Lets talk about Triton"Chine Walk myth"...and what its really doing :)

[mike curtis]

Hello Guys to those who do not know me..my name is Mike Curtis I've worked for Earl most of my adult life...I started out being one of his engine techs when he was racing during the 70's and ended up at Triton R & D for many years testing and tweeking with Roark Summerford all the boats Roark designed for Earl at Triton...I now work for Engineering at Mercury Marine....so lets get to the action...Chine Walk boy I could right a book for you guys.. simple answer: When a Triton boat nears the 5800 rpm level or 60 mph range the boat is now just starting to run on the pad...thats where the fun begins...you know loose is fast haha,anyway,think of the steering wheel at that point just as a high wire walker uses his balance beam to keep him from falling off the wire...the steering wheel is NOW your balance beam..ALL TRITONS ARE THE FUNEST SAFEST BOATS I HAVE EVER HAD THE PLEASURE OF BEING ASSOICATED WITH..ok ..Earl goal was not to have the fastest Bass Boat on the market but the fastest Fishable tournament boat on the market...we all know that Allisons and Bullets are fast..but they are the most unforgiveng boats to the novice...I know..I've been thrown out 4 times in an Allisons ealier on in my career...I have never been thrown out of a Triton...getting back to chine walk...chine walk is the inability of the boat to stay balanced on the pad by itself...therefore many boat builders add wedge on the outside corners to add"training wheels" to the bottom so to keep a positive down pressure on the hull just as toe in works on keeping a car running straite on the road......in the case of an Allison...there is little or no wedge is on the bottom..this reduction of friction or what we call paracite drag allows the hull to be free and run the fastest..but you must NOW use the steering wheel as your only means to keep the boat standing on one foot so to speak...then there is the other end of the scale such as a Ranger where there is alot of wedge but has the most control stability but at a higher cost to speed from the increase in the parasite drag...so Earl had us, mainly Roark to hit at the middle or just above...this is why you guys see some instability above 60mph with an increase of instability in each increase mph in speed....I WILL POST HOW TO GET BEYOND THIS INSTABILITY TOMORROW C-YA! :) Mike C<br /><br />
Modified by mike curtis at 10:33 PM 12/1/2011


Modified by mike curtis at 10:41 PM 12/17/2011

[triton2010]

good video

[backlash75]

Good video. I'm picking up my Triton 19X2 tomorrow. This will be my first Triton so this will be something i'll have to learn. I noticed he talked about his "pucker factor". I'm sure i'll have one too until i get confortable with the new ride. I'm moving from a 18.5' ProCraft with a 150 Opti to the 19X2 with a 225 Pro XS so it'll be an all new learning experience. Can't wait.

[dazy_cutter_45]

could watch it everyday just for the tune. Excellent taste in music and boats

[mike curtis]

Listen Guys who run Fury props...its needs at least 1 to 2 PVS plugs installed into the propeller...leave one or 2 out ..I would use the PVS plug with the largest hole in it...prop math is this:: when you ramp up the demand(throttle) the exhaust blast blows out the side of the prop and rolls out along the tip of the propeller to cavitate it so the engine can get into its power band quicker(beginning at 2200rpm) but too quick is too much and the engine will not have enough leverage to push the boat up to 27mph to get the nose down @ 3500 RPM/40mph...so we have to find the "sweet spot" on how much slip we want to give the prop to trick the engine to the power band...it is trial and error though....one note to remember, a Fury is kind of like a Tempest thats been blue printed and balanced & blades thinned, so it will ramp up quicker than a Tempest with "all of the PVS plugs installed"....so keep that in mind..if you take a Fury and install all 3 PVS plug into it and take a stop watch and do some dead stop to wide open throttle launches and then pull all of the out and repeat the test, you will quickly see that the hole shot has suffered with the plugs out....install all three and try it, then pull just one out...you will see that leaving 1 to 2 PVS plugs in Fury prop will be better than none...especially on a Tourny ready boat...now if you are talking about a light drag bass boat style set up, then by all means pull them all out, just remember, a Bass boat set up for a B.A.S.S or other Tournament contests, will make the boat weigh in about 1000 lbs heavier than one with just a engine battery,half the fuel load one person, and no gear...Thats alot of relief for the engine.....Guys, normal Tourny Bass Boats weigh about 2500-3000 lbs...yea, heavy...considering that Earl's Tunnel Race boats with V-6 Mercs that I took care of only had to weigh in at 1050lbs Earl included(yea, the boats and Earl was a little lighter then and thats why he ran over 125mph..sorry Earl, you and I have gained some weight in our old age LOL)...also,Roark Summerford's Merc v-6 powered STV Tunnel that I won the Super Stock 3 championship with ran 127mph only weighed 1570 with me included....the Optimax's today do alot of work to get a 2500 lbs plus bass boat to move past 70...ALOT, along with no small credit to boat designs...keep your eye on the ball and focus on one thing at a time, results will happen....Talk to you soon, Mike Curtis/Product Application Engineer/Mercury Marine

