New to Bass Boats having trouble getting on plane - Ideas?

[quickdraw the sea horse]

I have a new to me 88 Laser with a 120 Johnson. I have always had and used smaller fishing boats, and thus am not real sure of the bigger boats and motors. I bout this for a decent price, the Johnson runs pretty good, fires up first time each time, and has good compression on all 4 cylinders. I do have a few questions and would like some advice (trying to figure out my exact position and either how bad I've been succored or how good a deal I got...) Either way I got a new project and a new big boy toy...

1. Right now, the Johnson is idling a little rough, but otherwise runs pretty good. However, it does seems to have a little trouble getting on plane. I was out last weekend for the first time and found that when trying to come out of the hole, she would lose her bite. It didn't seem to do this with the previous owner when we went out, so I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. Is this normal? I know I had the trim way down, but not totally sure it was all the way...

2. Not being used to bass boats, it seemed to sit low in the water at first, but after taking it out for myself it doesn't seem as bad. How can I tell if she's water logged? What's the best way to inspect the foam?

3. The boat seems to pull pretty hard to the right and experiences a fair amount of torque back to the wheel. Even starting the engine will cause the wheel to try to go to the right. Previous own says this has been present since he installed a new steering cable and that it can't be tightened... Isn't there an adjustment for that? Any thoughts?

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: New to Bass Boats having trouble getting on plane - Ideas?

put the boat and trailer on a scale. compare the weight to the manufacturers weight. if your boat is a lot heavier, its water logged.

 

[jjacobs007]

Re: New to Bass Boats having trouble getting on plane - Ideas?

make shure the trim is all the way down,for best results. trim it at home and make shure its working and nothing blocking it..could be many problems here though with your info

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: New to Bass Boats having trouble getting on plane - Ideas?

Welcome to iboats!

There is no adjustment on the steering cable however, you could change over to a NFB (no feedback system) system and helm.

The other item could also be the prop. Many people over-prop bass boats for speed and it has a big impact on planing ability. What rpms are you turning at WOT?

 

[quickdraw the sea horse]

Re: New to Bass Boats having trouble getting on plane - Ideas?

Thanks for the quick replies:
Plugs fouled out so motor started running a little rough Sat Didn't play much. Also I was in the river where logs etc float and didn't want to really open her up there. Replaced Plugs with new Champions, replaced zip ties on hoses with clamps to bring the oil pump back under control and will be at the lake this weekend to get more data. I will try to stop by a weigh station on the way to check out the trailered weight...

Registration card shows 16'9" length so I'm thinking the hull will be around 990 lbs, the motor around 300, the gas about 120, the batteries about 80 (2 batteries), and the trailer around 500 (A quality Trailer Galvanized trailer). Am I missing anything as to what she should weight?

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: New to Bass Boats having trouble getting on plane - Ideas?

what does the manufacturer list as dry weight and wet weight?

here is a link that may help http://boatspecs.iboats.com/Laser_Boats_-TX-__Bass_Boat__1988/bp/31br1999c11y

 

[quickdraw the sea horse]

Re: New to Bass Boats having trouble getting on plane - Ideas?

Thanks Scott,
That info is what I was basing my estimates on. I'm guessing mine is a 2550 based on the fact that it is shown as 16'9" and has a max horsepower of 150. That would put it in the 920 to 990 lb range dry wt. Is there a better source of info??

Also, I guess I won't be able to gather any RPM data tomorrow as my tach is not working. Unless of course someone has a great idea of what might be causing it not to work. I have a local guy that said he'd check it out for me next week for a reasonable price. I guess I'll play it by ear tomorrow and take it to him on Monday to get a Pro's opinion...

Thanks again for the advice on the trim, hopefully that'll take care of getting out without losing my bite. We have to learn something every day right...

 

[quickdraw the sea horse]

Re: New to Bass Boats having trouble getting on plane - Ideas?

Thanks again for the trim advice. Out today no problem at all getting on plane great hole shot. Thanks guys... See the mechanic next week to get the gauges working

 

[Texasmark]

Re: New to Bass Boats having trouble getting on plane - Ideas?

Have you had or considered a boating safety course? Also, do you have a friend that boats and can help you through your initial familiarization.

