Planing boards-- do they work on smaller boats are they worth it?

[Crawlerman]

I've seen planing fins on larger spped/pleasure craft mostly-- for those who want the extra "kick" for towing skiers. I've seen a model advertized on Cabelas that says it works on smaller outboards as well.

Heres the thing: I have a 14' Lund Deep V (the red/silver one with floorboards) and a 20 hp Johnson tiller. The thing flies once I get it to plane off; But it takes FOREVER to do so with one person unless I have a strong head wind. Manually adusting the tilt down keeps the front a little lower to the water so I can see over the front-- but it doesn't plane off much faster. I was wondering if those fins/plate would help or not? I guess the only other thing I haven't tried is to throw a bag of rocksalt in the front of the boat; altough that leaves less space for gear.

[Uncle Grump]

Crawlerman

I wouldn't mind hearing the answer to your question myself - wondered that for sometime too.

My boat and motor are slightly bigger than yours, 16'/30hp. The previous owner had the gas tank moved up into the bow, and then extended the gasline back to the motor. I have a 6 gal. tank, to that moves about 40#
upfront, and clears some (flat) floor space in the rear to boot. I left it (tank) there and I can't complain about the arrangement.

I am on the pudgy side, and my boat comes up on plane pretty well, even when I am in the boat by myself.

Hope this helps....

UG

[Crawlerman]

The gas tank has it's own little place beneath the seat-- so the only thing in the very back of the boat is the starter battery; I can freely move around in the case I need to put my feet there to start it manually. The other thing I might do is eventually get a bow mounted trolling motor as there is a board up front for putting the battery on and a partial top board where the anchor mate currently sits. Maybe I'll try the salt-- or better yet look into getting a livewell up there. We'll see

[Jitterbug]

Crawlerman, My answer is yes, hydrofoil (a.k.a. fins or plates) will make a big difference. I have a 14 foot boat with a 20 hp motor. Before I installed the hydrofoil the boat would not plane unless I was going wide open, however, after I installed the hydrofoil I can start slow and actually "feel" the fins of the hydrofoil lift the back end of the boat, or put another way, I can "feel" the front end of the boat drop. This is without weight in the bow of the boat. I started using a 70lb. tube of sand placed in the front of the boat to level the boat and this has some what of the same effect as the hydrofoil. So does having a passenger in the bow of the boat.

Hope this helps, Jbug

[#Boater#]

Crawlerman;
I baught a 1448 Crestliner Jon this spring. I then had to find a good motor. I found a 25 Merc with dolfin allready installed. This is my first boat and am really pleased with how it comes out of the water and planes within about 4-5 seconds. I dont have a lot of small boating experience but it really works nice. the one concern I do have is when it gets up to speed, it feels like it wants to dive in just a little bit. I tried adjusting the trim but it rides best where its at. It could be that its a Jon and thats how they ride with no v in the front. Good luck.

[Crawlerman]

Ordered the 'foil off Cabelas today. 25 on a Jon, eh? I didn't think they were rated for motors that big. Just don't want to hit a big wave when your planed off I suppose... Unless it's Fiberglass?

[minneman]

Crawlerman, I have a 35 merc on ws 16 lund, an early rebel, I put a dolfin on it to try the samething in planing out, it didnt help much with the planing atall, what did help is i switched down one size pitch on the prop, from 13 to 11, and problem solved, I did loose a couple mph on top end but I can get the same results now with 2 people in the boat, I would check in to a prop.

[Crawlerman]

Nah.. I just bought a new prop since the old one was dinged up(it's a 13 though-- what the guy recomended) Easier to steer and handles better at slower speeds now whereas before it would be really jerky and like to die on me. The planing board is a lot cheaper than another prop; altough I am kinda disqusted I could have gotten the same prop from Cabelas for $30 cheaper... ah well. I'll have to see. I've found out rocking back and forth while sitting on the edge of the drivers seat helps it plane off better too. I guess any little thing will help.

[#Boater#]

Crawlerman
Actually the very same model I have in the 2002 model is rated for a 30. I wouldn't want anything smaller. I certainly allways slow a bit for the big ones cuz I allways get soaked which is ok now but might pose a problem in october. LOL....

[Crawlerman]

I don't know.. the 20 pushes her pretty good.. and I don't think there is a BIG differance between a 20 and a 30.. but you might be able to plane off quicker without the fins-- that'd be the only thing I can think of. Once she's planed she skips across the water pretty good. I'd be nervous personally of getting her any faster-- as I allreasy have to take pretty wide turns at full or I fear flipping it

I think anything between 15 and 30 would work just fine-- which is why I got the 20 because it was in the middle of that.

And PS-- this one's rated for 35.. wonder why they changed that... I've heard of people slapping 40 and 50's on them but I think that'd be a tad overkill... and really freaky.. just like I think those 17' Ranger bassboats with the 150-225 hp outboards are insane! I want to be fishing, not NAscar racing! And personally for 90% of the lakes in the metro area and surrounding a 20 HP still gets you across the lake almost as fast as the guy in the Ranger. Getting a boat like that up to 30-35 mph feels like your doing 45 or 50... and I could care less. It takes 30 seconds longer to cross the lake? Puwah.. I'm also burning less gas then mr Fancy and his Ranger too

[Crawlerman]

Got the hydrofoil in the mail the other day and mounted it today-- taking her out to Crystal just to cruise mostly. It makes a 100% differance with planing.. before it tool me out to the first point before I could even hope to plane off. Now it takes about the same amount of time as it would if I had a 2nd person in the front. One other thing is it takes turns a LOT nicer and eaiser.. a lot less straining on the arm. The only thing I seem to notice is there seems to be a slight decrease in max speed-- but it still goes fast enough for my purposes.. and handles a lot better at higher speeds. The only thing I'm kinda mad about is I should have shopped around. Fleet Farm had hydrofoil fins for half of what I payed at Cabelas.. oh well...