Mercruiser 888 idle too fast to troll

[jjohanson]

First off, I hope I posted this in the right section because im not sure if this is a throttle issue or how its suppose to be and if I didnt im sorry. Yesterday I finished a bellows, gimbal and ujoint job and today I took my boat out for the first time and everything went perfectly The reason Im posting is in forward gear as low a throttle as I can get seems to be a little too fast for trolling. I have a mercruiser 888. Does anyone else have this problem? Is this a throttle cable issue that could be adjusted? If not, what are my options for attaching a trolling motor because I dont see how or where one could be attached without fabricating something and if this is the only options what have you guys came up with for ideas? Thanks

 

[Josh P]

Re: Mercruiser 888 idle too fast to troll

do you have a tach? what rpms are you idling at?

 

[jjohanson]

Re: Mercruiser 888 idle too fast to troll

tach works sometimes and sometimes it dont. I just recently got the boat and in the process of fixing things one at a time. Unfortunately, wasnt working today when i tried to troll lol. I will be taking it out again as soon as the weather allows me to again, what should it be at? if its not there ill adjust it to what you suggest and see how that works but I dont see it helping much if any. Are there any brackets/adapters for attaching trolling motors to these types of boats? Besides the 800$ engine mounted trolling motors

 

[jjohanson]

Re: Mercruiser 888 idle too fast to troll

I also found on here an 11 pitch propeller. Not sure what mine is ill be finding out tomorrow but has anyone else had luck with trolling with a similar motor and 11 pitch propeller? Are there any smaller that might work? I've been doing some research and see that they make trolling plates but from what i read they dont last very long lol

 

[Bondo]

Re: Mercruiser 888 idle too fast to troll

I also found on here an 11 pitch propeller. Not sure what mine is ill be finding out tomorrow but has anyone else had luck with trolling with a similar motor and 11 pitch propeller? Are there any smaller that might work? I've been doing some research and see that they make trolling plates but from what i read they dont last very long lol

Ayuh,... Just get yerself a pair of drift socks, 'n tether 'em off yer forward cleats to get yer speeds down....

You should be seein' 650/ 700 rpms at idle...

 

[jjohanson]

Re: Mercruiser 888 idle too fast to troll

Ok thanks bubba I will be adjusting for this as soon as I can figure out whats wrong with the tach. Can you link me to any information on troubleshooting this? Also, know of any links to rebuilding the carb?

 

[sschefer]

Re: Mercruiser 888 idle too fast to troll

Ayuh,... Just get yerself a pair of drift socks, 'n tether 'em off yer forward cleats to get yer speeds down....

You should be seein' 650/ 700 rpms at idle...

A five gallon buck and a 1/2 drill works pretty good too. Just start drillin holes in it until you get your trolling speed right and the stop drilling holes. I know a guy that has 1.25mph bucket, a 1.50 mph bucket and so on. I laughed at first but the dang things work really well.

 

[SteveMcD]

Re: Mercruiser 888 idle too fast to troll

I had the same problem with my Volvo 280/GM 350. It took three buckets to slow down enough. I put a trolling plate on mine so the fishies wouldn't have something else to wrap the line around. I did end up trashing the aluminum plate and replacing it with a stainless steel plate.

 

[fishrdan]

Re: Mercruiser 888 idle too fast to troll

I put a trolling plate on mine so the fishies wouldn't have something else to wrap the line around. I did end up trashing the aluminum plate and replacing it with a stainless steel plate.

There are different styles of trolling plates. I have a spring loaded Troll-a-Matic plate that will slow me down to a crawl, but when I hammer the gas it automatically pops up out of the way (so nothing gets bent/broken). This plate takes some getting used to at slow speeds and reverse as thrust is lessened, hindered. I didn't want the type of plate that Steve mentioned as it can get bent if left in the down position when powering-up, but those work better to scrub speed since they lock down, not spring loaded. There is a new plate available that combines the best of these 2 designs as it locks down, but has the lower half spring loaded (so the plate doesn't fold over) I haven't used one of them yet, but they look pretty cool.

Any of the plates will make steering more difficult as they scrub off prop thrust down and to the sides, instead of straight back. Buckets work, but then you are monkeying around with buckets... I don't want them banging into the sides of my boat, or trailing behind the stern. Can't have your cake and eat it too....