Tiller outboard motors and trim

Post by **Zzippper** » Mon Jul 30, 2007 7:40 pm

I was just reading a posting on another forum discussing how to best trim out an outboard equipped with power tilt/trim and it got me thinking...

My tiller outboard's trim can be manually adjusted via an adjustment 'pin' (not sure if this is the correct term - but I'll stick with it for the time being)

I bought the boat and motor second hand and just stuck with the 'pin' setting the way it is. For the most part, it works OK. I can get the boat to plane out fairly quickly. If I am alone in the boat, planing take about 5 seconds. With a partner - 5 to 10 seconds. With my wife and 2 kids - 10 to 15 seconds (in relatively calm water).

However, if the water is moderately wavey and/or I am driving into a moderate head wind - the boat strugges to plane out . I have to get my wife and kids to move forward in the boat to get it to plane.

The 'pin' is currently in the second position - meaning that I can snug it up to the boat's butt 1 more setting - or - go the other direction about 3 or 4 more settings.

Any advise?

Post by **beachburger** » Mon Jul 30, 2007 8:46 pm

The owner's manual will likely state that the pin should be set to the position where it is parallel to the transom and adjust from there.

5 seconds seems to be a long time to get on plane. How big is the boat and motor? What is the boat's HP rating? Is there a lot of stuff in the back of the boat?

Post by **Zzippper** » Mon Jul 30, 2007 10:00 pm

14 ft Aluminum - 25 HP 2 Stroke.
No - there is not alot of stuff in the back of the boat.

Post by **Fish'n Technish'n** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 7:47 am

On my last boat (14' aluminum w/ 25 -2 stroke) I added a Doelfin to the cavitation plate to help with planing. WHAT A DIFFERENCE!! The boat planed almost instantly unless it was fully loaded but an added bonus was how stable it was in rougher water and it would turn on a dime with out tilting over much. It would also STAY on plane at much lower speeds. As soon as the warranty is up on the new one...it will have a fin added. I got the last one for $25.
If you don't want to "fin" it by all means trial the pin in different positions until you find out what works for you.

FT

Post by **Mick** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 5:27 am

Zipper

if you drop the trim into the most vertical position, you will plane quicker. However, you'll get more top end with it trimmed up. A bit of a balancing act for sure, something you can experiment with depending on how much weight you have in the boat and where it is displaced.

Mick