your hearts content depending on what you care to do. Use that straight method at first to see how your engine is trimmed.
Bailey

 

[parrisw]

Re: HELP! Adjusting engine hieght.

Ok thanks guys for the replies. The duty of this boat is a Lake ski boat, with a little fishing thrown in.

Yes the Power trim and tilt works. So that pin that the motor rests on at full bottom doesn't have to be there?

That said, I just got back from the lake, did some tubing with the kids, and yes its better in the turns. But I get a good amount of prop slip when taking off out of the hole if I punch it to full throttle, so I got to go easy, how can I get rid of that? Would those hydrofoil fins help?

Thanks again everybody for the help!!

 

[mikesea]

Re: HELP! Adjusting engine hieght.

Take the pin out,it could be preventing the eng.to bottom out,when pulling skiis etc.you want it down far as possible ,once on plane ,then trim out and do your turns,if your still having problems,you can try the hydrofoil things,but they usually help prevent the porposing,ARE you porposing?which is the boat going up and down as you run?if so it continues ,and you cavitatate on turns,you may need to go lower on the eng if possible,though it looks like your already down,in fact the cavitation plate is well below the hull,usually its even,so,perhaps the person that put the shims in ,did all the experiments already.I do think they were pretty radical though,surely they didnt need to be that large.I am curious,what is the length of the boat and the max HP if the plate is still there?As for the prop slip you mention ,exactly what is happining?does the boat seem to labor hard,bow wanting to stay up ,Or does it jump out and get on plane quickly,Im almost thinking you have alot of power,and might not need to punch it as hard,if the boat is having a hard time getting out of the hole ,bow wanting to stay up,you may need to have a smaller prop,if its jumping out real quick,yanking the skiier with too much power ,then you may need more prop.Do you have a tach,if so what are you turning at wide open throttle,while using the boat how you NORMALLY do?if you are primarily skiing,you may need to set it up different than if your going fishing or cruising,glad your making positve changes

 

[parrisw]

Re: HELP! Adjusting engine hieght.

Take the pin out,it could be preventing the eng.to bottom out,when pulling skiis etc.you want it down far as possible ,once on plane ,then trim out and do your turns,if your still having problems,you can try the hydrofoil things,but they usually help prevent the porposing,ARE you porposing?which is the boat going up and down as you run?if so it continues ,and you cavitatate on turns,you may need to go lower on the eng if possible,though it looks like your already down,in fact the cavitation plate is well below the hull,usually its even,so,perhaps the person that put the shims in ,did all the experiments already.I do think they were pretty radical though,surely they didnt need to be that large.I am curious,what is the length of the boat and the max HP if the plate is still there?As for the prop slip you mention ,exactly what is happining?does the boat seem to labor hard,bow wanting to stay up ,Or does it jump out and get on plane quickly,Im almost thinking you have alot of power,and might not need to punch it as hard,if the boat is having a hard time getting out of the hole ,bow wanting to stay up,you may need to have a smaller prop,if its jumping out real quick,yanking the skiier with too much power ,then you may need more prop.Do you have a tach,if so what are you turning at wide open throttle,while using the boat how you NORMALLY do?if you are primarily skiing,you may need to set it up different than if your going fishing or cruising,glad your making positve changes

Ok, I'll try to answer everything. No it doesn't propose, only once on the way back to the ramp after I hit a good wave it did about 3 porpose's. Then engine cant go any lower. I never trimmed it up any more once I was on plane, it felt good for tubing ect. The boat is 16 or17' not sure LOL, the build plate is nowhere to be found unless I'm not looking in the right spot, its a 1964-65 Johnson Tri-Hull, so I don't know max HP, but its a 1984 Johnson 115, it had a 13x19p on it before and the engine would never run up all the way, now I just put on a 13 3/8x17ss prop, and it likes that much more, very responsive with that prop. It doesn't labor at all to get up on plane, it jumps out very quickly at about 1/2-3/4 throttle. I didn't take the boat for a run yesterday without the tube on, with 2 people in it, I hit a short burst of full throttle and saw about 5300-5400rpm on the tach, so I'm sure without a tube and get it trimmed right it'll hit 55-5600rpm easy. I would like to get it setup for skiing then leave it that way, I don't fish allot with it, and when I do I usually have the kicker on it for that.

