Water logged flotation foam ?

[FishOn!GetTheNet]

Is there anyway to dry out or check the flotation foam in a bass boat without pulling the whole thing apart I think my flotation foam must be waterlogged 

Carrying around hundreds of pounds of extra weight and why my boat is so slow it’s an old ranger 350 V and I can only get to about 43 miles an hour when another forums I’ve heard of people running 50 to 60 any ideas would be appreciated 

[TOXIC]

Most reputable repair shops have a hydrometer type tool that can detect moisture through your hull.  They use it to determine if transoms and foam is waterlogged.  Normally foam is dried out with heat lamps and it takes a long time if I remember correctly.  

[Way2slow]

A couple things you can do.  If you can find the dry hull weight, take everything you can out of the boat, go find a truck stop that has drive-on scales and weigh vehicle and all.   Go launch the boat and go back and weigh everything again minus the boat.  Using that weight, deduct the weight of the motor and anything else left on/in the boat.    If all is good, the weight you get after all the deductions should be the same as the dry hull weight.

Another thing you can do, most older boats have a floor drain at your feet near the seats.   Alot of those just drain in on the foam.  Takes the cover off the drain and dig down into the foam down to the hull and see if it's wet.  Use a can of GeatStuff to fill in where you dug. 

Now, unless you are willing to spend a few thousand dollars to fix it, it's just going to be for peace of mind.  Older boats used open cell foam and when it got saturated from being stored outdoors, it pretty much holds onto.  To get it out, you pretty much have to take the cap off and the floor out and dig it out.

The worst one I've seen was an 89 Stratos 285 Pro.  I pulled close to 300 pounds out it.  I have seen people just cut the floor out but that only gives access to less than half of it.  There's more foam under the seats and back than just the floor section.  

Also, if the foam is saturated, the stringers and transom most likely have some rot also, so unless you know what you are doing and do the work yourself, it's not financially feasible to repair it.  Doing the work yourself , the way materials have gone up, you are still looking at a fair chunk of money.

I hope this is not a boat you have recently purchased, thinking you got a good deal, but maybe it will be dry and just has some serios rigging and setup problems.  Those early Rangers were a problem to get bow to lift and carry the hull up.

 

[FishOn!GetTheNet]

I bought the boat 6 years ago for 2000$ I’m just at the point where I know it should be faster I see lots of posts about 350v’s going 50-60 and I’m wondering why mine won’t I’m thinking it’s got to be water logged or maybe it’s the prop it’s got a high 5 on it 

[Way2slow]

Checking the foam for being waterlogged is a good starting point but there are a multitude of other things that will cause performance problems.  A high five is not a speed prop per say but might be a good choice on that boat because they generally give about the most bow lift of any prop.  Bow lift is the first thing you have to achieve when wanting a boat to go faster.  If it's not lifting the bow, enough to have the spray coming out behind the seats. This can also be a very expensive adventure.  

Besides the foam, I will list a few things you will need to look at.

1st is the engine; it has to be the max horsepower the hull is rated for.  Even 25 hp below max rating will cause a significant reduction in speed.  Then the motor has to be making the hp is supposed to and be propped so it will redline the rpm at WOT.  If it seems to be running good, doesn't mean it's making full horsepower.  Make sure the throttle is fully advancing by checking the butterflies, the timing is properly set, the compression is good and even on all cylinders.  A two-stroke motor can down or weak on a cylinder and you don't notice it, other than the RPM is low or it takes a lot smaller prop to get it up to RPM.

Then you have to look at engine setback and prop height.  The leading edge on the lower unit needs to be about 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 inches per foot of boat length back from bottom edge of the pad.  On heavy, hard to lift hulls, like the Ranger, don't think you need it 1-1/2 inches below the pad, a lot of times you have to run the motor a lot deeper.  I've had boats that had to have the motor as much as 5" below the pad. 

You have to check the hull and make sure it's not damaged from not being set properly on the trailer and is straight and flat.

Then you get to go down that rabbit hole of finding just the right prop.  

The best thing you can do is find someone like me that knows what the hell they are doing because you can chase your butt in all kinds of circles and waste a ton of money trying to get one properly set up.   I took a guys old Stratos 201 with a 200 Johnson from 58 mph with two people in it to a touch over 78 with two people in it, of course when done with that 200, it was over 300hp, but I no longer do that crap.

[Bird]

Years ago my buddy swamped his Hydro sport.

He simply removed all the batteries in the rear compartment and drop a dehumidifier in and closed the lid.

I'd be curious to know how all your flotation became saturated.

In my mind, it would have to be submerged for quite awhile.

[TnRiver46]

27 minutes ago, Bird said:

Years ago my buddy swamped his Hydro sport.

He simply removed all the batteries in the rear compartment and drop a dehumidifier in and closed the lid.

I'd be curious to know how all your flotation became saturated.

In my mind, it would have to be submerged for quite awhile.

Usually all it takes is parking it outside for a while 

[FishOn!GetTheNet]

Yes the previous owners kid left out side at his house the last few years he owned it 

[Way2slow]

It's not an overnight wham bam thank you mam.  The biggest problem was when they first started using flotation foam in them, they used open cell foam because it's lighter weight and has a higher floatation value than closed cell, and just sealed the top of it.  As it aged, it developed cracks in the sealant.  A lot of the early boats just let the floor drain, drain right on top of the foam, thinking with the sealant, they were good to go.  A lot of people didn't raise their bow so the boat had a good drain out the back, so every rain let it soak up a little more.  It's a slow process for it to get saturated and even a slower process for one to dry out, if it even will.  The closed cell foam can get some saturation but usually less the 10% and because it's mostly surface area that gets saturated, it can dry out over time.