Source of Boat Plowing Problem Discovered

Some of you might remember a month or so back I posted about problems with my boat plowing and refusing to get on plane after an additional 106# of batteries were placed in the back.

Last weekend, my buddy Ron joined me on the boat. He weighs around 200#. I placed him up front and flooded the livewell. In the main channel, I pushed the throttle all the way and we were on plane with good speed from the 50 HP Etec.

Yesterday, I fished alone. Before I left the house, I tossed 2-70# sand tubes in the front on my boat. I did the same thing, flooded the livewell and goosed it. It got up on plane and ran well.

I still may have a prop problem, so I am not totally out of the woods, but after these tests, it seems shifting the batteries forward is required, otherwise I will have to lug ballast or take Ron fishing all the time!

I just wanted to share my findings with the group.

Regards,

Joe Jiacinto

From a fellow E-tec er I would get back with your dealer and get the right prop on your boat. If the prop isn’t damaged they may just exchange it.
Are you sure the motor is all the way down when you are starting out?
I don’t know what you have it on but I got a 40 on a 16 ft lund pro angler and I have absolutely no problem getting up on plane even with 2 other fisherman and gear.
I have a 14×17 prop on it and gt 29 mph gps.
Thought I would throw my 2 cents in.

Chappy:

I may have some prop problems too, but I think the big problem here was the weight distribution.

I posted my story as a follow-up to a post I put on back a while ago; you may have missed it.

I run a lowe 1860 VPT. Basically, its and 18′ souped-up hill-billy cadillac jon boat (side console, live well, etc.)

To make a long story short, when I took delivery of the boat back in March, the dealer did an on the water test and felt the RPMs “were a little high” so we were going to change the prop. Other than that, she got up on plane fine and was hitting 35+ mph. Not bad for a mostly-flat bottomed boat.

Ok, so later on, I decided to get a big trolling motor. I like to river fish, so I got a 82# thrust motorguide with a 24V system. So, I needed 2 deep-cycle batteries.

The dealer insisted on putting them in the back, while I wanted them up front. He convinced me, so I went ahead with it. Oh, and then, since we added the extra weight, he feels that the boat should run just fine with the existing prop. No water test was done by them after this episode.

I proudly take my boat out on the river after the motor and batteries were installed, and guess what? She plows and opening up full throttle is a little more thrilling than most amusement park rides.

So, trust me, the motor is all the way down when we start (and still is) and she ran just fine before I added 106# of exta weight in the back on top of the gas tanks and cranking battery already back there.

This boat only weighs 690# unloaded. By adding weight to the front, the load is more balanced.

I hear ya, I may still need a prop, but I want to get a permanent tach installed and do it right this time-a different dealer . The prop is damaged…happened last weekend.

By the way, so far, I love my E-tec too.

Regards,

Joe Jiacinto