[springchiken]

hey mike, im running a 2006 tr196 200 opti with an 8 in cmc please help with set up?

[IndianOutlaw!]

hey mike, im running a 2006 tr196 200 opti with an 8 in cmc please help with set up?

2.5-3 inch below the pad and a 26 tempest

[usmcvetTR-21]

driving through chime walk really isn't a complicated thing, it took e a few tanks of gas to master it lol but from my experience just remember when you see the boat first start to slightly tilt to the side, your boat will almost always tilt to one side first "the heavier side", mine is to the right tr21, my dads tr22 tilts to the left and my grandfathers tilts to the right so every boat is different because of gear, weight of driver, batteries etc... just steer against it with a slight jerk "just enough to put tension on the wheel in most cases" in the opposite direction of tilt, it is important that you learn to spot this quickly, in most high performance boats if you don't catch it right when it starts "within 10-15 seconds" its gets harder to stop walking the more it rocks side to side. if anyone has any questions about it feel free to send me a message. I have had to jerk from the 12 o'clock position on the steering wheel to 9 or 10 o'clock hard a few times when running in the mid to upper 70's but I do not recommended it unless you really know your boat and personal limits.

[Mark Weare]

Georgianbay,

That hull will perform best with approximately 2 1/4" to 2 1/2" below pad settings. Sounds like you may have the L2 1.71 gearcase yet, if so, the 26 is probably too big for your rig, you need a 25 balanced and blueprinted. Also, remove plugs from the prop to get the take off rpm up a little bit and help increase hole shot efficiency. This should raise rpm's, reduce chine walk and help overall performance. Also, given the big load you carry, look too at a Trophy prop to help give you stern lift, that may also benefit you.

Lastly, start a regular thread in the forum here and more guys will probably help chip in with some information.

[Georgianbay]

Georgianbay,

That hull will perform best with approximately 2 1/4" to 2 1/2" below pad settings. Sounds like you may have the L2 1.71 gearcase yet, if so, the 26 is probably too big for your rig, you need a 25 balanced and blueprinted. Also, remove plugs from the prop to get the take off rpm up a little bit and help increase hole shot efficiency. This should raise rpm's, reduce chine walk and help overall performance. Also, given the big load you carry, look too at a Trophy prop to help give you stern lift, that may also benefit you.

Lastly, start a regular thread in the forum here and more guys will probably help chip in with some information.

Hi Mark.

I am trying it today at 3 inches because of my water intake on that e tec. going to try with all plugs at 1/2 inch and possibly take them right out as you suggested. just worried about water pressure. I had it at 3.5 inches and was getting 73.1 mph but horrible hole shot loaded up.

Wish me luck.

I have posted this in the proper area and sorry for posting here guys.

Im a nub here and a previous off shore owner that had a 500 hps in it, these outboards are like riding a bicycle for the first time again LOL You can't beat the sound of an outboard screaming down the lake though !!

[TritonJohnny]

Mike,

I am new to Tritons and I love the one I have. I was hoping you could give some advise on a good base line setup for a tourney loaded boat that will almost always carry two people. I have only had it on the water a couple of times now but like to get all I can out of them.

2012 20XS with a 250 ProXs. 25p Fury. 10" manual jackplate and 2 power poles " In case weight makes a difference "..

Right now the hole shot seems fine. Gets up as fast or better than my Z7 loaded after I did a ton of work to it. The area I want the most help is chine walking. I know how to drive it and counter for it, but this boat seems to be a little harder to control so I end up running the trim down a touch to get bow back in the water and it runs straight. I can run it this way and get just under 70mph with no walking. But bump the trim up and go WOT it immediately starts walking and its hard to stop it. I would guess the motor height is stock and never been messed with from the factory settings. I have not measured it. I know that raising the engine height should actually help the walking, but where would you recommend I start? I can always go out and test it by raising a little at a time until I lose a little water pressure then drop it down a little, but having a starting point takes a lot less time.

