I think my boat needs an alignment?

[yellowsubmarine]

Seriously, I wish it were that simple. I've got an Alumacraft trophy 190 that won't go straight. I've checked the skeg on the motor and it is not bent. The kicker does not drag in the water. It pulls HARD to the right. I've adjusted the tab on the motor (can't remember exactly what it's called), but no matter what position I put it in it still pulls to the right. I'm not talking about just a little bit either. If I let go of the wheel, it turns about 60 degrees I'd guess. My arms are getting pretty tired of holding that thing straight going across the bigger lakes. I also have a rooster tail coming up off the right side. There is a pretty good size dent in the hull on the right side right at the back of the boat. I assume this is where the rooster tail is coming from as there is nothing else hanging down on that side of the boat. Obviously my next step is to get that dent out, but could this be the sole cause of it pulling THAT much. I'm sure it's a factor, but what else should I look for? Any issues with the prop or maybe the steering itself? Anyone else ever experience this type of thing? Thanks in advance for any input.

[Guest]

Anything that casues drag could do it. If the dent is big enough, it's probably the cause.

[Chris Haley]

Yellow

Try adjusting the little fin above the prop counterclockwise a little. It should have a tightning bolt on top of the lower unit.

[yellowsubmarine]

Thanks for the replys.

Chris,
That fin you speak of was the tab I mentioned in my original post. Like I said, no matter how I adjust it, same thing. Whatever is causing this problem is strong enough to "override" this. Any other thoughts? Thanks.

[Chris Haley]

Does it get better when you trim your motor up??

[yellowsubmarine]

Chris,
I don't recall, guess I don't run much with it way up. When I get that shallow I'm paying more attention to not putting another dent in it . I'm going to go pull it out of storage tomorrow and I'll check. I'm curious as to what your getting at though. What do you have in mind?

Thanks.

[metro 1]

You might want to try trimming it out different. If your motor has tilt/trim it's easy , without that try moving the pin down and see if that helps. Another thing , try raising the whole motor on the transom.3/4"at a time.I have a bigger motor and when I want the speed I trim up but it's difficult to hang on to (really pulling )but when the trim is down you can let go of the wheel.You can look at "I boat dot com" there is everthing you would need for advice.Metro

[yellowsubmarine]

Metro,
Thanks for the reply, I'm curious as to how the changes you mention would affect the boat pulling to one side or the other. What should I be looking for.

[92python]

Try adjusting the trim.

My tiller boat pulls hard to starboard when trimmed down all the way. Not at all when trimmed up a bit.

[Chris Haley]

For your best hole shot (getting up and going) you want your motor trimmed down. Once on plane, your want to trim your motor up for optimum performance. If you leave it trimmed down it is hard to handle on plane.

[Chris Haley]

Once on plane you want to trim to the point where it starts to hop up and down, than back down a hair. You will hear the rpms go up as you trim up also. This happens because you are not pushing as much water and the prop can turn easier.

[yellowsubmarine]

OK, Thanks again guys. I misunderstood you on the trim thing. And yes, it still acts this way when trimmed out for running. I thought you were asking if it did it with it trimmed way up for sneaking thru the shallows. Any other thoughts? I should also mention that speed seems to have zero impact. It pulls wide open and pulls at idle.

[WallEYES]

Y/S
Fix the dent.

[Fisher Dave]

The dent can cause the pulling ... Are any of the ribs bent? Is your transom torqueing at an angle when your under power?

The hull could also be twisted.

The only other thing I can think of that has not been mentioned is the motor could be off center?

[metro 1]

I might have confused you when I said "when the trim is down" what I mean by that is I trim it down until I fell no resistance on the wheel. not necessarily all the way down. The performance drops but on long boat rides I think it's worth the comfort . the power trim is nice because very small changes make a big difference in handling,speed,rpm's,steering,fuel usage,hole shot and power and all around performance. What size motor are we talking about? Metro

[yellowsubmarine]

It is a 115 Evinrude with power trim. The motor is centered. The ribs are not bent, but the dent is all the way back, and pretty good sized. I've got to get off line now, but really appreciate all the responses from all of you. I'm getting the boat out this weekend finally. I'll keep playing with it and get that dent pulled out. If that doesn't cure it, I'll be back with more. Thanks again everyone, and have a great weekend.

[Fishing Junky]

The little fin you refer to is the trimtab. If your boat pulls to the right, move the tab to the right. (looking at it from behind the motor.) It's possible that you are not trimming up enough when on plane, causing the boat to plow water and putting more torque on the prop. If you plane up, and this still happens, I bet the dent is your problem. Good luck with it. Junky.........

------------------
A fishing guide is just a fishing junky who takes others with him to support his habit.

[monticello coach]

I have the same problem but mine doesn't happen all the time.No dents,empty live well, can't figure it out either.

[Fishbitten]

If your set-up was good prior to the dent it's the dent simple as that. If you changed the motor at any point, my guess would be engine hieght I had an old 14' runabout that I had to add 11,2" to the transom to get it right. With the trim setting and trim tab if all is right you should be able to eliminate almost all the prop torque.

[yellowsubmarine]

Good morning all,

What a nice day to be on the water. Much to my surprise, the boat went straight! It was in the trim. It amazes me that all the time I spent last year playing with the trim and watching the GPS trying to find the maximum speed I didn't notice this. The dent isn't nearly as bad as I remember it being. Now for my next question. This boat is identical to my dads. The only thing that differs between them is the motor mount. My dads motor measures about a half inch higher from the bottom of the hull to the bottom of the mount. His goes straight to matter where it is trimmd. Is this something I should be looking at? How does this affect it? I guess I don't understand what is causing this drag as the motor moves up and down. Thanks for any further advice you may have.

[metro 1]

Just wondering did you trim it up or down more? I know that when I trim my boat down (or not as much up) and get more motor in the water it handles like a dream.I loose about 4 or 5 mph. from 50+to 45/46.and as far as the fuel economy "it's a boat a big boat " ... metro

[yellowsubmarine]

metro1,

The problem went away when the motor was about half way between all the way down and where I get my max speed.

[fiskyknut]

Hey man, your boat sure rode good on our 20 mile trip across big traverse in those 5 footers last summer!

Check your email, sent you some pics of yesterdays Pike fishing.

Fisky