Trim setting

Ambush

Ambush

Member
I'm trying to figure out how to trim my boat by looking at the wake is that a godd way to do it?

Can anyone explain this to me?

Thanks
 
once on plane, trim up till it starts hopping, then trim down till it stops, then just a little more down, you should be fine. In heavier sea, you may want to trim it more down to make the ride better, or trim it up some to keep the spray down, each boat has its own preferences, just take you time and play with the setting till you find something you like
 
I come out of the water w/motor trimmed all the way down...this minimizes bow rise and keeps everything out front visible...most efficient way "Outta the Hole"...once up, you'll feel the steering wheel to be hard to turn...trim it out til the wheel turns easier, plus you will see the tach rise a notch or two and hear the motor do same as well...if you have a sharp turn to make, you may want to trim motor down to prevent "prop blowout"...this is when your prop loses its "bite" in the water because the boat's hull is up on one side of the V-shaped bottom, generally results in the motor revving up...had you trimmed down, this would not have occurred...
So trim down outta the hole and in tight turns and trim it out to cruise...if your bow starts bouncing and won't stop, trim down a little at the time till it does...THAT'S where you wanna be...top of motor should appear level to water surface...

TIP: If you come outta the hole each time trimmed full down like I do, once on plane, establish a COUNT...for instance my Honda got to the right trim on count of 3 holding the trim button up....The Merc I have now is a touch slower and gets to the correct trim on COUNT of 4...could be difference between 20" motor(Honda) and 25" motor(Merc)...takes longer lower unit more time swing out...or just a slower trim...
 
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I always trim motor all the way down before going to the tabs. Then adjust till i feel good, my tabs will change my ride in a count of 1, so i have to be careful! But once in the right spot they are great !
 
macojoe said:
I always trim motor all the way down before going to the tabs. Then adjust till i feel good, my tabs will change my ride in a count of 1, so i have to be careful! But once in the right spot they are great !
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Yeah, Joe...tabs are a whole 'nother issue...I was returning Rob and his crew up the ICW into a stiff wind the other day...it kicked up a pretty good chop we were headed into...motor down helped, but tabs woulda put the sharp end INTO the chop and helped a LOT!!...
 
I hang around some fast watercraft at times. They skim along trimmed to get the maximum ammount of boat out of the water. The faster they go the less wake they produce. Chine spray moves further back as the speed increases and the bow starts to rise. If you have anything dragging it will throw up some spray around the motor, you know things like that.
If you had to leave your trim at a preset level I would start with it tucked and work my way up until it did something I didn't like then drop back (same procedure as previously mentioned with power trim).
Ambush, nice looking rig.
 
Hey Ambush, nice rig ya got there! I've got bout the same setup as you. Where I launch my V, its a canal about 2-3ft deep so I keep it trimmed up some till I get out into the Chowan River. When I get to 5 ft. of water under the boat I trim it almost all the way down and come up on plane. Most times I gun it almost WOT and start trimming it up till it starts to porpoise a little and then I trim it back down just a bump. It gets the best fuel economy and runs fastest when trimmed out correctly. When you get up on plane and to the desired speed just bump the trim button up and down and listen to the motor and you'll hear it change from a lugging sound to an easier , smoother running sound. Hope this helps.
 
Try throwing a jack plate into the mix, and it gets REAL confusing getting the 3 of em set right for every condition. When I had my flats boat I would run teh jack plate up til it would lose water pressure, then drop it down an inch, trim it out till the engine would be just above level, and then stop the bounce with the tabs. O nan I/O though, be careful not to trim it to high if your trim limit switch isn't working. Alot of people bypass them because they fail often, but without them you can overtrim the drive and bind the u-joints.
 
You will also notice when the motor is trimmed just right the boat will steer left and right much, much easier. I don't like to run with the motor trimmed all the way down (except out of the hole) unless I absolutely have to because of the tension it puts on the steering system.
 
Blue_Runner said:
You will also notice when the motor is trimmed just right the boat will steer left and right much, much easier. I don't like to run with the motor trimmed all the way down (except out of the hole) unless I absolutely have to because of the tension it puts on the steering system.
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I agree...it's gotta add a lotta strain to your cable & helm workings w/motor down considering how much easier the steering becomes when she's trimmed out correctly...
 
it's also kind amazing at how much less drag you get with the motor trimmed up. when you take off in all down mode and get on plane watch how the spray from the side moves toward the stern as you trim up. all down the spray is coming off about the windshield(like reels sig pic) and with it trimmed right it moves back to about where the rear bimini strap is.
 
1. Bring boat up on plane with engine trimmed down.

2. Start trimming up engine.....can trim up till the prop starts loosing its bite and
( sounds funny from exhaust), then trim down just a little till sounds " normal".

3. Can also trim up till boat starts to " porpoise" meaning the bow rides up and down.
Then trim back down a little till the boat's riding flat again - not up and down.

This assumes it's calm enough and you're not pounding the hull on waves.
You'll want to keep the engine trimmed down to force the bow down when it's rough or else you'll pound heavily.

Trim tabs increases this range of trim - and allows you to work it in concert with the engine trim.
 
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