Boat lists to Port when on plane

Land Shark · 04-08-2007, 07:11 PM

My boat is an older fiberglass 19.5' powered by Mercuiser V8. The hull is a semi V design open bow. Sets level when floating but after I get it up on plane it leans to the port side. I have moved weight to the other side to try to compensate and doesn't really work. I just put a Hydro Stabilizer on the lower unit but didn't help. Doesn't seem to make any difference if my fuel tank is full or not either. Any ideas?

Moldy45 · 04-08-2007, 07:14 PM

Cant understand why it is listing but i know trim tabs would correct that problem

Tanker Man · 04-08-2007, 08:01 PM

Might check to see if the floation foam under the floor boards is water soaked.....when I relaced the floor in my old boat I was suprised how water soaked the foam was....Just a thought

Starfish · 04-08-2007, 09:31 PM

Probably torque related. Do you have an adjustable trim tab behind the prop on the cavitation plate? You might try adjusting it one way or the other-- I have no idea which. If there's no tab there see if there's a place for one, it might be missing.

Also you can try adjusting trim on the outdrive, sometimes trimming up the bow will take a list out of the ride.

Believe it or not, sometimes a prop change will fix a list problem too.

Snowwolfe · 04-08-2007, 11:11 PM

I would add trim tabs and then it is easily corrected every time it happens no matter what causes it.

Musicman · 04-09-2007, 12:37 AM

I have an older Larson , I/O....when I first come up on plane it lists left...not sure what side hat is...but I attribute it to torque.

ampersat · 04-09-2007, 05:49 AM

Do any of you guys with listing problems have power trim on your motor? I do, and I experience the same thing but quickly make it go away. Read up on properly trimming your motor and you'll achieve much greater control of your boat.

trap50 · 04-09-2007, 07:40 AM

Adjust the direction of the problem.

Land Shark · 04-09-2007, 04:41 PM

I don't remember when I noticed this start to happen but I do have power trim and I think it may not be working correctly if at all. My gauge is not showing that it is making any difference when it use to. I will have to check into that. Thanks for all the replies . I will try some things and report back.

Starfish · 04-09-2007, 06:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Land Shark

I don't remember when I noticed this start to happen but I do have power trim and I think it may not be working correctly if at all. My gauge is not showing that it is making any difference when it use to. I will have to check into that. Thanks for all the replies . I will try some things and report back.

Sounds like maybe you lost a seal on one of your hydraulic cylinders and you're only using the tilt cylinder, not the trim cylinder. Try it on the trailer and see if you get controlled motion through the whole trim range. If you do, then trim it to the top of the range and then pull downward on it and see if it's holding its position. You may be running with full down trim.

Land Shark · 04-09-2007, 07:57 PM

Starfish , I ran the tilt all the way down and then back up a bit , I then ran the trim down it went all the way down. Hit the up for the trim and it didn't go anywhere and didn't make any sound like it was pumping?

Starfish · 04-09-2007, 10:06 PM

That's what I was suspecting-- you normally have one ram that is low strength and long range for tilting the outdrive, and the other ram is (supposed to be) strong enough to withstand the pressure of the engine at various trim angles for trimming. Sounds like your trim ram is not working. Therefore your motor will push itself all the way to the full down position and drive the bow of your boat down (full negative trim). That would definitely explain the list while under way.

Land Shark · 04-10-2007, 03:30 PM

Ok I went out today and had my son hold the trim switch in the up position and I started wiggling the wires by the trim pump HEY! Loose connection ! It works now. Have to wait till the week end to see if it makes a difference while on plane. Thanks for all the help guys. Hopefully this is it . I will let ya know.

Starfish · 04-10-2007, 08:24 PM

Outstanding! Good luck, I hope that fixed it.

ampersat · 04-12-2007, 06:09 PM

Sorry if my post came out a little gruff. It never occurred to me that your power trim would not be working. Buddy of mine has been through several boats over a number of years and has no idea what power trim is for. It's really annoying but I just can't bring myself to say anything to him about it.

Land Shark · 04-14-2007, 07:41 PM

Cool...........!

I think that did it. Boat planes nice and level now. Although I was by myself today but even by myself it was leaning before. Now if I could just catch a FISH!