Thanks for the help

Johnny

[thorp]

I am dealing with the same thing, same boat and would appreciate any help along the way.

[Bigron119]

Hello Mike,
I have recently acquired a '99 TR-21 and I put my '02 Honda on it with a 6" jackplate. My WOT is at 63 medium load. So far I have only encountered minimal Chine Walk at 62 mph so I don't think I have to really worry about it. My question is this about the Chine Walk- I have looked at the bottom of the hull and notice a flat "pad" that starts just forward of the center of the boat on the keel and extends to the back. This is a FLAT pad. It would seem that the boat would be stable on this flat surface vs. a conventional Keel extending all the way to the back. I would assume that chine walking would be MORE with a keel boat than a Triton with the flat pad. Just curious if the other Triton models have this flat pad or is it just my TR-21 and maybe that is why I am NOT getting any Chine Walk OR maybe my Tug Boat speed is not fast enough for Chine Walking?
thanks,
ron

[PowellSixO]

What size honda did you put on your boat, and what rpms are you turning? I don't think you are going fast enough to get severe chine walk, but I could be wrong. With my boat it would start around 62-63 mph, and would get worse as the speed increased. Once I learned how to drive it, I don't get anymore chine walking. It may get a little loose on me every now and then, but it is easy to correct. When I first got the boat, the first thing I did was run it up to 67-68!!!! I just about threw my uncle out of the boat, and I almost $h!t my pants.

[Bigron119]

I've got a Honda 225 running 5800 rpm's with a stock lower unit. If I had the Sabre high speed then I could expect 3-5mph more. I think you are right that I am not getting fast enough to fully encounter the chinewalk effects. But was wondering why a boat with a flat pad could chine walk at all. I would think a flat pad is more stable than a keel pad? But I don't know about hull designs.

[PowellSixO]

What prop are you running? You should be going a lot faster than 63 mph.

[Bigron119]

I've got a PowerTech 23 and also a Honda 25. I tried the smaller diameter Tempest 25 but it is not enough prop and blows out on holeshot and if I get up on plane it only does 55mph with 5800 rpms. My main restriction is the stock lower unit. It is not a high speed unit like most other guys are running and also my motor is an upgraded 200 to a 225 via ECU and the other mods so I am not sure if I am getting the FULL potential of a REGULAR 225. My only other option is to go to a 21" prop and try and gain the 200 rpm's up to 6000 since a Honda doesn't redline until approx. 6400 (so I have been told. nobody will claim the redline limit! LOL)
I have raised it to the best performing height and from recommendations from other Triton/Honda owners. I just don't want to get into the Chinewalk at 62 and not have enough to "push through" it if my best/max is 63 mph. What would happen if I put WEDGES on the Boat to lift the Nose higher. I know some boats run nose high but I am not familiar with the Triton yet.

[Jeremy S]

There is no "push through" of chine man, you just have to learn to drive it. It's not hard and once you do it the first time, it will become second nature so quick you'll unconsciously do it all the time and keep the boat straight and level.

[Bass Wolf]

Mike, just a question - I'm running an 08' 21X2 DC w/ 250XS on a 10" manual plate and 26P Fury (1 small PVS), and 4 Optima batteries. Assuming pad to shaft height is correct, and with an average tournament load (3/4 tank of fuel) - what would you expect the GPS speed to be @ WOT? Currently, I'm only getting 60-62 mph GPS out of her WOT at around 5800 rpm's or so (never chines, either). I realize the X2 hull is a little slower than the HP hulls, but I feel like she should be riding a little faster under prime set up (mine may not be prime, have to check her - I did not do the set up). Ran a TR21 prior to this and she ran 75+ mph GPS @ WOT (no problems running through the chine). I don't expect the same performance due to the hull difference - just looking for some feedback on what the 21X2 should be giving.

[tom luciano]

Thanks Mike I have a TR 21 with a 250 XS and the chine walk starts at 72.2 MPH. I have tried many so called tricks but nothing has solved the issue. So I am very interested in everything you have to say. I have listen to guys say you can steer thru it but I have not been able to do that. I have owned the boat since new so no one has played with it. Thank You again Mike, I will be listening to your knowledge.