boat too much power for trolling? solution!!

[fieromx3]

well it may have been said/posted before. i have see people have a plate on there cavittion plate that they fold down over the prop to troll with and up to go all out speeding.

what i did because it was free for me lol was get two 5 gallon buckets (square works best) and drilled two 2'' holes in the bottoms of each and 2 holes at the top for rop to pass through and tied on release clips to clip on the transon hooks/eyes.

my boat is a 16' tri-hull bow rider with a 50 horse evinrude. before at idle my lowest speed was about 3.9mph now with these buckets thrown out i had to give a little bit of power to maintain 2.9mph.

pic: this is only pic i got sorry for ow

[Lund SSS]

Let us know how much you like it when a 30+ lb. king wraps around your pail .... might want to just adjust the low idle screw on the carb of your motor. Would think a 50 hp outboard would troll at around 2.0-2.5 if properly tuned. My 60 used to troll at 1.8 pushing a 16' Sea Nymph. Sure it was lighter than your Tri-hull.

[711skwerlz]

I use buckets tied to my front cleats,same effect out of the way. My 16ft sylvan with 40 hp Johnson will do 2.0 with buckets and 3.2 without.

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[DoubleG]

I use buckets tied to my front cleats

I use buggy bags but I would definitely tie them to the front cleats.

[Chautauqua Tony]

I'd probably just bite the bullet and drop the 100 bucks on a happy troller. That's gonna suck the first time a fish gets wrapped around that rope. Looks like its in the perfect place for it too.

[ Post made via Android ]

[NitroMusky]

I use bags off the front too for the same reasons mentioned previously but I have found there is an art to how far back you set them as, at least on my boat, they make the steering increadibly touchy...acting like a pivot point that swings the ass end around quickly on turns, or when not paying close enough attention

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[W.W.IV.]

I've got a 50 on a 16ft. lund and can run from 18 up,some days it gives me fits stalling so I will run one bucket short down the chute. So far so good. I found that when I lower the motor to run I leave it tilted a hair above level. But like Lund S said have your carbs adjusted. Also I ordered the Happy troller and it didn't fit my motor so I sent it back. One of the other brands makes one for 50hp and lower, check Cabela's Cat. Good Luck.

[LongLine]

Not necessarily the carbs...more likely the prop.

Dragging a 5 gal bucket can be a very effective way to slow you down. However, it can introduce other problems. What I found that works well is to make a harness that is clipped onto both rear eyebolts in the transom. The harness has a pulley. Replace the bucket handle with a rope and then tie a rope from bucket to pulley. (This is the same principle as water skiers use)

Adjust the length of the harness so that the pulley cannot fall below the cavitation plate on your motor. The motor will then always throw its propwash into the bucket. Turning the motor just a little will always clear the riggers and this has no effect on the steering whatsoever.

The 75 on my 18 ft’r will do 2.0 at idle but will go down to 0.5 with this setup. (slow enough to pull X5 & U20 flatfish)

Tom B.

(LongLine)

[BAZOOKAJOE]

I have the trol-a-Matic plate on my 90 hp mercury. You will lose some top end. But it will troll down to 1.0 mph.

http://www.savvyboater.com/store/p/879- ... Plate.aspx

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[W.W.IV.]

Longline ,thats the same setup I use, no problems.

[Has Been]

I have been running Buckets since I had my first boat back in 1976. I run one off each side of my 21 ' F glass hard top. Take pail & drill about 15 , 3/4" holes in bottom. remove wire handle. Drill 4 holes across from each other in handle rim & make harness . Tie rope to that & attach midship. I adjusted mine to be forward of my outdown riggers.

You can run one or both. I adjust my speed w/ them more than using my throttle. Going into a chop or in the ditch they seem to stabilize my boat , but you will use more gas. If They are both out & I hook a big one, I drop them both in to slow down . Can't tell you how many times I saw fish down , pulled the pail and within seconds a rod went off.

They do tend to bounce off the side of the boat, but it hasn't done any damage to the boatsince I got it new in 1986 , no scratches or dents . I am so used to using them & they are so easy to retrive /deploy,I don't want anything else.

Never can I remember a fish getting around one , or any other problems. I find stacks of them on the jobs . FREE.

I had a plate, I hated it. 3.9 at idle is fast, try to adjust your motor.

[Edd]

I have the trol-a-Matic plate on my 90 hp mercury. You will lose some top end. But it will troll down to 1.0 mph.

http://www.savvyboater.com/store/p/879- ... Plate.aspx

[ Post made via iPhone ]

I used this plate until I switched to the Mercury Smart Gauge with Troll Control. Make sure you use stainless bolts with nylon locking nuts. The plate works like a champ and you never worry about bending or breaking it if you forget to trip it. It's all automatic!

Edd