Stopping the bow from bouncing

[belairbrian]

Boat: 2010 Bass tracker pro16. #) Hp Merc 4 stroke.

Picked this one up recently. and overall works great. I spend most of my time checking catfish jugs and trolling the shoreline. But do occasionally go to plane. With me and my son we have about 400 lbs of people.

Once on plane it runs around 27mph GPS. 5300 rpms but at WOT the nose starts bouncing. I can pull back to mid 4000 rpm range and settle it down. Motor is trimmed all the way down.

I think part of the problem is having the 6.6 gal gas tank, starter battery and trolling battery all at the rear (factory configuration).

I made it a little better by filling the livewell. But still some bounce. I was thinking of relocating the trolling motor battery to the forward compartment under the forward fishing seat. Not much else I can shift forward.

Anyone think of any other Ideas short of trim tabs?

 

[jayhanig]

Re: Stopping the bow from bouncing

You say this happens with the trim down full. Have you tried raising it a little? Before you start moving things and spending money on possible solutions?

 

[belairbrian]

Re: Stopping the bow from bouncing

Raising the motor just makes it worse. Which is pretty normal and what leads me to believe the balance is off.

 

[Watermann]

Re: Stopping the bow from bouncing

Porpoising is usually from the motor being trimmed to high and or a combination of too much weight in the stern area. Also check out your thrust bar and see what hole setting it's in, if it's not all the way down in the lowest holes, try that and see what happens.

 

[metriccrescentwrench]

Re: Stopping the bow from bouncing

Good suggestions so far. One other thing to try that's free and easy, when you're out with a passenger have them move forward and see if that makes a difference.

 

[j emerson]

Re: Stopping the bow from bouncing

Good suggestions so far. One other thing to try that's free and easy, when you're out with a passenger have them move forward and see if that makes a difference.

I just went through this with tracker last week. my 2014 pro 160 would porpoise badly above 22 mph or 4500 rpm. this was if by myself or with two of us on board. they had a welder weld a ten inch long ,one eighth inch bead on the bottom of the transom at each side. I know it sounds crazy, I did not believe it could work, but it did. now i can run wide open with no bounce. The boat handles better. rides higher in the water, and feels like a completely different boat. hope this helps.

 

[greenbush future]

Re: Stopping the bow from bouncing

I just went through this with tracker last week. my 2014 pro 160 would porpoise badly above 22 mph or 4500 rpm. this was if by myself or with two of us on board. they had a welder weld a ten inch long ,one eighth inch bead on the bottom of the transom at each side. I know it sounds crazy, I did not believe it could work, but it did. now i can run wide open with no bounce. The boat handles better. rides higher in the water, and feels like a completely different boat. hope this helps.

I think you're basically saying the motor was a bit low in the water and this raised it up a bit and made a big difference? If that's correct I would add a small spacer to the original posters outboard unit instead of welding the boat to "see" if it works. Then if it does work, you can consider permanent solutions. Many times it can be as simple as moving the weight around in the boat to get the desired ride. 400 lbs in the back of a Tracker is on the heavy side if most of it is right in front of the outboard.

 

[belairbrian]

Re: Stopping the bow from bouncing

I think J emerson essentially added 2 small fixed trim tabs. They are going to lift the entire boat. On the downside tracker could deny warranty if there is an issue in that area.

The 400 lbs are not directly in front of the motor. more like 5 feet forward.

This hull has been around a long time but only recently with the extra weight of 4 stroke motors. Also they seem to move stuff around. I noticed on one at Bass Pro that the livewell has been moved to the right in front of the console and an opening for storage under the front deck added.