I will ask you guys first?

[Badger_55]

hey I have 1999 alumacraft tournament pro 170 tiller with a 99 yamaha 60hp outboard 2stroke. Last year was the first year I had it and I had troubles getting it to plane out for me. I have thought about looking for a trade in and getting a little bigger outboard like a 70hp or 75hp but then I would be over the hp limit on my boat. I was planning on buying a stainless prop and putting that on, would that make a difference? Or would just a 4stroke at 60hp give me enough. I really don't want to trade in unless I know for sure that I will benefit me greatly and give me what I want. A little help here guys would be much appreciated. Might save me a few bucks.

Thanks

[Surface Tension]

Need a lot more information.

RPMs at WOT. Weight distribution and load. Current prop size. Trimming.

[Jim Almquist]

A 4 stroke will not help because you will lose the hole shot but gain on the top end. The most important thing is to have your motor trimmed all the down when taking off and then move it out to gain your speed. If you do not have a foot control for your trim it would be the best investment right now. ST might have nailed it on the prop size cause if someone swapped props for top end you will lose your hole shot. I think the standard for that motor is a 11x13 .

[marine_man]

 Originally Posted By: Badger_55

I had troubles getting it to plane out for me

Can you describe this better? You're not getting on plane, it takes a long time to get on plane, etc?

Surface Tension hit the nail on the head... going to need more information before a good guess can be put together.

marine_man

[MattL]

Last year I put a hydrofoil on my 115 Mercury 4-stroke, that is on an Alumacraft Tournament Pro 175. Soon after purchasing the package new a few years ago we realized the motor was a little underpowered for that boat contrary to what the salesman kept reassuring us. The hydrofoil helped get out of the hole alot quicker and increased the top end by a couple miles an hour. That is an option you could try if you haven't already.

[EXTREME]

I am with JimAlm on this one. If it runs fine once on plane than you have a prop issue. I would say no more than a 15 pitch on that boat....13 would probably be better. No real need for a stainless prop, just the right pitch will make all the difference.

[Badger_55]

yeah, I am not exactly sure what the pitch is on the prop. I believe it came stock with the motor. I don't ever remember planing out at all. I always did start out trimmed in the full down position. I can't remember my rpms but I guess I could only answer that one in a couple of months. Higher the pitch the better push out of the hole? It just seems like my bow is always so much higher even when I have a passenger up in front.

[PerchJerker]

 Originally Posted By: Badger_55

Higher the pitch the better push out of the hole?

No. The higher the pitch the less push out of the hole, but better speed on the top end as long as your motor can turn the prop.

If you can't get on plane and get the bow of the boat down, I'd say the likely culprits are:

1. prop pitch is too high and you're not getting enough rpms

2. motor is trimmed out too far

3. something's wrong with the motor and you're not getting full power

4. could be a hook in the hull preventing the boat from planing. A bad trailer set up could cause this. Check out the prop situatons first, but keep this in mind and maybe have alumacraft look at it. they can tweak the hull to improve how the boat runs if there is a problem.

Good luck getting it figured out.

[marine_man]

Before I would spend any money I would wait and get the performance information (prop pitch, rpm at wide open throttle trimmed out to running position, etc). It seems a bit odd that you can't get on plane with a 60 hp motor on a 17 fooot boat.

marine_man

[Surface Tension]

Trimmed in and won't get on plane, ever?

Its not your prop unless your grossly proped wrong or damaged.

Grossly overloaded in the stern.

Extreme drag on the engine? How about the lower unit oil? Is there any in there? Overheating, Bad drive shaft bearing? If any of these and you'll be dead in the water soon.

Could very well be you lost a cylinder. Pull the plugs and look for something wrong. Have a compression test done.

While your at it pull the prop and inspect it. Whats the dia and pitch

[EXTREME]

The pitch of the prop is located either next to the bolt that holds the prop on or on one of the fins. It will say something like 15x11...or 15t or something like that. If the boat is in your garage...check it out. Also, is the prop beat up??. My old man had a 50 yamaha 2 stroke on a 17 foot Lund and it snapped out of the hole just fine. Hopefully it is just a prop issue, I doubt it has anything to do with your boat.

[Badger_55]

I can't recall the rpms exactly from last year but I believe they were up every time in the range that I would expect. I may have had it trimmed out too far, not used to the whole trimmin thing since last year was my first year upgrading since the ol 15hp johnson. I will check to prop pitch. I remember checking the lower unit oil level and it was fine every time. The had done a compression test on the motor that spring and they said everything tested out fine. only 1 out of my 3 batts are in the stern with a backtroller trolling motor otherwise everything else is balanced out. I was planning on bringing it into the implement and having them tune it up prior to open water n I guess we will see what they say.

[Jim Almquist]

Badger_55 after reading all the post you may have been doing things right for the most part but there is somethings else you may want to check. There is a bar or rod that will stop your motor when you lower it and there is usually 4 or 5 positions that this rod can be in and yours might be at the bottom and it not allowing your motor to go down far enough to get maximum push and if that is the case just move it so that your motor can drop even further and when you get on plane you can move it out to get max RPMs. When your motor is in the right position it will look more like / in comparison to the back of the boat. Check it out and let us know.

[marine_man]

I don't think a yamaha 60hp usually has a trim stop rod.

 Originally Posted By: Badger_55

I can't recall the rpms exactly from last year but I believe they were up every time in the range that I would expect.

What range would you expect? Top end RPM on that motor is right around 5500 RPM, and you would want to be near 5500 to get the best performance.

Also, for the most effective hole shot, make sure you trim the motor all the way down before taking off. That gives you the motor the best leverage and will give you the best possible hole shot and chance at getting on plane.

Once you're on plane, start trimming the motor up, just until it starts to porpise. Then trim back down until the porposing goes away.

You are now running at the most efficient trim location on your motor that will give you the best performance & fuel mileage.

marine_man

[blarkey]

what would cause it to do this now maybe you could shift some weight around from the back. Or maybe you just need to give it a tune up.

[Badger_55]

I believe there is a rod back there for that but I don't think it is adjustable. I can't remember for sure so I will have to take a peek.

thanks guys

[Badger_55]

my prop pitch says it is a 13k. Do you think I should try out a different size there. I am bringin my rig in here this week to get it tuned so maybe that is all she will need?

[marine_man]

A 13 ought to be sufficient to get your boat on plane...

marine_man