Mark

 

[jjacobs007]

Re: New to Bass Boats having trouble getting on plane - Ideas?

trim is a tricky thing,dont over trim while under full power or you might not get water to the water pump too,ok bro.and always keep your kill switch attached to your body or life jacket,this saves your life even after you have thought you know all about your boat.

pm me if you need more help.

 

[quickdraw the sea horse]

Re: New to Bass Boats having trouble getting on plane - Ideas?

Have you had or considered a boating safety course? Also, do you have a friend that boats and can help you through your initial familiarization.

Mark

I took the boaters ed course. I grew up with small open fishing boats, so I have a healthy respect for the water, and I understand the various potentials for things that could go wrong. The boats I grew up with did not have power trim and the hole shot was not even a consideration. The biggest concern that I had was when the prop seemed to lose its bite when taking off. I realize this is a whole new world, and I've got a lot to learn and need to get there. I do have friends that boat, and plan to get their help, however their boats are typically stearn drive bow riders. I am an engineer by trade, so I am always looking for a deeper understanding of all situations as well as a wide view of possible causes for anything that may not seem just right. I realize that bass boats are quite a bit different than other types of hulls and I want to understand everything that there is to understand about them. Sometimes you have to go back and ask rookie questions and even possibly look a little foolish.

Thanks for the feedback and the good advice.

 

[TyeeMan]

Re: New to Bass Boats having trouble getting on plane - Ideas?

Regarding how low the boat sits in the water, that's an inherant trait of a bass hull. Low and wide so it doesn't have a deep draft and also so you can get on your knees and grab the fish by lip right out of the water without using a net.
Now, about that Johnson 4-banger back there on the boat. They were great motors back in the day but they can get tempermental when they get some years on them. A lot of OMC (Johnson Evinrude)people will tell you take that oil pump off promptly, throw it away and mix your oil/fuel. The reason being, alcahol in the fuel attacked the buna-n O-rings in the early VRO pumps and caused it to fail. There were two failure modes, 1) it pumped waaaaayyyyy too much oil, like a half a quart in no time, that's the way mine went. Or 2) they quit pumping oil completely and your engine siezes. The early pumps had no warning horn. The later pumps (after about 1985) had Viton o-rings which were more alcahol tolerant. The later pumps also had a "no oil at the pump" sensor that triggered the overheat horn if you ran out of oil or the pump failed. By 1988 you should have the "newer" pump, the tell tale sign is the 2 black wires coming off of it.

Idling rough - Those motors didn't exactly run like a Swiss whatch, you're not going to stand a nickle up on end on the block while she's idling if you get my drift. The engine fires on 2 cyclinders every time, example, top right/bottom left and bottom right/top left. It's not a 1-3-4-2 firinig order or anything like that. Make sure your carbs/jets are clean. If you have a cylinder or two with lower compression you may have to go up in jet size to get it to run better. Read your spark plugs, they should all be either brown like chicken or even blackish in color. If you have any plugs that are almost white in color (after some use) then you have a lean condition which needs to be remedied. Do yourself a favor and run a synthetic 2-cycle oil, smokes less, starts easier, all around better even in an older motor.
Make sure your fuel is fresh, and I'd personally run nothing less than 89 octane.

Prop blowing out - take a look at the hub of your prop. Does it have 2-3 holes drilled equally spaced around the diameter of the hub? If you do you have a , , , , (crap forgot what they called it) ported or ventilated prop. Those holes allow exhaust gasses to escape out and cause the prop to cavitate a little in order to get the ingine into it's power band quicker. Result is better hole shot.

Tach - make sure all your connections are good, especially the ground, it's a common problem.

Tilt/trim - you will not be able to trim your motor high enough that the water pick ups cannot pick up water. When your under way the tilt/trim rams (the 2 little stubby ones) will go to there max travel, the tilt ram (the longer skinnier one) does not have the power to overcome the force of the motor. On the trailer is different. After your tilt/trim rams reach max extension THEN the tilt ram takes over and tilts the motor the rest of the way up.

 

[Philster]

Re: New to Bass Boats having trouble getting on plane - Ideas?

I loved the rough idle on the old 2-stroker, 4 cylinder engines. Embrace it. It means it's ready to jump when called on.

Do not underestimate the advice about ditching the oil pump. Ditch it and mix it yourself and she'll last and last. Or, cling to it and you are running a time bomb whenever you are out -- just don't know if the timer is set to two minutes, two days, or two years.