Adding weight to battery compartment?

[Rich1]

Just give up a couple of MPH and put a 4 blade on it.

[Meleagris1]

Just give up a couple of MPH and put a 4 blade on it.

I love 4 blades and I had to drop to a 3 blade - I got too much stern lift with the 4 and it ran too flat, runs better with the 3 blade. Never thought I would say that!

[Lightning 6]

Hullshot weighted battery tray.

[78Staff]

Inside the jackplate is best but bilge is fine too. The wake bags (see link above) are great, very tough and easy to move.

Interesting, I have a wake bag (or an Amazon version of it, I think) in the bilge on the passenger side with somewhere close to 50lbs of steel shot in it. Really more to offset running solo and getting more weight on the passenger/rear side, but I never though about putting it in the Jackplate. I do have a Bob's Hydraulic, not sure if still possible with moving plate and pump in the jackplate...

[78Staff]

put 3 280ah lithium batteries at 55# each back for your tm, add a 4th one for your electonics that should be enough## equal to agm group 31s. AND youll have battery for days.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DL9MNRDN...lig_dp_it&th=1

This is actually one of the reasons I went with dual 36v instead of a single 36v. Yes the redundancy is nice to have, but I really just wanted the extra 40 lbs lol.

[BigFishSteve]

Add known amounts of water to the bilge until find what you need.

Put an old acid battery back in.

Use a shot filled bag. But use tungsten shot and talk about it often.

[jrh_67]

Use a shot filled bag. But use tungsten shot and talk about it often.

Then flash it...lol

[6BOOMER]

I replaced 3 Lead Acid batteries added 3 lithiums, added 1 125 ah for electronics and a 31 Interstate. Then put a 50lb ballast in the jackplate (10in bobs) and the boat TR20x came back alive again. Best move so far.

[Bassin Bob71]

I fought this exact issue on my boat and finally solved the problem by changing the prop and lowering the jackplate quite a bit. Lower your jack plate first before adding weight.

This^^^ Never add weight to make up for a bad setup. Adjust motor height and prop as mentioned

[GEEBASS2000]

This^^^ Never add weight to make up for a bad setup. Adjust motor height and prop as mentioned

The problem is that all the jack plate adjustment and prop changes in the world won't make up for a boat out of balance and extremely nose heavy. Even the prop guy told me that.

[River-Bandit]

The problem is that all the jack plate adjustment and prop changes in the world won't make up for a boat out of balance and extremely nose heavy. Even the prop guy told me that.

Yep have a friend who went lithium on a Ranger ( 519C) and then installed three 12" graphs on the front and plus he mounted two livescope boxes in the front of the rod locker ,,,, this boat had fantastic lift before the changes ,, he tried changing props , motor height and moving heavy tackle back to the back but nothing worked till he added more weight to the back ,, he had three 50 Ionic batteries and wound up going to two 36v group 31 batteries and went back to an 31 AGM starting battery and keep the Ionic starting battery for the electronics ,, still not as good as it once was but it's way better now ,,, people don't seem to understand how adding even what we consider not much weight to the bow of a boat can effect things ,,the ol fulcrum and lever thing is quite real

[jjue1979]

Yep have a friend who went lithium on a Ranger ( 519C) and then installed three 12" graphs on the front and plus he mounted two livescope boxes in the front of the rod locker ,,,, this boat had fantastic lift before the changes ,, he tried changing props , motor height and moving heavy tackle back to the back but nothing worked till he added more weight to the back ,, he had three 50 Ionic batteries and wound up going to two 36v group 31 batteries and went back to an 31 AGM starting battery and keep the Ionic starting battery for the electronics ,, still not as good as it once was but it's way better now ,,, people don't seem to understand how adding even what we consider not much weight to the bow of a boat can effect things ,,the ol fulcrum and lever thing is quite real

I probably forgot more physics from engineering school than most people ever learned. I’m still running the two group 24 AGM batteries in parallel for cranking and electronics to add weight back to my transom due to lithium batteries for trolling motor, two fishfinders and Ultrex on the bow, and extra rods and gear. My 40 year old boat never had a jack plate installed and wasn’t designed for all of this gear. Just simply rebalancing and adding more weight to the transom area helped me get boat speed back up to 57 mph at WOT, and I remember doing 60-61 mph runs when I acquired the boat from my uncle in 2007.

[chad202]

This got me thinking. Since just about all boat companies have a thin plate between the transom and motor bracket, why not just make it thicker and made out of tungsten or whatever metal that is heavy? Could even put a bend at the top and have it screwed to the top of the transom like the little chrome plates. Could make it is different weights to optimize everyone's setups. This would be out the way, blend in with the boat, most effective way to add weight back lost by lithiums if needed.

[Thamelau]

If you want to maximize your setup, you keep the same weight and shift the center of gravity to where it previously was and will likely have to lower the jack plate. The way to get the center of gravity back to where it originally was is to move light stuff forward and heavy stuff back. Think soft plastics, tools, terminal tackle, anything metal, etc. to the back and lifejackets, hard baits, extra clothes, etc. to the front.

[Bass Cat Boats]

Leveling a boat is one topic. A boat not performing is another.

As many have said, lowering the engine and possibly changing a propeller are the answers when one changes any setup and weight distribution. we’ve said this ever since the lithium weight loss has been a discussion.

All of our products are faster without more weight, be that tackle, persons, livewell water, batteries and fuel. They gain speed when setup right. The same it true with any vehicle, boat, plane etc… This is not a balance issue, it’s a weight reduction and lack of compensation, or adjustments, in other areas.

[PatriotAW4]

Why go though the trouble of rearranging everything and moving your tackle to the back so you have to go back there every time you need something when you can simply just add the weight back to the rear that you lost and get your performance back? Seems like a way better solution, who would want all of their tackle in the back?

[chad202]

Although I agree that moving the weight to the rear, lowering the motor and possible a prop change should correct the issue, some are not wanting to put their tackle in the back deck. My last Allison didn't have storage in the front deck so all my stuff was in the rear. Now that I have a traditional bass boat, I like having my tackle up front where I fish. I truly believe moving the motor back 4" would be the ticket but don't want to spend money on that at the moment.

A 1/4" tungsten plate 18"x18" weighs roughly 56lbs. Replacing the plate I already with this seems like it would be a good idea if trying to get some weight back if needed.

[Zone18]

Why go though the trouble of rearranging everything and moving your tackle to the back so you have to go back there every time you need something when you can simply just add the weight back to the rear that you lost and get your performance back? Seems like a way better solution, who would want all of their tackle in the back?

I would...have always liked my tackle in the rear compartments. Seems its not the popular norm though.

[PatriotAW4]

I would...have always liked my tackle in the rear compartments. Seems its not the popular norm though.

You like going to the back of the boat every time you need to get into your tackle, what do you keep in the giant storage comparments up front that are made for tackle?

[Zone18]

You like going to the back of the boat every time you need to get into your tackle, what do you keep in the giant storage comparments up front that are made for tackle?

I have a nitro...back compartments are designed to hold 3700s. Only keep plastics up front for quick access, and whatevers on my lure magnet under middle hatch. To me there is no difference...its not a long walk to the back of the boat, and I start my day with at least 6 rods pre-rigged. There are days I never even go into storage.
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