dayslastserenade
Recruit
- Joined
- Jun 16, 2012
- Messages
- 1
Hey guys, this is my first (of many) posts here on the forums. A couple weeks ago I bought my first boat of Craigslist. I searched far and wide for the best deal I could come by and ended up spending $700 on a 1970 Fabuglas Trident (trihull) with a 40hp Mariner engine (unsure of age, need to check the model number. Looks like it may have been made in the 80's.) The boat is just under 16 foot.
The boat is in very good condition for its age, floors are in great condition, everything is sound. The motor seems very reliable, starts every time with the first turn of the key.
The problem I am having is with planing. At full throttle, the bow lifts up nicely, but never comes back down. Let it be known right now that the prop is pretty chewed up, I haven't been able to purchase a new one as of yet, but it is top on my list. I do not have a gps, so am unable to gauge my speed precisely. My best guess is 10 mph at full throttle with a load around 900lbs with full throttle. With a load of around 500 lbs, I might hit 15mph.
I do not have electronic tilt, I have to remove the pin in the back and move it to a new hole to adjust. I have tried every angle it allows for, but have yet to find a tilt that will allow the boat to plane.
We have a chain of lakes here that I have been going out on, it is about 14 miles round trip, and I use just about all of my 5 gallon fuel tank doing it.
Now I realize there is a good chance this is all due to the damaged prop I am using, but it still seems like I should be getting a little more speed out of it. The prop is aluminum, with a pitch of 12. (the exact numbers on the prop are 48-73134-12. No idea if this is the correct prop for the motor or not.) I am probably missing about a half inch to an inch on 2 of the blades. I tried a cheap composite prop that the seller threw in, 4 blades, unsure of pitch, and it seemed even slower.
I am ordering a new prop this week and will see if that changes the performance, but in the meantime I was wondering if anyone could offer other suggestions that might help. The motor does seem a little choppy at low idle, but never stalls and revs up very well. Pretty sure I am running on both cylinders as I took the plugs out and checked both for spark. I might have to play with the carb to get the idle a bit smoother, but have never messed with a carb before, so a little hesitant.
Anyway, that's my first post here. Any help would be appreciated. Looking forward to coming here often!
The boat is in very good condition for its age, floors are in great condition, everything is sound. The motor seems very reliable, starts every time with the first turn of the key.
The problem I am having is with planing. At full throttle, the bow lifts up nicely, but never comes back down. Let it be known right now that the prop is pretty chewed up, I haven't been able to purchase a new one as of yet, but it is top on my list. I do not have a gps, so am unable to gauge my speed precisely. My best guess is 10 mph at full throttle with a load around 900lbs with full throttle. With a load of around 500 lbs, I might hit 15mph.
I do not have electronic tilt, I have to remove the pin in the back and move it to a new hole to adjust. I have tried every angle it allows for, but have yet to find a tilt that will allow the boat to plane.
We have a chain of lakes here that I have been going out on, it is about 14 miles round trip, and I use just about all of my 5 gallon fuel tank doing it.
Now I realize there is a good chance this is all due to the damaged prop I am using, but it still seems like I should be getting a little more speed out of it. The prop is aluminum, with a pitch of 12. (the exact numbers on the prop are 48-73134-12. No idea if this is the correct prop for the motor or not.) I am probably missing about a half inch to an inch on 2 of the blades. I tried a cheap composite prop that the seller threw in, 4 blades, unsure of pitch, and it seemed even slower.
I am ordering a new prop this week and will see if that changes the performance, but in the meantime I was wondering if anyone could offer other suggestions that might help. The motor does seem a little choppy at low idle, but never stalls and revs up very well. Pretty sure I am running on both cylinders as I took the plugs out and checked both for spark. I might have to play with the carb to get the idle a bit smoother, but have never messed with a carb before, so a little hesitant.
Anyway, that's my first post here. Any help would be appreciated. Looking forward to coming here often!
