HELP!!! Maiden voyage w/ my new to me Gambler (formerly LD's Gambler)

Well I took my 2002 2100 Gambler out for its maiden voyage. Let's just say I had a lot to learn. Early on I discovered that the oil buzzer was going off. Oil tank was full, so I went ahead and put a gallon of oil in the gas to ensure that it wouldnt blow the motor up since I was not going to throw in the towel this early. The prop I have on her is a 28 Trophy 2 worked by DAH and turned down to 27 (I bought it from Thundercat). He warned me it might not be balanced, and boy did I figure that out in a hurry. Anytime I broke 64 mph the boat porposed like crazy. The fastest I got her going was 75 mph, but it was not sustainable due to the porpoising. Another issue I had was hole shot. It seemed that the 250XB would really wind up when I hammered down on her. It was like she wasn't wanting to unload. Once she finally unloaded and got going she got on plane fast, but it seemed to take about 10 seconds for that to happen. Also I am learning the trim tabs and hydraulic jackplate manipulation. I determined that I would leave the plate alone and just mess with the tabs . I would start with them all the way down along with the trim, and then as I planed out trim them back up along with the trim. This worked ok, but occasionally the engine would act like it wasn't ready to be on plane yet, so I am not sure if I trimmed up to fast or what?

The boat is at the marine dealer getting the oil buzzer checked out right now. It would basically buzz 4 times about every two minutes.

Sorry for the long post, but I need all the help I can get.

Thanks,

Josh

Are you sure it was porposing and not chine walking. That is about the time the will get squirrely and you have to start driving them. It's interesting to say the least the first few times out but seat time will help with that tremendously.

It could have been chine walking, but if so it seemed rather extreme. Any suggestions on how to drive through it? It was basically dipping to one side then the next at speeds over 65 mph.

That's chine walk. About the only advice I can give is seat time to get used to it. I wouldn't recommend trying to drive through it. Get comfortable with it at a speed then go a little faster and get used to driving it at that speed and so on. It took me probably 10 hours of nothing but driving mine before I was comfortable throughout the powerband. The more you drive it, the more it will become second nature.
As far as the hole shot, every boat / prop is a little different. I have my jackplate set at about 3, trim just above all the way down, and tabs all the way down. My 27 Bravo spins up to about 3800 before it grabs and the boat jumps out of the hole. The rest is a process of going up. First tabs all the way, then trim about a little less than half, then jackplate up to about 4.5. I've got it down to sitting still to 74 in about a minute and I'm still learning.
Dwayne
P.S. 04 2200 with a 250EFI and 10" Bobs jackplate.

YOU ARE OVER TRIMMING IT BEFORE IT GETS UP TO SPEED!

You will find it easier to drive if you let it build up to speed with just a little more than neutral trim. Just bump the trim up a little bit at a time to see how the boat reacts to the trim.

If you are running solo, fill the left live well. Actually, the G boat is easier to drive with a full gas tank and wells, untill you get the feel for driving a Gambler.

JAZII

When you get the boat up to 65+mph, keep steady pressure to the left on the steering wheel. It doesn't have to be a whole lot, definitely not enough enough to cause you to drive in diagonal's up and down the lake lol, but just enough to feel steady resistance against the wheel. I'd imagine you were holding the wheel with some slack in the steering, with the boat on a direct path straight forward when it started walking on you?? Pressure to the left offset's the chime walk at high speeds. Even with the left pressure though, it will still begin to dip back and fourth eventually as you continue to gain speed. With the constant pressure to the left, when the nose starts to dip to the right, drive through it by turning a little more to the left than the constant you are holding. The turning action will offset's the dip and let you drive out of it.
Gambler's are a different breed than most all other bass boat's when it comes to driving, but once you get used to them you will love it. It's funny to have new people in the boat that have ranger's and champion's, and amaze them with the effort it takes to drive a Gambler accompanied by the performance that results from it. It's even funnier to let them try and drive http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/Laugh.gif

Just remember, keep pressure to the left and crank more to the left when it starts walking, and you will get the hang of driving out of it sooner or later. It just takes time to get used to it.

