Maxum SR 1800 wandering at low speed

[stresspoint]

this has probably been covered at some point . however ,search is not showing any info , so feel free to direct me to a link if anyone has a solved thread. .

the Maxum boat is relatively new to me being that was a full blown project so i have only had it out a few times , mostly cruise speed or flat out , today we went for a river cruise where the speed limit restricts anything over 8 knots.

at between 5 and 15 MPH or around 1000 to 1500 RPM ( 4.3 250 hp Vortec alpha 1 gen 2) the boat tracks weird .
it seems to have a mind of its own is the best description i can put . , it seems that i am continually correcting the track to keep it going on a strait heading . most annoying to say the least .
now here is the weird part , if i let the steering wheel go it will track one side to the other ( like the boat is drunk ) , but the boat will go on a reasonably strait heading , not ideal since it is about 10 to 15 foot side to side..

any ideas on how to stop my boat drunk driving will be appreciated "" thanks"".

 

[Scott Danforth]

all V-hull boats with a single prop wander at slow speeds

google v-hull wander. been covered a few hundred times on i-boats alone and there is nothing you can do except try not to correct.

when you try to correct, it actually gets worse.

 

[stresspoint]

thank you for the reply Scott , i will do the search , yes and that is exactly what it does , the more i try to alter the steering the worse it gets .
that is why i experimented and let it do its own thing letting the steering wheel go , it still seems excessive to me ,looks like maybe its just something i need to get accustomed too, being that this is my first IO stern drive .

i tried trim up , trim down , made no difference .even tried shifting weight around.

 

[airshot]

Your is no different from everyone elses, just something you learn to live with !!

 

[Scott06]

typical v hull wander, biggest thing is to resist the urge to over correct. I'm sure other hulls may be different but if you put very small corrections in the steering wheel you can basically work around it. Of course it took me a couple seasons to figure that out...

 

[Scott Danforth]

thank you for the reply Scott , i will do the search , yes and that is exactly what it does , the more i try to alter the steering the worse it gets .
that is why i experimented and let it do its own thing letting the steering wheel go , it still seems excessive to me ,looks like maybe its just something i need to get accustomed too, being that this is my first IO stern drive .

i tried trim up , trim down , made no difference .even tried shifting weight around.

Three ways to get around it

first, counter-rotating props like a VP DuoProp or a Bravo 3
second, twins
third, dont go slow

as a single propeller spins, there is the forward thrust from the prop pitch and the side thrust from the rotary movement of the prop turning and pushing on the water. this pushes the back of the boat over until the forces on the keel are such that the boat corrects itself and the cycle starts over

my solution on the SeaRay was to drop the tabs and lower my planing speed to about 12mph or drop to idle and creep along at 3-4 mph or just throttle up

 

[stresspoint]

interesting read " V hull wander" so yea , PIA it is , but looks like i just have to live with it or let the missus drive while i kick back .

i must have been lucky with all my other deep V single outboard hulls as i never encountered this before ..

thanks for the responses guys , i learned something new today

 

[Scott06]

interesting read " V hull wander" so yea , PIA it is , but looks like i just have to live with it or let the missus drive while i kick back .

i must have been lucky with all my other deep V single outboard hulls as i never encountered this before ..

thanks for the responses guys , i learned something new today

I had same experience- my old '91 Sea Ray 170 had none of it, my 2004 Sea ray 200 sport has brutal wander.

 

[Bondo]

thank you for the reply Scott , i will do the search , yes and that is exactly what it does , the more i try to alter the steering the worse it gets .
that is why i experimented and let it do its own thing letting the steering wheel go , it still seems excessive to me ,looks like maybe its just something i need to get accustomed too, being that this is my first IO stern drive .

i tried trim up , trim down , made no difference .even tried shifting weight around.

Ayuh,..... It's what V-hulls do,.....

It only matters, at a dock, or gettin' on the wagon,.....

 

[Stinnett21]

Nauticus Smart Tabs will eliminate a good bit of it for not much money and have other benefits also. There are tons of threads on this site addressing smart tabs. Generally very positive results for inland boaters.

 

[stresspoint]

Ayuh,..... It's what V-hulls do,.....

It only matters, at a dock, or gettin' on the wagon,.....

ha ha , and using this boat on that river with that 8 knot limit , it does settle a bit when creeping 1_ 2 mph but then the current in the water causes another problem ,like going backward when i want to go forward in some areas ..

it all goes away totally if i throttle up ,plane the boat out then slowly back off till just before the boat drops down ,with trim full down position , problem there is that 8 knot limit again , boat is doing 17 mph
.
the good thing is the missus likes to drive ,so we might just have a compromise.