How does tackle affect aluminum bass boat performance?

[MassBass320v]

I posted this on the Tin Boats page but haven't gotten a lot of responses. Admins, of course, delete if not okay.

My dad has a Triton 19TXP with a 175 Mercury Pro XS 4 stroke. He's been struggling a bit to get it set up right, right prop, etc. He finally had the local Triton dealer take a look, and they had it up to 58mph or so, but it was empty, no tackle, no rods, not even electronics.

I noticed all the tackle he took out of it before he dropped it at the dealer, there was a lot and it was heavy, and all of it was stored in the front deck storage compartments.


Anyway, long story short, my question for those with 19' aluminum boats with 150s or 175s is, have you noticed that the amount of tackle you carry and / or placement of the tackle in the boat makes a big difference or drop in performance?


Thanks in advance for your opinion

[adchunts]

Not just an issue for aluminum boats, glass boats can also be sensitive to gear balance and loading. Keeping the heavy stuff in the back of the boat can help dramatically, along with balancing side-to-side. Seems like the lighter the boat, the more weight sensitive it is. Bass Cat has stated on many occasions that the newer heavier trolling motors can affect top end speed by several MPH. Sounds like your friend needs to look at how he is loading his boat.

[Les Young]

I had a 98 h-56 express with 135 mariner & it had it's sweet spot where the tackle load up front really effected it. It's almost like having another person up front when going to heavy. Any boat has a place where you can go to heavy & really effect the performance of them.

[n2ratfishin]

Weight forward affects any bass boat.

[176mag]

I have a Triton 176 Magnum with a 90-mercury classic. I replaced my old batteries with Lithium and lost 3-5 mph. The boat drives completely different.

[jigheadworm]

When i went from Motorguide tour to Ultrex I lost 2 mph,forward weight really makes a difference.

[FES313]

I changed trolling motors, 80 Fortrex to Ghost and removed 25 pounds or so from my rear compartments. I did this together and my next trip to the lake was eye opening. I was running bow down and lost 10+mph. I have since rearranged existing gear and I still need to fill live wells or full tank of fuel to get top end speed. It really killed my idea of going to lithium batteries. there is no way I can take that much weight off of the stern.

[Coastal Mountaineer]

Several folks have mentioned aluminum boats are more fickle to weight distribution issues and I agree. In my case, I replaced two 51lb. tm batteries with two 15lb. lithium's located in the center rod locker and replaced my 53lb. stern starting battery with an AGM weighing 75lbs. Nothing else changed.

So, I lightened my "just front of center" weight by 70lbs. and increased my stern weight by 22lbs. My boat as it came from Ranger went from a great hole shot, lots of midrange torque, and good top speed for a deep v. to sluggish hole shot, mushy mid-range and I lost 2-3 mph top end. And, I spent about $1400 for the new batteries.

For lakebouef5, it should be easy to re-distribute that tackle weight and re-gain the performance the manufacturer intended.

For me, now I've got to figure out how to get my performance back without wasting the money I spent on the new batteries by going back to my old set up.

[dwtaylor]

A guy in my club has a Ranger RB 200 and had a pretty bad, nearly dangerous experience because of what ultimately was a weight distribution issue. I think he said the boat came rigged with the trolling motor batteries forward of the cockpit and after re-rigging he put the batteries in the bilge area and the issue went away.

Get yourself a couple of sand bags and test the weight theory by placing them both at the bow, then the stern, and then mid cockpit and note performance findings. Redistribute weight on your gear according to your best performing weight distribution from the sandbag test and try again.

FWIW, a lot of guys the last 2 years on new glass boats primarily have been disappointed with the performance of their boats. Come to find out putting 2+ 12"+ graphs, a heavy trolling motor, and a small tackle shop in the bow of the boat and then run 5 lithium batteries in the bilge completely screws your bow lift and guys are buying thousands of dollars of props to get it right in the process. I have even heard of a couple elite series guys putting a sandbag in a back compartment to regain performance from lost weight due to lithium batteries.

[BMCD]

Different hulls and props act differently with loads. What some call heavy others would say a moderate load.

The lithium battery thing is real on slowing down some hulls.

[DaveBrabec]

I haven’t kept a boat full of tackle in 10 years. Just take a day bag.

[PJ-Rohlf]

1 pound in the front is 10 pounds in the rear based on the balance point of the pad when running.

[mactlman]

[Highcentered]

Some of you will say I'm full of crap for what I'm about to claim but switching to a MUCH heavier Ultrex only cost me 1mph on my '16 175txw with a 75hp 4-stroke and with vs without 50+ pounds of tackle up front didn't seem to matter either. Holeshot got a lot better though. Makes me wonder if it was the rather large displacement for only 75hp giving me a good torque curve, right prop, hull being a water plow no matter what, combo of everything helping and hurting at the same time? I know this contributes no helpful info to the thread but just thought it was strange. My pad boats always take a hit in top speed with any weight up front.

[bayouXpress]

every boat is different. Not only brands, but every single boat. Weight distribution is an art form in a tin rig though. Nearly impossible to perfect when you having different sized people getting in the boat.

[MassBass320v]

Thanks, all.