boat/motor and hole shot question

Let me summarize the problem a bit. I have a 1985 skeeter rated for a 120HP. It has a 2001 Yamaha 115 4 stroke on it. The main problem seems to be hole shot (or lack there of) The only way I can get out of the hole is to have my passenger move towards the bow until it starts to plane out. I did take a test drive before I bought this boat and it planed out just fine. The only thing I have done was fill it will gas (when we test drove it there was only 1 gallon or 2 in the tank.) I assumed right away it was a prop problem. I have been talking to a few people and they have brought up the issue that my motor might be mounted to high or to low. Could this be a problem?

I have also been on the water and people have suggested to me to check my drain plug because it looks like I am sinking. (meaning the back end is in the water so far.) Is the motor to heavy for this boat? 25 years a go it was rated for a 120 HP, my motor now weighs about 402 pounds (according to the manual). Could this be to much weight?

My main concern is I do not want to put a ton of money into it by bring it to the shop until I exhausted everything I can do myself or atleast narrowed down some of the problems. Make sense right?

If anyone has some expertise in this area or knows someone that will not charge me a couple hundred to just give me an idea on what the problem is or if there even is a problem, please let me know.

I know I will get a lot of suggestions for you guys, and I thank you in advance

John

I put a jack plate on my boat. 17′ Ranger/ 125 Merc. It really helped my hole shot, and top speed as well. It did however cost $225.00

-Al

I have been told to do that too. The price really doesn’t scare me but the fact that I would have to have a dealer do it does Labor costs… Did you have any problem with your boat sitting really low in the water? If so did that help?

What I might have to do is get some pictures of the boat in the water and maybe that will be more descriptive.

Thanks for the suggestion. Keep them coming

No, I did’nt have a problem with the boat sitting low in the water. I put the 6″ jack plat on to enhance the performance, and get the prop to run higher in the water. My top end speed went up 4-5 MPH, and 300-400 RPM. It don’t seem like much, but it made a big difference. As far a the labor, im guessing it will run you about $150-250 for the labor.

Good luck, I hope ya find the answer your looking for.

-AL

johnl

If you test drove it berfore and it got out of the hole fime then something has changed. I guess I would start by going through the fuel supply. Filters and the such. If you changed the prop to a higher pitch to get the speed/rpms up then that could be your problem. The higher the piich the worse your hole shot too.
If you can check your timing.
About all I can think of at this time.
Good luck

Buy a stingray xp stabilizer pg 70 bass pro marine catalog or see Jolly Marine. This will help you for around $50.00.

Thanks Chappy – I haven’t touched the prop yet, and I was planning on going down a pitch, but I have been waiting to see if I get any answers before I invest the 300 for a new prop.

Like I said the only thing I have changed was added about 15 gallons of gas. I test drove it one day last July ran fine tried 3 days later (after filling the tank) No hole shot. And still haven’t had one since then. I have refilled the tank 3 times or so since then with the same results.

Thanks for the advice. I am compiling a list

I’ve seen this happen before.

Buddy of mine bought a Triton with a 150 Merc.

The first time out, she ran 65mph

The next week (after he rigged it all up with the bells and whistles, it dropped to 55mph. He played with props for a while, and here to find out, he had lost a cylinder, due to a bad plug. Fixed it and he jumped back up to a fully loaded 60mph.

Point is…………Make sure your motor is running at the performance it should be running.

New motors out of the box, don’t always run “perfect”. It doesn’t take much to suck out the “torque” that a motor should be generating.

Now you really got me thinking………….

This is a 4 stroke, right.

Do this:
1: Check your plugs.
2: Put a timing light on it. Put the timing light on all 4 wires, to ensure that you have spark coming through each plug wire.

You said that you lost power after you refilled, Did you get bad gas? I understand that you have new gas into since then, but did they fowl out your plugs? Plugs, when warm or at idle or low stress will work perfect. However, when under load, they will shut down.

As Chappy said, check your fuel filter.

