Slow boat woes....-gctid369095

[Guest]

I had a beautiful swim platform installed (and man was it heavy) and since I had it installed I did not find out how heavy it was until I put the boat in the water so now Im stuck with it, Live and learn I guess. My problem now is that the boat is terrible on take off has anyone done anything to the little 4 banger motor to make it run any better or does anyone have any ideas on how to get this little boat to plane out in a semi reasonable distance? The boat is a 2005 Bayliner 175 with the 4 cylinder merc in it completely stock minus the swim platform of course. It was never the fastest but now I donÔÇÖt even want to run it. If I remove the platform then im out big bucks and have holes to deal with. So any ideas would be great.

[SomeSailor]

Time for a bigger boat...

[itsabowtime2]

Install a set of smart tabs (trim tabs). This will help getting your boat up on plane. Also try to load some gear up front to counter act the additional weight in back.

[cwiert]

How about a set of fins? I had these on my 180 with 135 hp 4 banger and it certainly helped. Something like this...

http://www.jerrylabella.com/on_the_level/hydrofoil.jpg

[boatworkfl]

I had a "Stingray" looked the same as your photo, on my 16' Zodiac, I carried a very heavy load, with the foil on I got up on plane very quickly, it would be the least expensive way to go, if it does not work, well they do not cost that much.

You are still limited in HP, and as mentioned, move as much protable weight forward as possible, that will make a big difference.

[706jim]

When looking at a huge boarding platform, you have to consider that while they certainly increase your available space, there is NOTHING underneath to support that load in terms of floatation.

One of the reasons I bought a 246 was that the boarding platform seemd reasonably proportioned compared to the hull.

A larger boarding platform puts weight in the worst possible spot.

and more of it!

[Guest]

Just how big is your new swim platform? Any pictures?

[Chief_Alen]

Your not gonna soup up the little 4 banger take it back off and sell it.

[2850Bounty]

Chief Alen wrote:
Your not gonna soup up the little 4 banger take it back off and sell it.

If this is all that heavy, I agree.

Instead, build yourself a Teak platform using SS brackets.

Any stern heaviness on a small boat is going to affect the planing attitude.





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[2850Bounty]

Chief Alen wrote:
Your not gonna soup up the little 4 banger take it back off and sell it.

If this is all that heavy, I agree.

Any stern heaviness on a small boat is going to affect the planing attitude. It even affects some of our larger boats.

What if you were to instead build yourself a Teak platform using SS brackets?





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[boatworkfl]

A foam core platform would have been a better choice, that teak is heavy.

[Guest]

I would install Smartabs. I did on my 192 (which has a full width fiberglass platform and 3.0L) and it made a big difference in boat performance.

[dmcb]

Welcome to BOC.

You can try tabs and it will do you some good, platform or not, but the real world is you have added weight and in the worst place possible.

Sometimes we just have to bite the bullet, realized we have done something in error and reverse.

The holes can be repaired with no damage so I agree your best route may be to remove it.

By your own words you don't want to run your boat any longer. You can't have that condition. You won't be able to sell it either.

Were me I would try the tabs because they won't hurt.

Doug

[Guest]

How does the platform weight affect static posture of your boat? In other words do you have a noticeable change in waterline of your boat at rest after installing this? Like others have said, adding weight to stern on any planing hull boat is the worst performance killer. The trim tabs may help, however they add more drag. If your engine does not have enough HP to overcome weight and additional drag induced by trim tabs, its not going to help getting out of the hole. Also, if you do add tabs, you may have to go down a pitch on your prop to provide better low speed torque, it all depends if your new configuration allows you to reach recommended WOT RPM.

Some of the things you may wanna try is moving passengers or other heavy wight toward the bow to balance the boat.

[Guest]

How much weight are we talking? Where did you get this thing? I had one from swim-platform.com that was 4' long and 8.5' wide on my 2455; it only weighed 61 pounds and had no noticeable effect on the boat. I'm having a hard time picturing a platform sized for the 175 that's all that heavy.

I'd like to hear the actual weight, and unless it really is a lot, you might want to take a look at other potential issues like state of tune.

Also, no, there is no reasonable way to increase HP on that little motor.