Yea, trimming is another thing about Gambler's. If you are throwing much if any spray behind the motor, then you are trimmed too high. Once you get on pad leave it trimmed down until you get moving pretty well. Then start bumping up on your trim and you will feel the entire boat lift out of the water. You don't want to trim so much the nose up in the air unless your just cruising, it will be impossible to drive like that at high speeds and dangerous.

As far as the jackplate goes, you need to measure your propshaft to pad level. The sweet spot seems to be from 2"-2.75" below the pad on most gamblers. Once you locate what settings on your jackplate gauge will give you that motor height, you know where you need to be when on pad.

Also, I'm not sure on the XB, but there is probably an oil tank under the cowl that could be low on oil causing the oil beeper to go off. Take the cowl off and make sure it's full.

I took me a couple of weekends before i could drive mine thru the chine walk,,,,, it just takes seat time,,,,,youll eventually get the feel for it messing with the jack plate and trim... http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/thumbsup2.gif http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/thumbsup2.gif

It will take approximately $500 in fuel before you get the hang of it. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/thumbsup2.gif

These things are truly their own breed, and balance is huge. The weight balance thingy has been extremely frustrating to me.

On the trim, I had a horrible time. It is really hard not to over trim due to the FASTER acceleration. The BUMP, BUMP, BUMP of the trim is a great way to learn. Try 5K RPM wide open throttle, BUMP trim wait 10-15 seconds, BUMP trim wait 10-15 seconds, repeat until you get to the desired RPM's @ WOT.

If you want to GO FAST you will have to DRIVE the boat and just like a race car seat time is the way to get that accomplished.

Keep us posted on the progress. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/thumbsup2.gif

Been there, DONE THAT.... SEAT TIME SEAT TIME SEAT TIME.......It took forever to learn to drive mine, but now it's second nature....

As far as chine walking, the best way I learned to get through that was to take the wheel, when it started walkin, and shake it continuously left/right/left/left/right/left 1/8th of a turn just keep snappin it left left left then right.... Gently but steady and you'll see your speed increase 5mph easy...

Do that about 30 times, by the you'll be watching your GPS instead of thinking about what you're actually doing.. THEN, HALL ARSE! http://www.bassboatcentral.com/boardstuff2/beers.gif

That prop you have is a 26 worked for holeshot and not top end. The best top end you will see with it is 80 when all the stars are aligned perfectly,and its sensitive to trim. Not the best driving or top end prop out there, but if your into river fishing its a must have. Your side-to-side issues are like Jazz mentioned. All over trimming issues and not chine walk. drop it back down to neutral trim and learn how to drive the boat before you go for big numbers with a different prop.

If its worked for hole shot, there must be something wrong with the motor, because it seems to get really bogged down before finally being able to release and plane out. Has anyone else ever had that issue w/ a 250XB?

The prop says its a 28 Trophy Plus, and thundercat told me it was down pitched to a 27.

What height do you have your motor at when your coming out of the hole? Do you have it trimmed all the way down? A 27p should shoot you out of the hole on a 250xb.

I have the jackplate set on 4 based on what I have read on here from other 2100 owners.

Might be a different prop than the one i sold along with the boat to tyler. The motor could be bogging down from the motor being to low,wrong PVS plugs.

4 as in 4th spot from the bottom on the gauge? That's where I run mine, but you should measure your propshaft height anyway. I'm pretty sure there's different adjustments to mount the motor on the jackplate. That way, you will know exactly where your at height wise in contrast to your gauge. How many plugs are you running?

4 as in 4 on the guage. I am new to the whole performance prop game, so I know very little about props. I basically know that I have a DAH worked 28 trophy plus that has been turned down to a 27. I am hoping to figure out why i cant get the engine to jump right out of the hole instead of seemingly bog down for 10 second and then finally load up and explode on plane.