4 strokes (IMO) are much easier to work on than 2 strokes. The ignition and fuel systems (to me) are much more user friendly and easier to maintain. If there is a problem, you will find it.

Again, there is an old statement………..
“You can have a ‘bazillion’ horses, but if you don’t have any torque, you can’t climb over an ant hill”.

It appears that you have lost some torque to get that boat moving. Check your fuel and ignition before you dump money into props and other gizmo-gadgets……….

I just wanted to say I was with John on Sat in his boat. Right off the trailer the boats bow sits way up with the transon barely above water. In order to get out of the hole, I had to lean forward at first. Then later on I had to get way up on the bow. The water also really washes over the transom and in return fills the boat with water. John then has to run the bilge pump quite a bit in order to get the water to a tolerable level. It is the weirdest thing I have seen. It almost seems like the motor is mounted either too high or too low. On takeoff, the back end really digs. This I think would make it very hard to plane out.

ODD!!!!!!!!

Can you put weight up front? Via batteries? empty out the back compartments?

Sounds like it is just too much weight for the rig.

John did have an idea about putting a sandbag toward the front to see if that would help balance things out. Do you guys think it is worth a shot?

One other thing I just thought of is make sure your motor is getting all the way down

JohnL check your email. I have the motor on a Lund and it pops right up. Do you know what your prop is and rpms at WOT?

KLH

Hey guys thanks for all the info. I am going to respond to them all in one

First Gary – Yup it is a 4-stroke and I am going to check the plugs and put a timing light on the wires. Very good ideas. I also thought that the weight distribution might be off, but the problem is I cannot move the batteries to the front or remove them from the back and the only other weight in the back end is the gas tank and my partner Watson As Watson suggested I thought about putting a sandbag in the front end but I do not know what side affects this could cause? any ideas?

Chappy342 – Two things about the trim. My trim has numbers I believe 0 through 5. When I went for the test drive the gentlemen told me to trim down to between 2 and 3 and punch it. After I bought the boat I tride that with no luck. So then I tried triming it all the way down and to be honest I think it is worse. It really dives in the back and I dont get the feeling that there is any lift at all. After it starts to plain out she really takes off it is just getting out of the hole. I already have fins on the motor (they were there when I bought it)

klh – you got mail too. If I remember right my RPMS at wide open is 5600 and my prop is 13.25X19. my plan was to move to a 13.25X17 but of course I want to try it first and cabelas wont have any in stock to mid to late April.

So first things first. Who wants to stop over and have a look at my spark plugs with me and where can I get my hands on a timing light?

Thanks for everyones help I knew I would get some good suggestions on a great site like this.

I will still consider other ideas if anyone has them…

Is the motor stabilizer fin even with the bottom of the boat?
With the boat out of the water, on the trailer,
does the prop shaft shaft appear to be parallel to the gunwales?

I haven’t a clue as to what’s causing your problem…but, since it sort of sounds like a weight..or power problem…and it did run fine when you first tried it out…with out much gas…..

I would try taking out most of the gas and see if it works then. Then go from there… If you did that, and I missed it in your posts…just ignore me!

You said this motor was installed on Skeeter 85 vintage? Are you sure the take is reading correctly, may be you are overpropped. Did they use they origanal tach?

KLH

Just a thought?? Could the Hull be water loged????

Brian – I think removing the gas might be a great place to start. I do have a set of plugs so I could replace the old ones right away.

klh – the skeeter is a 1985, not sure what you meant by vintage (old?) I believe it is a starfire 115. It looks like they put all new gauges in when they replaced the motor. So I am assuming the tach is correct?

Wally – The Hull could be, Not not sure how I can tell?

I think I am going to try some of the options about and if that doesn’t work I might have to take slop Bass and Blue Flecks advice and take it to a local delear and get there advice. Or if anyone would still be interested in it we can talk pricing

Put on a life jacket, and start running up and down the channel outside the bouy’s…..W/this highwater, you couldn’t see the wingdams.