Middle tn boating help.

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Zeek

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Sep 30, 2008
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Nashville TN
I just bought my first what I will call fast boat. I am wondering if someone in middle tn could help me figure out how to correct for chine walking. I have read tons on the subject but i need some hands on.
 
:D Just hammer down, trim up, steer through it, and hold on tight!! J/K

What size boat/motor??

There are a ton of reasons why it could be walking on you. Weight distribution is a pretty common one. I'd shift some things around a little first off. Batteries, gear, etc.
If you have a jack plate you may need to adjust the depth a little. I've seen a lot of folks running them too deep or too shallow resulting in funny riding behavior. Depending on the size boat/motor you have all you usually need is for the center line of the prop to be 6 or so inches below the drain plug level.
A whale tail wouldn't hurt either.
 
19ft blazer 150 merc 25p prop lowwater pickup lower unit put on a whale tail while it helped getting out of the hole and moved the chine to a bit higher speed it will still do it..lol I know i need some more seat time but dang talk about a pucker when that starts happening and you cant seem to figure out how to stop it
 
skee-bob-em said:
19ft blazer 150 merc 25p prop lowwater pickup lower unit put on a whale tail while it helped getting out of the hole and moved the chine to a bit higher speed it will still do it..lol I know i need some more seat time but dang talk about a pucker when that starts happening and you cant seem to figure out how to stop it
Click to expand...

:D

I hear ya! You may want to try some of these things. I'm no profesional by any means, but I've been around some guys that know the ins and outs. Maybe someone on here can help pin point it for you.

BTW. I've got an 18' sprint with a Merc 175. That was/is my first "fast" boat......Needless to say I know all about that "pucker factor". I'd been in 70 mph+ boats with someone who knew how to drive one. My first time to hit speeds close to that being behind the wheel was a whole different ball game. :eek: :crazy: Not to mention the trial and error process that you're going through with getting the chine walk and all that worked out.
 
I know what you mean I never realized I could hold on to a seat without my hands until I was driving my boat for the first time I just dont seem to "feel" it yet everyone says the feeling will just come well by golly it better be a strong feeling because the feeling in my stomach caused by "the walk" is an awful strong one
 
Hey Skee-bob-em, go to "Bass Boat Central" great website, membership is free. Check out Novice Boater's board. Great chine-walk video, plus good article on how-to- correct. Just a great website for boat owners.

And I know how you feel, my first 201 Stratos w/ 225 wasn't to bad, but my 400 Javelin w/225 took several trips and many adjustments to finally get top performance out of her.

Something that helps is to make sure you dont over trim. You should never throw a rooster-tail higher than the height of your outboard, about same height is perfect, this means you still are getting enough prop bite. Also never try to drive out of walk with acceleration, just make choping left turns with left hand from 10 oclock to about 9 oclock. you have to counter the prop rotation and this is how it can be done. This will keep boat running on pad.

PS always wear ur life-jacket and ur kill-switch.

Check out the website it is a great resource and their are some very knowledgeable guys that can help with any bass boat topic.
 
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I think the blazer is made out of the old style bullet molds. They had terrible issues. Good luck. You have to drive those boat. Fishing out of a bullet tonight and yes it walks bad at 70.
 
glad i dont have that problem out of the pontoon :) ,i hate going fast on the water,my unckle in smithville use to scare the crap out of me ,id just close my eye's & think about catching a big bass :) ,mike243
 
You can have a fiberglass repair shop add an appox. 3/4" lip on the back of the hull this will help with chime walk. Also if you have a jack plate make sure the motor is at the right height. You can also try a hot shot plate that mounts on the bottom of your jack plate, it is made by T-H Marine.
 
Couple of questions...what type of boat is it and on your jack plate where is the motor in relation to the plate(top/bottom/middle)

As far as the whale tail, Mercury does not recommend those especially on the higher HP engine as it can adversly affect engine and RPM's.

I had a severe chine-walk that at 65-70, I almost couldn't control the boat. I had the engine raised up on the jack plate near the top and then loosened the steering. What was happening was there was so much torque from the engine that the tightness in the steering was causing resistance and lead to alot of my problem and the prop was too far under the boat. The boat has almost no chine-walk unless I put pressure on the wheel against the torque.
 
Where are you guys running 70 at?? So I can stay away. My friend was running around 55 when he turned, the boat didn't turn. He had a stick that got lodged and kept the boat from turning. Hit another boat and injured them all. So be careful while running these fast speeds.
 
mike243 said:
glad i dont have that problem out of the pontoon :) ,i hate going fast on the water,my unckle in smithville use to scare the crap out of me ,id just close my eye's & think about catching a big bass :) ,mike243
Click to expand...

I've never seen a bass that can swim 70 mph!! :D That's what my dad always told me.
 
skee-bob-em said:
I know what you mean I never realized I could hold on to a seat without my hands until I was driving my boat for the first time I just dont seem to "feel" it yet everyone says the feeling will just come well by golly it better be a strong feeling because the feeling in my stomach caused by "the walk" is an awful strong one
Click to expand...


Oh yessss sir, it's more that possible to pinch a seat with both hands on the wheel... :-)

Justa little fyi
 
Skee, a friend of mine is as good as it gets when it comes to driving a fast bass boat. He was most of the R&D team as far as on the water work goes for Stratos for many years and he helped many over the years. One guy bought a bullet with a 225 and he could not drive it. My buddy had never driven a Bullet but he went to the lake (I got to go to) and we all got in and he ran it just enough to get a feel for it, and then he asked the bullet owner if he was ready and he ran it up to over 80 mph without batting an eye.

I do not know if you are close to Nashville, but my friend (I am not sure, sometimes he does not have time for me, wife and kids changes much about life, but he might be able to help) or my brother may can help, he knows about boats to.

He told me to first BE CAREFUL (I ran a 17-1/2' BMC with a 150 hp Johnson that topped out at over 70 mph and you had to drive it, it took me a over a month to figure it out) but when you do it is like riding a bike, you wonder what the problem was. I remember the movement in the steering wheel and it is a whole lot less than you think. One thing to watch out for more than anything is what I would call sleeper waves. Sometimes you can be running and swear the lake is as smooth as it gets or there is a light chop that hides some waves and when you hit those waves you did not see, it can get interesting.
 
Just shoot me anyones name in a pm would love to talk with them about this and maybe meet at the river
 
Skee, I will talk to my brother and my friend. My brother just got home from the Bassmaster elite in Iowa, but he may have time this week. My friend is not working right now so he may be interested. I will let you know.
 
Everyone has given you great advice. The best I can give is you just need seat time. Just be patient it will come. Get the boat to wide open throttle and start making small adjustments on up trim. it will take some time to get the feel of what the boat wants to do once you get it up on the pad. If the boat has hydraulic steering you may be over steering. It should just take small left adjustments to the wheel to keep it from falling of the pad.
 

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