help driving past 50 mph

[cchhaadd35]

I posted on the hull truth and they kindly pointed me this way.

I just got 2021 21trx with the 4 stoke mercury 250. My last boat was a Ranger rt198p with a 150. i never had any problems driving it. its top speed was 60 in ideal conditions so i ran around 55 most of the time. no issues, no chine walking. it was a great ride for being an aluminum boat.

but this monster scares the absolute soul outta me. everything is fine up to about 55-60. after that i getr nervous im gonna need to be identified by next of kin.
on my ranger i would trim all the way down to get on plane, then i would trim up till i got a big rpm boost then id leave the trim alone.

on this boat i do the same, but im new to having a trim gauge. i have about 5 years of driving experience, so im not a complete fng but im definitely new to this much boat.

i know you guys probably cant tell me exactly what my trim settings should be for full speed with out actually driving it but here is how its set up.

i have a manual jack plate that i haven't messed with yet, the dealer said that they adjust all the boats they get it to a good starting point depending on prop and motor.
i have 2 power poles so i know that adds weight and probly takes off the top end. the prop is a 23p 3 blade fury and it gets on plane really well, boat breaks over at 2700 rpm and ive been told thats around where it should be.

im quite certain there isn't any issue with the boat, i just need more seat time. i think my problem is that im not trimming up enough after i get on plane. my last boat needed very little trim adjustment.

so i guess im asking for a rough idea of what my trim gauge should read to run 65-70?

[ch]

Is it chine walk that’s gettin u? The X2 likes to have the prop deeper in the water, so check ur prop to pad measurement...3 1/4”-3 1/2” prop to pad is a good place to start for that boat.

[1Holeshot]

My trim gauge on a 18 TRX reads the equivalent of 1/4 on a fuel gauge. I know I have a different hull and no poles so may not be much help.

edit: my trim will only go slightly past the 1/4 hash mark at full trim. I can drive it at this height but requires full attention. A better solution is to bump the trim stalk/handle down 1 bump and get good lift and performance without having to "drive it constantly ". Hopefully this is clearer now.

Prop to pad is 2 3/4" prop to pad with a 6" manual jack plate.

After break over when planing off advance throttle slowly adding throttle and small bumps of up trim. At around 4000 rpms you should feel hull begin to lift. Keep adding throttle until full throttle. When you reach a constant speed at a light bump to trim while holding just a little left turn pressure on steering wheel. Increase trim in very small increments until you feel beginning of chine walk. Keep slight left pressure on steering wheel. If body of water is wide enough make a gradual left turn. This should eliminate minor chine walk. As you get more comfortable try a little more trim. You will get better with seat time and will learn best trim setting on trim gauge for your hull and experience level.

Be patient and do not get discouraged. You can do this but driving a pad hull is very different than your aluminum boat.

Hope this helps.

[Podcast]

If the walk is bad under 60 have the motor height checked. It may be too low causing too much lift and lack of control will occur.

[dbs1]

If steering and engine are tight on boat it's almost always the engine either needs to be raised via jack plate or trimmed up further at speed. Once you get that right you should be able to see mid 60's before getting much chine walk. At that point, watch and read some tutorials on dealing with chine walk and get lots of seat time before trying to push toward 70. A 4 blade prop I have found will do all kinds of good things for these boats if you aren't dead set on that last 2-3 mph.

[cchhaadd35]

Well I don't think it's chine walk honestly. I I've been doing some more research and based on what alot of the folks on the other forum have said, I don't think I'm trimming up enough once I get I know plane. I'm trying to run 60+ with too much of the boat in the water. My Ranger was aluminum but it had a pad hull and it was easy to drive on the pad. It was my first boat and I've only been driving for about 5 years. It needed very little trim adjustment to run up to 60, so I just assumed this would be like that. This triton gets on plane really good, so I don't wanna adjust the jack plate just yet until I get a better feel for using the trim at higher speed

[AndrewM-Fishing]

Here is a great video that will help.

[InfantryMP]

I have reached 70 on my 19TRX Patriot with a 225. I trim all the way down and then raise. I do not believe I have mine raised to where it is like a 1/4 on the fuel gauge reference, but the adjustments are small when trimming up. It also take a little bit of time for me to get to 60 because I keep my trim increments low and slow. If I were to guess, I would say 1/8 when you are thinking about the fuel gauge reference.

These boats handle really well. This was my first boat with anything above a 150, and I was nervous as well.

[tdnick]

I have a 2021 TRX 20 so I assume you have the same gauge. Trim down and get on pad and then give it gas while trimming all the way up. Mine stops trimming at just past the quarter mark of the gauge. Don’t be scared to trim it all the way up at 45-55. Get used to that feeling and the lift of the bow. I came out of a 2020 Tracker 175 with a 75hp. It took me 15-20 hours to get comfortable enough to go 65+ And play with the hydraulic jack plate. One thing that helped me was doing demo rides also with some other boat brands and see how they drive the crap out of them. Once you get comfortable and dialed, these ride on rails more than you may think. You should be able to hit at least 70 without chime. Make sure your weight is distributed at least halfway decent too. Don’t over think it and don’t worry about “over trimming”. It’ll stop trimming where you need to be at.


just a quick edit: I always ride trimmed all the way up and the trim down just a hair when making turns even though I know I don’t have to. Just makes me feel more in control.

