Boat Leans to Port.

[Jawjacker]

Last weekend a relative of mine came up from the States to visit us. He's an avid fisherman. I figured Id take him out to one of my favorite walleye lakes. My cousin is approximately 6 foot 1 and about 370 lbs. A big boy who loves his Beer and Pretzels. I weight approx 250 lbs. The water was a bit rough with the odd white cap. I didn't realize we had thrown two tackle boxes a k nap sack , cooler and a few rods on his side of the boat. When I went to take off and gave my boat throttle the boat leaned over to the port side quite aggressively to were I could not go faster than 20 mphs per hour. It felt way too unsafe with the rough water and boat lean. Later on in the day when it was time to go home the water had calmed down substantially . So I hammed down on the throttle to get literally the same boat lean. I asked my cousin to lean a bit toward me. The boat leveled out perfectly. The boat is a Lund Rebel 17 footer, that's been great for the last two years . Do you guys think the leaning problem was do to a heavy person sitting next to me plus gear ? This was the first trip out with my boat from last year. My boat is stored on its factory trailer that has bunks, in the garage all year round .

[58thecat]

weight distribution.....no more beer/pretzels!

[MDR]

The boat lean leveler must be off. Expensive fix. I'll give you $100 but you have to deliver
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Weight distribution makes all the difference.

[WinefredCommander]

Is this a trick question? Or are you seriously asking this?

[Jawjacker]

Originally Posted by WinefredCommander

Is this a trick question? Or are you seriously asking this?

I thought it would take a lot more weight difference to affect boat lean.

[Kurt505]

Keep the beer and pretzels on your side of the boat, that’ll keep an even keel until all the beer is gone.

I’m not sure if those rebels are more sensitive to weight and distribution than my prosport, but I was in a rebel on the weekend and it seemed really weight sensitive compared to my boat, it was a fairly even load though. We were packing a bunch of fuel and siding and what a huge difference in speed.

[Positrac]

Originally Posted by Jawjacker

I thought it would take a lot more weight difference to affect boat lean.

It would in a heavy boat, but not in something as light as a 17’ Lund. A lot of boats don’t come that balanced right from the factory. Is there a battery, kicker, full fuel tank on that side?

Do yourself a favour and install a set of Nauticus Smart Tabs SX. Best money you could spend on a small boat.

[AdamJ]

Prop rotation will cause this. Weight distribution affects it, but in this case, I will bet a case of beer it can be fixed by trimming the motor up until it levels out while on plane.
Give it a shot and let us know.
Cheers

[warriorboy10]

Way too many beers and pretzels on port side. Much larger boats can be effected by that kind of weight not distributed properly never mind a light 17’ tin boat! I run a 30’ tin boat with trim tabs and if someone decides to move around while on step the trim tabs need to be adjusted accordingly.

[Jawjacker]

Originally Posted by Positrac

It would in a heavy boat, but not in something as light as a 17’ Lund. A lot of boats don’t come that balanced right from the factory. Is there a battery, kicker, full fuel tank on that side?

Do yourself a favour and install a set of Nauticus Smart Tabs SX. Best money you could spend on a small boat.

Can Nauticus Smart Tabs be installed on an Aluminum boat?

[Positrac]

Originally Posted by Jawjacker

Can Nauticus Smart Tabs be installed on an Aluminum boat?

Yes, any boat. I’ve had them on 5 different boats now including a 17’ Explorer jet boat.

[Jawjacker]

Originally Posted by Positrac

Yes, any boat. I’ve had them on 5 different boats now including a 17’ Explorer jet boat.

Where can you buy them ?

[dave99]

I have an older Lund Rebel SS 16 foot. Although I’m a comparative lightweight at 6 foot 165 lbs, I notice the difference right away when I move my weight around. Balance seems pretty important to how my boat handles.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Positrac]

Originally Posted by Jawjacker

Where can you buy them ?

I got my last set on Amazon. The ones before came from BassPro.

I had a set on a 15’ Arima and it was a totally different boat with them on there. I ran a Yamaha high thrust 4-stroke 50 on there and the prop torque was pretty bad without them. I ran one side at slightly higher compression and it levelled the boat right out.

