Plane out question

Sharps-Nut

Seaman
Joined
Feb 22, 2004
Messages
65
My first boat, I bought last october and had it out once seemed weird. Now I know nothing about boats so bear with me. It seems like it carried the nose, bow, high till maybe 20mph or so. I'm sure this is what you folks call planing out. Is this normal or can it be corrected. We had four adults and two very small children loaded. Tried putting people up front but no major change. Hydo foils someone said. Knowing nothing that didn't mean much. Is this one brand, any brand, does size matter, or are based on application, or just sucker bait. Will it lower the speed or adversely affect anything else like fuel economy. Also how many gallons per hour should I figure on consuming on the big end tubing and the small end just puttering around. Thanks for any insight on the issues. Sharps-Nut
 

dmorley

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Mar 1, 2003
Messages
97
Re: Plane out question

What type of boat and engine do you have?
 

imported_Mike_M2

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jan 17, 2004
Messages
174
Re: Plane out question

Yea, without letting us know how big the boats is it's hard to give you a good answer. Most boats plane around 16 to 20 mph. Throttle up hard until you reach plane , then back off the throttles to aquire the desired speed. Trim tabs help, but again i don't know what size boat you have.
 

Sharps-Nut

Seaman
Joined
Feb 22, 2004
Messages
65
Re: Plane out question

Sorry I screwed up and lost the post and had to start over and didn't get the important stuff in there the second time. The boat is a 1977 caravelle 18.5 foot tri hull open bow. Its powered by a 250 mercury inline six inboard engine. Again sorry about the lack of information. Thanks S.N.
 

imported_Mike_M2

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jan 17, 2004
Messages
174
Re: Plane out question

I had an old 78 Ebbtide trihull with that motor years ago. The boat was a rock and wieghed accordingly. Tho that motor will run forever, it too wieghs a ton and took forever to plane out. So, yes it's normal to take forever to get on plane. If i remember right, i tried a foil on the drive and it didn't help. Your only choices are to buy trim tabs(a costly option for an old boat), or live with it, keep as much wieght forward as possible and keep the trim all the way down until on plane.
 

JB

Honorary Moderator Emeritus
Joined
Mar 25, 2001
Messages
45,907
Re: Plane out question

Moving to Boat Questions
 

Jdeagro

iboats.com Partner
Joined
Jul 30, 2003
Messages
1,682
Re: Plane out question

Sharp Nut;<br /><br />The problem is common to outboard and stern drive boats. Given the amount of people and age / weight vs. power your best option is Smart Tabs. Retail Pricing on this site is under $169.00. The bow rise will be less than 50% of the current attitude, the planing speed will be about 15 to 16 mph. the ride and handling will be significantly different. Do a search on this site for Smart Tabs for more information.
 

Solittle

Fleet Admiral
Joined
Apr 28, 2002
Messages
7,518
Re: Plane out question

Sharps - If this is your first experience in boating you need to go out a couple of times with someone who is knowledgeable about boats before venturing out with four adults and small children. That is a major accident waiting to happen.
 

phatmanmike

Captain
Joined
Oct 24, 2003
Messages
3,869
Re: Plane out question

nauti john forgot to mention that he is the president of the company... :p <br /><br /> smooth :) :p
 

steelespike

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Apr 26, 2002
Messages
19,069
Re: Plane out question

Ive had very good luck with Doelfins On outboards and I/Os planes easier,stays on plane<br />at lower power and stabilizes some.Very easy to install and only about $30.Used them for close to 20 years no problems.they do reduce top speed some but I couldnt tell without a speedo.Some say they use more gas but if they plane at lower<br />power and stay on plane easier I say they should save fuel.<br /> You should use the boat for awhile first.Try weight distribution and trim.With the I/O you will find it a little slow to plane and the Doelfin will be a great improvement.
 

Jdeagro

iboats.com Partner
Joined
Jul 30, 2003
Messages
1,682
Re: Plane out question

Phatmanmike;<br /><br />At my age I forget a lot! I do not try to hide the association and in fact have tried to make it known when my answers get involved. Nauticus is a small family company, with a great deal of pride in our product. The most pride comes from knowing that we have provided our consumers with a product that performs beyond their expectations.If it appears that I am not being streight forward, I appologize as that is not my intention. We simply feel that their is more to good boat performance than getting on plane with 3/4 throttle, and once our consumers use the product they understand what good performance realy is.
 

Sharps-Nut

Seaman
Joined
Feb 22, 2004
Messages
65
Re: Plane out question

Thanks for the responses. I agree about heading out with the lack of experience. Good advice and it does not fall 0n deaf ears. We went out on a small lake and kept close to shore. Still maybe wasn't real bright. Thanks for the product information. I will look into those. By the way I don't feel like you were trying to be deceptive from your background. Everyone has been very helpful and I really appreciate it. Sharps-Nut
 
Top