Need to know ?
#1 do you have any PVS plugs in the prop and if you do how many/and what sizes
#2 Is there a prop-ring on the barrel of that trophy
#3 How low is your motor / If you dont know just give a jackplate number and what holes the engine is mounted in
I would also add to my previous post about the plug wire being bad or even off. Does this bogging issue happen "all the time every-time". The reason I ask is because the 250XB is a real oil/fuel heavy motor, especially at an idle. If you are idling around with the motor trimmed down to far you will have the exhaust relief buried in the water. On initial take-off you would not only be trying to get up on plane (when a motor needs all it's available power) your also trying to clean up the unspent fuel and gases from idling. In your initial thread you said something about adding more oil to the gas because of an alarm issue. Thats all fine and dandy,but now you might be running a 25:1 fuel mixture and even possible higher number at idle.

if there was nothing wrong with the oil system, and you dumped a gallon in the tank, that could make the xb very sluggish...as far as holeshot..set the plate dial on 3, trim all the way down, tabs all the way down , and if it wont get on plane you have motor issues for sure...you should never need to move the plate from 3, or 3 1/2...and the pvs plugs are critical on the holeshot ..i used to run one hole open, and 3 large plugs, but the prop needs to be right....and start slow on the trim...very small bumps at a time, untill you get the feel of the boat...that was a one hander when i had it...
LD

I figured out I was overtrimming both at top end, and while putting the boat on plane. Things went much better today, and I got her up to 77.5 before having to back off. I appreciate everyone here's support and help while I learn how to run this rig.

Thanks,

Josh

Good deal, take your time and have fun, thats right at where I started to get jittery while driving, you'll get the hang of it and not even realize your doing it.

<table width="90%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=center><tr><td>Quote, originally posted by jjherting &raquo;</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">I figured out I was overtrimming both at top end, </td></tr></table>

One of the best pieces of advice given to me when I was getting used to the way a Gambler handles was From Sandy Sandell http://xs-s.com/zf/images/smile/emthup.gif It works flawlessly and is so simple its great.
#1 Take a level and place it on the deck of your boat. Raise or lower the jack to bubble level position.
#2 take a smaller level (Like a torpedo level) and place on the motors cavitation plate. Trim in or out to bubble level.
#3 Sit in the seat in a position you will be driving under. Turn the key on, take a small fine point permanent marker and make a mark on the gauge face of the trim gauge where the needle is now pointing.
#4 You now have your reference point of neutral trim. http://xs-s.com/zf/images/smile/emthup.gif You can tell at a glance where the motor is without waiting for the bad feel of an over trim or under trim. Just a touch above that mark is where the sweet spot is.

cowtrimmer it is a 28 repitched to a 27, your prop was sent somewhere else to someone else to use... that was a total different trophy

SEAT TIME is the answer. I have been driving mine almost every weekend. When I first rode in mine and would cross 70 the chime walking freaked me out... eventually i learned how to over come it. The prop cowtrimmer was talking about I got to run 78 one day, but since then i have had the boat well over 80 a couple times, and i could be running 75 and not know it because of how comfortable I have become driving this thing.

Once you get use to it, you will enjoy every minute of it! http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/thumbsup2.gif

Come on trashy, you cant spare a few minutes to run up there and give him a few pointers. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/thumbsup2.gif

If you become uncomfortable, back off slowly until you are stable. Then accelerate again and as has been said, a great little trick is to "drive it" or short little jerks left, right, left, right left, right, etc. this will keep your boat stable all the time as you move into the upper 60's low 70's and beyond. Everyone on this post is right. Seat time in Gamblers, Bullets, Allisons, Stokers is necessary to get comfortable with driving a high performance bass boat at higher speeds. You'll gain confidence with seat time. I learned in a Bullet 15 years ago and the first day I had it I almost died ! Hang in there and stay confident but smart about your own limitations until you are seasoned. Hope this helps. The previous posts on trim are important as well.

Sam

I'm curious as to what rig you had before this, if this is your first ride i'm surprised you didn't take for a test ride and get pointers from the previous owner. that's the impression i'm getting anyway. Great advise from everyone, good luck and best wishes to you on your new ride.