Bass boat capable of moderate speed (20-40 range)?

[chrisalecia]

I am new to my bassboat (Skeeter TZX200). Slidemaster jackplate, 200HP Yamaha HDPI. It will motor around at idle or slightly above idol no problem. When I floor it it hops up out of the hole immediately and starts to go on plane. But I don't want to go 70mph so I back down the throttle to say 1/2, it start to porpoise uncontrollably so I drop the throttle all the way back down and try again. What am I doing wrong?

Is a bass boat capable of going 20-30-40 mph or is it slow idol or all balls out top speed? When I try and go a little faster off idol the bow comes way up. So it seems to me right now that I can go 5mph or 70mph but nothing in between??

[pmgoffjr]

Your trim angle will cure the bounces.

[Midnight Rider]

Are you keeping the engine trimmed all the way down? If you trim up much and try to got slower, it's going to porpoise. Some boats don't. The height of your engine and prop have and effect as well. Load distribution too. I can get my BassCat down to just above 20mph AFTER I have it up out of the water initially. Most any bassboat should be able to run 30 if it's set up right and is being driven right.

[Flatline]

My TR18 will idle or do 31 and up. There is no slow speed with it. A hydrofoil will help if you want to go slower

[chrisalecia]

There is no slow speed with it

Really? I'm embarrassed to admit how naive I am on this. So I can go 5-10 mph (idle), or 70+ (WOT). Nothing in between effectively?

[jimsch]

A foil should help. Chris Bailey makes them and he is a BBC member. Look him up, I hear he is on the Stroker forum

[crank68]

Chris is on the Stroker Forum ....

[fishfarm]

I've haven't had that issue at all on my rig but I run a Fury 4 and my boat would stay on plain at 22/23 mph then i installed Chris Baileys foil now I can stay on plain at 18/19 mph.

[chrisalecia]

I've haven't had that issue at all on my rig but I run a Fury 4 and my boat would stay on plain at 22/23 mph then i installed Chris Baileys foil now I can stay on plain at 18/19 mph.

Thanks for the photo. I did contact Chris.

[Midnight Rider]

Before you start throwing money at a problem that may not exist, make sure you are trimmed all the way down. Negative trim angle. Get the boat up on plane, then start playing a little with the trim until it gets up to about 40mph. Then start gradually slowing down and as soon as the boat wants to porpoise, trim down some. Keep doing that until it gets to 30, then go lower/slower.

You kinda need to let us know what prop you are running, and your prop to pad measurement, as that can play a role in things too. The trim controls the speed of the boat as much as the throttle does.

[mdtritn21]

Like Pat said adjusting the trim angle can help keep the boat on plane a lower speeds. Take the boat out and learn how it handles at different trim angles and throttle positions or basically learn to drive it.

[Flatline]

Really? I'm embarrassed to admit how naive I am on this. So I can go 5-10 mph (idle), or 70+ (WOT). Nothing in between effectively?

Dont be embarrassed. Not all boats handle or ride the same. Trimming down will help. And you should be able to ride at least at 40 mph


i will say my boat is not happy unless she's on plane

[Jb357]

Skeeters seem to be notorious for porpoiseing.

[chrisalecia]

Dont be embarrassed. Not all boats handle or ride the same. Trimming down will help. And you should be able to ride at least at 40 mph


i will say my boat is not happy unless she's on plane

Thanks, Patience is not one of my strong points! We don't have big lakes by me so it's a little difficult to really wring this thing out WOT. Biggest one near me is only 1000 acres.

I'll take a deep breath and get it out there again.

[mdtritn21]

Once that boat pops up on pad just ease back on the throttle until it starts to fall off pad then you'll have a pretty good idea how slow it will run. It takes a little time and thats why it's normally better to just fill the tank and take the boat for a ride and feel it out until you have some idea what it will do.

[chrisalecia]

Once that boat pops up on pad just ease back on the throttle until it starts to fall off pad then you'll have a pretty good idea how slow it will run. It takes a little time and thats why it's normally better to just fill the tank and take the boat for a ride and feel it out until you have some idea what it will do.

This kind of hit the nail on the head. Got a chance to get out this afternoon. The different thing i did this time was to push it a little through the porpoising. So what I did was hammer it to get it to come up out of the hole shot, continue to blast through when it starts to porpoise. Then the porpoising stops almost immediatly. At that point I'm doing about 35/40. Then back down slightly. once its on plane it just settles in. I could drop my speed back down to almost 25 before it started to come off pad. It was super smooth and actually pretty cool!

Sorry I'm new a this and the veteran's are probably shaking their heads. I realize i have to work at it and be patient - take my time.

[mdtritn21]

And burn some gas.

[OldTimer57]

Boat should run slower without any sort of foil. My 'cat will run 17-18 trimmed all the way in and hold it all day long. Will run up to 78 in cold weather. Porpoising means either grossly tail-heavy (as in too much jackplate or too much weight too far back) or else trim angle is too positive. Try trimming down all the way and quickly run it up to 30-40 and see what happens. If it runs ok there (nose-down of course) then slowly back off the throttle a little at a time, to see where it finally mushes back into the water.

[chrisalecia]

Try trimming down all the way and quickly run it up to 30-40 and see what happens. If it runs ok there (nose-down of course) then slowly back off the throttle a little at a time, to see where it finally mushes back into the water.

Yes, this is exactly what I did yesterday. I floored it up to 35-40mph. It goes up on plane fine. I do get a brief 3 seconds or porpoising but if i throttle through that it goes away. Once at 35-40 mph I can gradually reduce throttle and it will still stay on plane until about 25mph.

It was tough to get my head around the mechanics of it. Most of my outboard experience is with salt water 4 strokes. I am slowly understanding it all!