Boat Pulls to the Left

[prewar70]

I have a 17 Lund Fisherman with a 115 Suzuki. Seems like the boat always wants to steer to the left and stiffly too until I get it perfectly trimmed but I don't always run it at full throttle and trimmed. Even then there is still a slight pull to the left. I noticed above the prop there is a small "keel" for lack of a better term and it is angling to the left as you look at it from the rear of the boat. Your help is appreciated.

[Jim Almquist]

I don"t remember what it is called but I am thinking it is called a keel but I have always been told that is made to keep your running in circles around you if you should fall out of the boat. It should be adjustable but you will want to have a little pull to the left just for that reason. On my tiller I feel no pull at all but it will go left if it is left alone.

[BoxMN]

I am pretty sure it is a sacrificial torque tab. You can adjust this to make the steering easier due to the torque Prewar70 is talking about. If I recall, you want to slightly cock it in the way away from where you feel the torque. But honestly I can't recall, as we haven't used one on our current motor (150hp) in about 10 years. One or 90hp we did have to adjust it to help ease the torque at speed.

Just a little bit of adjustment make all the difference in the world. Someone will be able to tell you which way to turn it to "ease your pain"

[LMITOUT]

The keel you speak of is called a trim tab. Since the boat pulls to the left you could try moving the trim tab to the left even more than it already is. You want to turn the tab the same direction the boat is pulling.

I like to use a Sharpie to mark the current position of the tab so you know where you started prior to making the slight adjustments. It doesn't take to much of a change to get results so don't turn it too far at once. 1/8 to 1/4" would be plenty to start with.

[Finns]

What Lmitout said!

[boatfixer]

Yep, because the clockwise rotation of the prop, it acts like a paddle wheel. The trim tab should be adjusted to counter this affect. In your case, it is "over adjusted". Do as the others have suggested and move slightly to the left until the pull is gone.

Jim, If you fall out of the boat, it should die because you have your lanyard connected to you, RIGHT?!!! . Personally if I fall out of a boat, I want it to run away or die, not circle me like shark!

[Mid-Lake Rock]

Just had this problem with a buddy's Suzuki. The tab came from the factory at the 12 o'clock position. We adjusted and the boat steers much better.

[Jim Almquist]

Quote:

Jim, If you fall out of the boat, it should die because you have your lanyard connected to you

I thought that was the thing to keep my key from falling in the lake

At least now I know what a trim tab is a what its real use is. You learn something new every day.

[davesfriend]

Circle like a shark, that's funny. I never really thought of that before. If that were to happen, do you wait till she runs out of gas? I can not think of any way to board a circuling boat. I think I need to find a 15 foot lanyard so I can start using it.. Kinda tuff to run lines with a 3 foot lanyard..