[Triton420]

Drive it. Ignore that trim gauge. Feel the boat and see how it reacts. Bring the jack plate up or down to see how it feels and trim up some.

[1Holeshot]

Drive it. Ignore that trim gauge. Feel the boat and see how it reacts. Bring the jack plate up or down to see how it feels and trim up some.

^
This is the way I learned ( no trim gauge).

My boat at this time ( a Laser 18V with 2.5 200 Mercury ) would chine walk severely and I thought the engine was too high. Put my boat on trailer preparing to lower manual jack plate when a very knowledgeable bass boat driver came over and asked me what I was doing. When I told him I was about to lower jackplate he said he had been watching me struggle and that I needed to raise jackplate. He gave me a reference point and I went back out and found I could run much faster with minimal chine walking. He suggested solid motor mounts for even better control. Had my mechanic install solid mounts and viola, I could finally drive it to its potential. Later added nosecone and low water pickup and really enjoyed the new found performance.

Later owned a Bullet 20 XD and 21 XD along with an Allison 2002 XB all with same engine set up. No problem driving them with very little seat time. My most fun boat was an Allison 2003 XB with 225 Pro Max and Sportmaster lower unit. My previous experience made it a dream to drive.

SORRY- Not intending to hijack thread with personal history but hopefully encourage OP with the learning curve required to achieve best performance from his rig.

[berudd]

Well I don't think it's chine walk honestly. I I've been doing some more research and based on what alot of the folks on the other forum have said, I don't think I'm trimming up enough once I get I know plane. I'm trying to run 60+ with too much of the boat in the water. My Ranger was aluminum but it had a pad hull and it was easy to drive on the pad. It was my first boat and I've only been driving for about 5 years. It needed very little trim adjustment to run up to 60, so I just assumed this would be like that. This triton gets on plane really good, so I don't wanna adjust the jack plate just yet until I get a better feel for using the trim at higher speed

If it's not chine walk, what are you experiencing that causes you concern? I've never felt any issues with having to much of the boat in the water, especially at those speeds. Things never get interesting for me until I am on pad.

As far as not adjusting the jack plate yet, if it is wrong then nothing you will do will over come it. I'd raise it about 1/2" and see if that improves or hurts anything.

[Greentrout]

I have a 2005 TR196 it likes to walk.

So here's how I learned to drive mine. I filled the gas tank up and went to the lower part of Lake Cumberland, there's an open section that's probably five miles long by one mile wide. I got the boat on plane, trimmed it up and started to accelerate. Somewhere in the 50's the boat would start to walk. When it would start walking I would start a slight left turn until the boat stopped walking, then I would straighten the boat and repeat the process. I did this until I could drive the boat straight down the lake at that speed, then I started increasing the speed. I did this process until I could drive the boat at WOT with little chine.

Here’s a clip of driving the boat.

https://m.youtube.com/shorts/Bsh3nfuNXL8

[1Holeshot]

The left turn advice is same as I gave in post three.

Maybe with it being mentioned twice OP will at least give it a try.

[cchhaadd35]

Drive it. Ignore that trim gauge. Feel the boat and see how it reacts. Bring the jack plate up or down to see how it feels and trim up some.

A hydraulic plate is on my list. Only have a manual right now

[cchhaadd35]

If it's not chine walk, what are you experiencing that causes you concern? I've never felt any issues with having to much of the boat in the water, especially at those speeds. Things never get interesting for me until I am on pad.

As far as not adjusting the jack plate yet, if it is wrong then nothing you will do will over come it. I'd raise it about 1/2" and see if that improves or hurts anything.

I'm not sure what's going on anymore. All I know is when I get I will be plane and try to run wot in anything more than a very slight chop, the whole damn boat just get really shakey. I know I just need more seat time but I'm honestly probly just gonna drive around at about 50-55 AMF just be happy with that. It's very obvious that I'm gonna get myself killed trying for any faster and 50 is fine.

[Greentrout]

A hydraulic plate is on my list. Only have a manual right now

Check your prop to pad height. If it's more than 3 inches, that could be the problem. Set it at 3 inches and work from there. A quarter of an inch can make a big difference. Watch your water pressure.

[chatabass]

The whole boat shaking at 50 doesn't sound like chine walk. It should be able to hit 60 and be fairly stable even if it's not set up perfect.
Do you know a person with a spare prop you could borrow? If engine height checks out to be pretty close to right, I'd swap the prop just to make sure your prop isn't causing the issue.

[cchhaadd35]

I had some help me look at it yesterday when I was fishing a jackpot tournament, it looks like the centerline of the prop shaft is only about 1.5 inches higher than the pad. Should I adjust it?

[cchhaadd35]

The whole boat shaking at 50 doesn't sound like chine walk. It should be able to hit 60 and be fairly stable even if it's not set up perfect.
Do you know a person with a spare prop you could borrow? If engine height checks out to be pretty close to right, I'd swap the prop just to make sure your prop isn't causing the issue.

I don't know anyone but I've been told of a shop in town that will let me try new props out if I leave my original one with them. I'm gonna call and see what they have