trim on motors

[joshagius]

g day all my names josh i am a new owner of a quintrex 435 coast runner 2006 model with a 40hp mercuray with trim and tilt.

i am after some advice on how to have the motor trimed when riding at different speeds how far up or down should your motor be trimed to get maximam plane and a sufficent ride ?

[Jeremy]

trim the motor in when you are starting off and want to get up on the plane. Once up on the plane, trim it out. Your ideal trim setting is determined a bit by the conditions. On a flat day you can trim it out until it starts to cavitate. You can determine the optimal setting by the sound of the motor and also you will find as you trim it out that the speed will increase to a point. In rougher conditions, you will not want to trim it out as far to prevent too much bouncing of the nose.

As you get more time up on the boat, you will get a better feel for the correct trim setting.

Jeremy

[garman1]

I have a 4.3 mtr quintrex estuary, my brother gave me some tips on setting the trim and tilt (he may not be right though) if you trim it in the boat with lean to port and when you trim it out it goes to starboard, the steering wheel actually turns as you do this .... somewhere in between is right. As I said this was his rule of thumb and no doubt many others will have different views on this. I am still experimenting with the settings on my boat but I am using my brothers advice at the moment.

[Lovey80]

Garman1, Trim (angle of the motor adjacent to the keel of the hull) should have absolutely nothing to do with the way a boat leans IMO. Jeremy has hit it on the head. Usually the lighter the load the further trimmed out you can have it for it to get on the plane but trimming in will get you on the plane faster. Once on the plane trim the leg out as far as it goes until it startes to cavitate then bring it back a little. As it getts choppier the boat may lose bite and cavitate momentarily as the nose is forced up and down, trim it in a little further to stop this happening.

You will notice that your top speed on a flat day at WOT whilst trimmed out to the best setting will be a lot higher than trimmed in and you can lower the revs for best economy. If that makes sense.

Cheers Chris

[Kleyny]

What jeremy and lovey said is what i do.
It seems when i'm at cruise speed only 1 3rd of the hull is in the water.

neil

[garman1]

Next time your out guys let the steering wheel go and trim in and out and watch the steering wheel turn port then to starboard and also listen to the engine.......................then let me know where the "sweet spot" is........ I am curious as to why my brother who has boats for yonks uses this method. If you know the sweetspot for your boat, see if it matches where the steering wheel neither turns left or right but remains in a straight line by itself........... come on be curious......!

[Kleyny]

Next time your out guys let the steering wheel go and trim in and out and watch the steering wheel turn port then to starboard and also listen to the engine.......................then let me know where the "sweet spot" is........ I am curious as to why my brother who has boats for yonks uses this method. If you know the sweetspot for your boat, see if it matches where the steering wheel neither turns left or right but remains in a straight line by itself........... come on be curious......!

Gday Garman.
Hows those plastic things going for ya. Caught any decent fish yet?

My under standing of your boat going left or right whilst under way comes down to load postion and the angle of the skeg that sits on top of the prop. but i could be wrong.

I personally cant see lifting the motor up or down can change your boats course unless one of the above mentioned is out.

But i will check it out next time i head out.

neil

[garman1]

Thanks Neil, all I ask is to try letting go of the steering wheel and then trim in and out while listening to the engine revs and speed.

Ahhhhhhhhh the plastic thingies.......... mmmmm due to recurring health issues and work, no tow vehicle, mates with tow vehicles but no time etc etc all the plastic thingies are still in packs.

I have a tow vehicle now and gotten over most health issues etc.

So my plan for the new year is,
1 To be on the water as much as possible and
2 Hooking something that swims in the water on plastics.

not much to ask for surely, if things get really sad I am calling into morgan seafood on the way home and buying a snapper etc just to prove the boat wasn't a waste of money...................must remember to take it out of the plastic bag first before I walk in the house eh.

[FNQCairns]

In good conditions and at any cruise speed and above I will always trim to where the engine is happiest by watching the tacho and the GPS speed, when close i keep 'blipping' the trim out until the GPS shows no appreciable increase in speed, often a little further trim out than this can gain just a tad more efficiency (speed) with a relatively large rpm increase (say 150rpm) by introducing some air but it's easily ruined by a wave or even some wind that will knock it back and necessitate touching stuff again.

Every boat is different but in the style I use mine it's often typical to travel 20km or 30km without touching the throttle again, it's actually a game I play to stay interested - try and set it early and comfortable for travel then see how far I can go without touching it again.

When it's rougher I will do whatever works to reach an early planing speed and give up on the efficiency stuff as it's pretty well shot anyway, if It's too rough to reach a planing speed that doesn't slam then the bloody forecast was wrong and I would have stayed at home had i known.

cheers fnq

[Jeremy]

Thanks Neil, all I ask is to try letting go of the steering wheel and then trim in and out while listening to the engine revs and speed.

That is not going to work with non-feedback steering, so I can't help you on that one.

Jeremy

[joshagius]

cheers jeremy and lovey80 will give it ago thanks for the tips about getting on the plane quicker was very helpful have a good day and fun fishing.