So its not hard on anything to take that pin out and let the motor all the way down on the rams?

Thanks

Will

 

[bailey]

Re: HELP! Adjusting engine hieght.

Parrisw, to answer your very last question, no you won't damage your power t/t,chances are that when you trim your motor out you're engine is probably off that pin anyways. Just an aside trim your motor so that that cavitation is parallel to the bottom of the boat,now check to see if you think the motor is to deep with relation to the boats bottom.
Bailey

 

[parrisw]

Re: HELP! Adjusting engine hieght.

Parrisw, to answer your very last question, no you won't damage your power t/t,chances are that when you trim your motor out you're engine is probably off that pin anyways. Just an aside trim your motor so that that cavitation is parallel to the bottom of the boat,now check to see if you think the motor is to deep with relation to the boats bottom.
Bailey

Thanks!

 

[bailey]

Re: HELP! Adjusting engine hieght.

Parrisw, when looking at your picture in the first post your engine is not sitting on the top of your transom, (nothing wrong with that),now when looking at the other pictures (after you removed the "shim") it looks like the engine is now resting on the transom,(about a 1-1/2" drop) When you removed that "shim" did you also lower the engine?,or is it an optical illusion?
Bailey

 

[Fl_Richard]

Re: HELP! Adjusting engine hieght.

Take the pin out It's in the first hole, zero is an option.

 

[mikesea]

Re: HELP! Adjusting engine hieght.

That must be a fast little boat,I dont think there was a 115 in mid 60's .most in that range had 40 hp.Im just wondering if the hull design has complications due to the HP.The cavitation plate ideally would be even with the bottom of the boat.The transom hight of your boat looks to be about 15 inches and the 115 would be a 20 in engine.Im willing to bet now that the last guy ,had the eng so hi and did all the wedging etc.to make the cavitation plate and hull bottom work.Do a little research and see if you can find out the max hp rating for the boat,for a few reasons,It could get to a point that the boat starts to dance on the rear quarters of the hull ,that means its almost out of control.Also ,if its rated for a 40 or 50,you could have a weight problem .But,those older hulls were actually overbuilt.Whee am I going here.I dont really know.Im typing as I think.Kidding aside,I believe you have a 15 in transome,and a 20 inch eng.that is where the science starts to become an issue and the HP adds to it

 

[parrisw]

Re: HELP! Adjusting engine hieght.

Parrisw, when looking at your picture in the first post your engine is not sitting on the top of your transom, (nothing wrong with that),now when looking at the other pictures (after you removed the "shim") it looks like the engine is now resting on the transom,(about a 1-1/2" drop) When you removed that "shim" did you also lower the engine?,or is it an optical illusion?
Bailey

Yes I lowered the engine.

Take the pin out It's in the first hole, zero is an option.

Thanks I'll try it.

That must be a fast little boat,I dont think there was a 115 in mid 60's .most in that range had 40 hp.Im just wondering if the hull design has complications due to the HP.The cavitation plate ideally would be even with the bottom of the boat.The transom hight of your boat looks to be about 15 inches and the 115 would be a 20 in engine.Im willing to bet now that the last guy ,had the eng so hi and did all the wedging etc.to make the cavitation plate and hull bottom work.Do a little research and see if you can find out the max hp rating for the boat,for a few reasons,It could get to a point that the boat starts to dance on the rear quarters of the hull ,that means its almost out of control.Also ,if its rated for a 40 or 50,you could have a weight problem .But,those older hulls were actually overbuilt.Whee am I going here.I dont really know.Im typing as I think.Kidding aside,I believe you have a 15 in transome,and a 20 inch eng.that is where the science starts to become an issue and the HP adds to it

Ya the boat zips along pretty good, haven't had it above 40mph yet. Before with the engine up 1 hole from where it is now, the cavatation plate was level with the bottom of the boat. I'm pretty sure that they came with about 80hp motor, not sure.