weighting the bow down

[Flatrock]

Something I have found with my new boat is the bow wanting to ride high when trying to run around 15 to 20 mph, even with the trim down. Has anyone ever tried putting some weight in the front to help keep the nose down ?    I mean it planes nicely, but I don't want to have to run 25-30 mph all the time..  any suggestions ?

[slonezp]

Trackers sit and ride bow high. Have you tried getting on plane, trimming up and then easing back on the throttle?

[Way north bass guy]

Another option would be a hydrofoil. I have a Chris Bailey foil on my boat and it works great for keeping the bow down, quicker holeshot and you can stay up on plane at much slower speeds ( helps up

here on Georgian Bay where there’s lots of narrow channels and rocks to watch out for without having to idle everywhere).

 

 Chris is in Louisiana and he makes some awesome stuff, you can get them stainless or colour matched to your boat with writing of your choice cut into the sides of the foil. Also works as a bit of an extra safety measure in case you ever slung a blade, it’ll stop it from flying up into the boat. 

[Goldstar225]

It's not so much the high bow, just the speed needed to get enough lift on the stern to get on plane.  My PT 190 will not level out until I'm at 20+.  From 5-20 I'm bow high.  As Way North Bass Guy said, a hydrofoil will probably help but I'll leave that to others since I've never used one.

[WRB]

Can you add details about your boat and engine?

Tom

[Flatrock]

34 minutes ago, WRB said:

Can you add details about your boat and engine?

Tom

 

Its a new Bass Tracker 175 Pro Team with a 75 Merc on the back (2 batteries)   Boat is 17' 7" long.

At 17' 7" long, I'd of thought the boat would be long enough to keep the nose down.  When I say high, I mean a good 45 degs. The BT salesman told me I wouldn't need a whale tail or hydrofoil as  have a big enough motor and it will plain out quickly, which it does, but I don't want to run around 3/4 throttle all the time if you know what I mean.

 

I'll research the hydrofoil more... that surely would be a better solution then to add weight to the boat

[slonezp]

6 minutes ago, Flatrock said:

 

Its a new Bass Tracker 175 Pro Team with a 75 Merc on the back (2 batteries)   Boat is 17' 7" long.

At 17' 7" long, I'd of thought the boat would be long enough to keep the nose down.  When I say high, I mean a good 45 degs. The BT salesman told me I wouldn't need a whale tail or hydrofoil as  have a big enough motor and it will plain out quickly, which it does, but I don't want to run around 3/4 throttle all the time if you know what I mean.

 

I'll research the hydrofoil more... that surely would be a better solution then to add weight to the boat

You should be able to plane out, back off, and then run 15-20 still trimmed up. One thing I forgot to ask. Do you know if the engine was broke in? The first 10 hours or so during break in, the computer has the motor tuned differently.  

[Flatrock]

1 minute ago, slonezp said:

You should be able to plane out, back off, and then run 15-20 still trimmed up. One thing I forgot to ask. Do you know if the engine was broke in? The first 10 hours or so during break in, the computer has the motor tuned differently.  

 

I couldn't tell you to be honest.  The guy guessed he had maybe 20 hrs on the boat, I put  maybe 3 hrs on the engine since I bought it.  I mean I'm doing 30 mph at 4000 which it seems to be its sweet spot

[suzuki700]

I've been looking at Bass Trackers and noticed the high bow rise at rest in fishing position. The PT 195 TXW which i am interested in, also has a steep bow rise. Its about 1 ft higher bow than a Ranger Rt 198. The bow does level out some with 2 people on the front deck from the pictures i look at so sand bags might work. 

Just too much weight in the back with gas tank, batteries and live well. Might loose some storage but i see some bass boats have batteries right in the back and gas tank is towards the center.

Give us a report if you do try it.

Cheers 

[Russ E]

is it 15 to 20 mph on your speedometer or graph/gps.

in dash speedometers can be notoriously inaccurate.

my last boat was a 16 foot mod v crestliner. It was similar to your boat. if I went any slower than 18 mph, on my gps, it would start to drop off plane. I just did not drive it under that, if I wanted to be on plane.

if you are at 45 degrees, it is not on plane.

like @slonezp mentioned you have to get on plane first. Then you should be able to back off the speed. When it starts dropping, that is your  lower limit.

 

If all else fails, out of the 2 options, I would add a hydrofoil.

I would  not add weight to your bow. It will negatively affect how your boat performs, if you run into rough water.

[WRB]

Look into trim tabs for small boats; Bennett or Trim Master for examples.

Tom

[NHBull]

These

 

https://www.iboats.com/shop/nauticus-sx-smart-tabs.html

[Flatrock]

2 hours ago, NHBull said:

These

 

https://www.iboats.com/shop/nauticus-sx-smart-tabs.html

 

 

I like this setup.. I've saved the site. 

[livin2fish]

Contact them.  They were very helpful, and solved my problem similar to yours.

[Way2slow]

I prefer trim tabs over the hydrofoil, but the hydrofoil helps if you want cheap help. 

Another thing you might want to look at are a set of wedges that make it so you can trim in further.  These are 5 degree, I've seen them in seven degree and up to 13 degree, but those are extreme, go in too far and it won't trim out enough for a good plane.  .https://www.vancemfg.com/product-p/tw-100.htm?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI__zom83r3wIVFInICh1LkwuYEAQYASABEgLkh_D_BwE

 

They just mount between the engine and transom to add a few more degrees of inward tilt.