[-JR-]

We had a lowie that also did that .
It would always pull to one side also .
I would adjust the fin on the back of the leg to correct that ,but that would change every time less or more people would get into the boat .

[warriorboy10]

Had several tin and fibreglass lake boats and after running my ocean boat and using trim tabs imo every boat would see improved performance with trim tabs.

[Walleyedude]

Originally Posted by warriorboy10

Had several tin and fibreglass lake boats and after running my ocean boat and using trim tabs imo every boat would see improved performance with trim tabs.

X2 on this!

Everyone needs to get over the old stigma that a boat with trim tabs must be slow or unstable, it couldn't be further from the truth.

The key is they MUST be power activated, either electric or hydraulic, because the ability to adjust the trim tabs individually on the fly is one of, if not THE, best tool their is to get the best performance and handling out of your boat.

I'll never have another boat without them.

[Drewski Canuck]

Prop torque is a big thing on a light boat on plane.

An anti cavetation plate (Doelfin, Stingray, etc) will stop the motor from causing this, and will improve hole shot.

Yes a light boat is susceptible to weight distribution and it gets magnified running through waves were the heavy side digs in.

Yes house batteries on one side, etc, can throw things off themselves.

But yes any of the anti cavitation plates that bolt onto the outboard motor will stop much of what causes this problem and improve performance.

Now smart tabs, are a real help, but this is another thing to wrap fishing line around, when fighting a fish. On a large ocean boat, trim tabs are necessary where the roll through the swells can be very dangerous.

Drewski

[Fishwhere]

its 100% the weight distribution. Its amazing how even shifting 50 pounds from one side of the boat will change the balance. Once you get on plane there is a substantial difference and the boat will start to level out better. Especially if im in bad water and heavier then i would like to be i take a decent amount of care to distribute weight evenly.

[MooseRiverTrapper]

I was thinking this question was a joke lol. Your cousin weighs nearly half what that tin boat is rated for. You have to plan everything accordingly. When I had my 18’ jet boat before we got going I would say, you sit there, you sit there, you sit there and the cooler goes there. Get it balanced out nicely and have a good ride. You don’t need trim tabs.

[cube]

Originally Posted by Jawjacker

Last weekend a relative of mine came up from the States to visit us. He's an avid fisherman. I figured Id take him out to one of my favorite walleye lakes. My cousin is approximately 6 foot 1 and about 370 lbs. A big boy who loves his Beer and Pretzels. I weight approx 250 lbs. The water was a bit rough with the odd white cap. I didn't realize we had thrown two tackle boxes a k nap sack , cooler and a few rods on his side of the boat. When I went to take off and gave my boat throttle the boat leaned over to the port side quite aggressively to were I could not go faster than 20 mphs per hour. It felt way too unsafe with the rough water and boat lean. Later on in the day when it was time to go home the water had calmed down substantially . So I hammed down on the throttle to get literally the same boat lean. I asked my cousin to lean a bit toward me. The boat leveled out perfectly. The boat is a Lund Rebel 17 footer, that's been great for the last two years . Do you guys think the leaning problem was do to a heavy person sitting next to me plus gear ? This was the first trip out with my boat from last year. My boat is stored on its factory trailer that has bunks, in the garage all year round .

There is no substitute for proper weight distribution in a boat or a ship for that matter. Yes trim tabs etc. will help when moving but will also use up a lot of gas by adding all that extra drag and will do nothing to aid in the stability when not moving. Like others here I am very careful when loading my boat to keep the balance point in the middle of the boat by moving tackle, anchors, people and gear.

[CBintheNorth]

Originally Posted by AdamJ

Prop rotation will cause this. Weight distribution affects it, but in this case, I will bet a case of beer it can be fixed by trimming the motor up until it levels out while on plane.
Give it a shot and let us know.
Cheers

This.
I'm betting your motor either isn't trimmed up enough or is too small to get high enough on plane.

What size motor?
While travelling at full speed, where is the spray coming off the sides? Right beside you or quite a ways behind you?
A properly powered boat with the motor mounted at the appropriate height, and trimmed up all the way, usually takes up most of the lean on a boat. Within 1-200 lbs anyway.
After that you need to start moving weight around.
Just remember to trim it back down a bit in the rough stuff or you may start to porpoise uncontrollably.