Re: hooked jon boat
I completely agree w/ Bob.
A 14ft flat bottom jon boat:
have an old 1978 Lowe 1448 flat bottom jon boat with a 1976 Evinrude 35 tiller handle motor. Its a short shaft motor. I weigh 360 lbs, 6 gallons of fuel, and a battery in the back of the boat. When I first put the motor on this boat, I put the tilt pin in the first hole closest to the boat so I wouldn't flip.it over. I ran full throttle for miles on the river and it did fine but felt like it was dragging something behind it and the bow was plowing into the water. A couple weeks later I put it on a smaller river and decided to put the pin in the second hole hoping it would raise the bow but it really didn't. The problem is that when I was at 3/4 throttle it did fine, but when I increased to full throttle the boat would suddenly stop, and veer hard to the left. The cavitation plate is approximately 1/2"-3/4" above the bottom of the boat. Is it possible to get the boat to ride more on the stern instead of plowing down in the front.
Flip the boat over???
I think there are other factors contributing to the problems you are having w/ this boat & motor.
Boats don't have brakes, so I'm not sure what you mean when you say:
The boat suddenly stops
A hard veer to the left indicates an unstable craft, which could certainly be dangerously unstable.
The other thread(s) you have about this boat/motor combination and the problems you describe make me think that the boat is possibly overloaded, and probably improperly loaded w/ weight fore-aft/port-starboard.
For informational purposes this is generally what is meant by a boat hull having hook(as Bondo describes):
I don't know that a 14ft jon boat's hull could develop a severe enough hook to be noticeable, but by overpowering the boat, you are adding additional stress to the transom. The heaiver & more powerful 35hp you're running could conceivably act as a lever, pushing forward at the prop, wrenches the powerhead & transom mount rearward. Pulling the transom rearward at the top edge pushes the transom forward at the bottom of the hull. This in turn would cause the bottom of the hull to be pushed upward (not unlike a hook) but I'd describe it more as a buckling.
In a lightweight 14ft jon boat, designed for a 25hp OB, I wouldn't be surprised that at rest there is very little indication that this ^^^ is happening. Underway, fully loaded & at WOT, it could certainly manifest and create the unstable & dangerous conditions you describe.....
Boat safely, in part by following the manufacturer's max hp ratings.
