Trim, Tilt, I'm confused. How do I stop my boat from...

[catbones]

Hi everyone,

it is me again and I'm sorry for all the questions. I've also tried to keep this in another topic but since no one answered I thought maybe it was missed with the other topic chit chat.

my question is, last time I took the boat out it wasn't on the calm water of the canal but the Niagara river. Didn't have huge wakes going nor were the waves high... I think it said 1 foot or less.

anyways, I've got a 16 foot aluminum starcraft and it bounced a lot getting passed 13 mph. I'm sure I can go faster then that but I think something is wrong. Do you think my back stern is too heavy with motor, gas tank and battery? i think I can also make it better with moving the pin by the motor mount for the trim, am I correct? It is something I've researched.

any other suggestions what to do. Does aluminum boats sound like they are going to fall apart because you can hear the water hit the sides and front?

thanks again.

 

[Another retired guy]

Re: Trim, Tilt, I'm confused. How do I stop my boat from...

If the boat is porpoising then you need to move some weight forward and/or trim the motor DOWN a bit.
Don't worry about the boat falling apart - it won't!

 

[southkogs]

Re: Trim, Tilt, I'm confused. How do I stop my boat from...

Yes, a tinny'll bang at ya' some in rougher water. Usually it sounds worse than it really is. If you're a tiller drive, then yes there's probably too much weight in back when you're alone. If you've got a helm, I'm not sure what I would think just yet.

 

[catbones]

Re: Trim, Tilt, I'm confused. How do I stop my boat from...

Hi,

Thank you for your comments. I'm thinking my next experiment will be to move the gas tank behind the passenger rather then all the way in the back. I will also move the trim (I think) pin to the third hole... right now, it's on the last one. I've read that might do some difference since it will make the front cut through the water more. Don't want to do too much, since I don't want to lose speed either but I've seen other people with same type boat on the lake and well theirs wasn't going too crazy looked pretty smooth while i was bouncing in my seats with my wife and 3 kids pretty much sitting middle front.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Trim, Tilt, I'm confused. How do I stop my boat from...

Post a picture of your current boat and photos of the motor in the running position (out of water). Let us see the set up. My 16' Starcraft runs smooth w/o any bounce.

 

[southkogs]

Re: Trim, Tilt, I'm confused. How do I stop my boat from...

^^^^ I'm with Bob. Something doesn't sound quite right.

 

[catbones]

Re: Trim, Tilt, I'm confused. How do I stop my boat from...

Post a picture of your current boat and photos of the motor in the running position (out of water). Let us see the set up. My 16' Starcraft runs smooth w/o any bounce.

Sure, I will in a little bit. I'm thinking it's the trim from what I've googled, seems it should be on the third hole to keep the nose down a little bit rather then at the last one but I'll take pictures shortly and post them.

I appreciate your help.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Trim, Tilt, I'm confused. How do I stop my boat from...

if your motor pin is on the "last hole" and that is the hole farthest away from the transom, that's your problem. If it's the hole closest to the transom, you have weight problems.

 

[catbones]

Re: Trim, Tilt, I'm confused. How do I stop my boat from...

Hi,

Let me just post these pictures. As you can see, my pin is on the last hole like Home Cookin' stated, the far and last hole from the transom. Here is also another photo of the engine setup sitting on the transom.

Let me know, btw just ahead of things, how do I move that pin... do I pull it? turn it? sorry never done this before.

Thank you,

 

[TDuff]

Re: Trim, Tilt, I'm confused. How do I stop my boat from...

There should be a small blade-like piece at the other end of the pin, oriented 90 degrees to the pin. It would be located on the port side of the trim holes. Tilt the motor up so that the tilt lever arm is supporting the weight to remove this pin. The blade is kinda spring loaded, so just align that blade parallel to the orientation of the pin and the pin will slide out.

And yeah, as per your photo the trim is set way back. This will be pushing the stern down which results in the bow coming up. On my 14' I have the pin in the second hole closest to the transom. Experiment with the trim setting to see what works best in your boat. Also, distributing the weight further forward will help too.

 

[NYBo]

Re: Trim, Tilt, I'm confused. How do I stop my boat from...

It may be the angle of the picture, but in #2 the motor looks like it's mounted too low on the transom or the motor leg is too long.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Trim, Tilt, I'm confused. How do I stop my boat from...

You have two problems. 1) No weight in the front of the boat and 2) the motor is trimmed too far OUT. That forces the bow UP. Move the pin closer to the transom one hole at a time. With the pin closest to the transom the thrust from the motor would tend to push the bow down so the boat would plow through the water. You need to experiment with the setting. And just so you know, when you get more load in the boat it may need be set differently. That's the advantage of power trim.

 

[Part-time]

Re: Trim, Tilt, I'm confused. How do I stop my boat from...

Looks like your pin spent some time in the 2nd hole, I'd try it there.
And I was thinking the same as TDuff.. looks like a long shaft on a short transom.

 

[etracer68]

Re: Trim, Tilt, I'm confused. How do I stop my boat from...

I have to agree with above^, looks like someone at some point, put a long shaft lower unit on that motor. Theres the differance in color, and it looks to low. Look at the picture Part-Time put up, and then look at your set up.