Hydrofoil on Alpha I Gen 2 Cons???

[Paxdad]

Does anyone have any info on the negative aspects of running a hydrofoil on an Alpha I Gen 2 outdrive? I tried searching but did not come up with anything. I am wanting to find out if it places undo stress on the outdrive components and as well as the transom of the boat. I recently removed the SE 300 that was on my boat when purchased and my all round performace and ride really went bad (porpoising, moon shot planning, etc.).

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: Hydrofoil on Alpha I Gen 2 Cons???

your better off with tabs than the hydrofoil on an I/O

what kind of boat?
length of boat?
what engine?
what ratio drive?
what prop?

all of these things work together on a boat.

whats a moon shot?

 

[achris]

Re: Hydrofoil on Alpha I Gen 2 Cons???

All depends on the installed height of your engine. Hydrofoils, fins, wings... whatever you what to call them are designed for engines installed HIGHER than standard. But you won't see that written on any of the packaging... Putting them on engines installed at standard height is asking for trouble, especially at high speed. And it will also be putting HUGE loads on the bearing points that are not designed to take such loads.... Personally, I hate the things... But on an installation design to take them, they work well.... Problem is, they are sold as a cure-all, for all sorts of problems that should be fixed, not masked....

 

[Bondo]

Re: Hydrofoil on Alpha I Gen 2 Cons???

All depends on the installed height of your engine. Hydrofoils, fins, wings... whatever you what to call them are designed for engines installed HIGHER than standard. But you won't see that written on any of the packaging... Putting them on engines installed at standard height is asking for trouble, especially at high speed. And it will also be putting HUGE loads on the bearing points that are not designed to take such loads.... Personally, I hate the things... But on an installation design to take them, they work well.... Problem is, they are sold as a cure-all, for all sorts of problems that should be fixed, not masked....

Ayuh,... Ditto,.... Anything Good to come from those things, is done Better by hull mounted trim tabs...

 

[Paxdad]

Re: Hydrofoil on Alpha I Gen 2 Cons???

your better off with tabs than the hydrofoil on an I/O

what kind of boat? 2006 Stingray 220LX
length of boat? 22'
what engine? Mercruiser 5.0L MPI
what ratio drive? 1:42
what prop? Mercury Vengence 19P

all of these things work together on a boat.

whats a moon shot?

When the bow points straight up at the moon in route to plane.....

 

[Philster]

Re: Hydrofoil on Alpha I Gen 2 Cons???

Hydrofoils are best suited to various Frankenstein configurations found on some outboard boats. Lawd knows what you'll find out there for engine/boat combos, and a foil might be easy peasy and effective on some O/B rigs.

On an I/O? Tabs.

 

[Maddoxsdaddy]

Re: Hydrofoil on Alpha I Gen 2 Cons???

When the bow points straight up at the moon in route to plane.....

I had a hole shot that looked like a moonshot as well. I put a SE 3000 hydrofoil on my ALpha 1 GenII for help. It did the trick for me but i do think it put a bit of stress on the drive... perhaps why my steering shaft/gimbal ring now have some play. Who knows. I took the hydrofoil off when i installed a drive shower and will be moving to some sort of trim-tab setup when i get the funds.

 

[Paxdad]

Re: Hydrofoil on Alpha I Gen 2 Cons???

I had a hole shot that looked like a moonshot as well. I put a SE 3000 hydrofoil on my ALpha 1 GenII for help. It did the trick for me but i do think it put a bit of stress on the drive... perhaps why my steering shaft/gimbal ring now have some play. Who knows. I took the hydrofoil off when i installed a drive shower and will be moving to some sort of trim-tab setup when i get the funds.

I put the SE 300 back on and what a difference in the time and attitude to plane!!! I like you will be taking it off sooner than later but am now wading through the numerous threads on Smart Tabs vs Bennett vs Lenco. Other than Smart Tabs the Lenco tabs look like the least amount of time to install since it is plug and play however the customer support from both Smart Tabs and Bennett look excellent. THe only other dilema to throw in the mix is that I am going to order a Swim Platform and need to see if the struts that mount under the deck to the transom interfer with the tabs if installed. My job is getting in the way of all these small issues!!!!

 

[JimS123]

Re: Hydrofoil on Alpha I Gen 2 Cons???

There is a very simple solution to hating them.....don't use them.....problem solved.

Personally, I love them. We have them on 2 alphas right now and couldn't be happier. A personal friend has one on his as well. I know I didn't do it right or buy the right equipment, and my boat must have problems that need to be fixed, but dayummm these things work great!

Love, hate, whatever. It meets all of my requirements. One has been on 28 years now with 1350 running hours and no ill effects.

For my 2 little fishing boats with tiller steers and a lot of weight aft, I couldn't imagine running without a foil.

One caveat - I never bought a whale tail, stingray or whatever - only the original Doelfin.

A few years ago Trailer Boats magazine did a shootout of all of the foils on the market. They reported improved performance, yada yada and did not identify any cons.

 

[Jennifer "water-wolf"]

Re: Hydrofoil on Alpha I Gen 2 Cons???

I have one on my 20 foot Bluewater MonteCarlo, and it made a HUGE improvement in low speed behaviour. Before I mounted it, I DID check to see that when planing, that it would be out of the water...If the drive is too low, you have lots of other issues too. If the drive height allows that anti-cav plate to rise out of the water on plane, as it should be, then your probably OK. If the SE300 stays in the water when plaining, then it can put a large amount of drag on the whole system, and stress on the lower unit from all that drag. Going slow, I LOVE mine.....it makes the boat go straigher, and it shortens time to plane quite noticably....once on plane, it is not in the water at all, just above the froth where it does NOTHING at all, just as it should.
Seems people either hate these or love them....I only tried one after finding low speed control to be not to my liking, and an old-timer suggested I give it a try..I had no preconceived notion plus or minus at all....if anything, more minus, because it is not free....It made an immediately noticable improvement, so it stayed and for MY specific boat, it worked out well Other boats may be entirely different response....Just mind the correct drive height to make SURE the SE300 comes fully out of the water when on plane...
Cheers

 

[jopes]

Re: Hydrofoil on Alpha I Gen 2 Cons???

for the last year my boat has shot for the stars as well. I have read about smart tabs for some time. I would have liked a set of bennets, but went with the smart tab SX's They work excellent, on plane in no time, turns alot quicker now vs's sliding around, and cuts wave and porpoising down a good amount.

I wish I went with them sooner, if I was to get them again I think I would go for the stainless steel ones, not that the SX's are bad I think the metal will flex less.