Planer board question.

[thefrenchman]

The small rope on the board (connects to the front of the board and the back of the board) needs to be measured correctly when it is installed or they will dive and sink.  If I was home right now, I would go out in the garage and get the measurements. 

Hey there

i think i'm folowing you a bit

just like when i did my boards i drilled another hole a bit further back

cause they were not pulling sideways enought

 

so you are saying that my tow line wasnt picking up enought slack and the nose was diving down

is that correct?

 

thefrenchman

[steelie1]

That's prob what I should do. Thanks for the advice guys. I think another prob is the position of my mast. It's all the way in front may have to move it back a few ft. I only run a 18 ft tinner so I don't have a lot of room. It's just that say I'm trolling west and there's a 1 to 2 ft chop my inside bourd stays tight no prob but my outside is constantly slack that's why I was thinking another keel would keep it tight?

[rolmops]

There are a few misconceptions in this post regarding Otter boards:

 

1.) There is no way a properly double keeled Otter will sink if you are "going too slow". The only way I could see this happening is if you are using a second full-weight keel instead of the half-weight keel that Big Jon recommends

 

2.) The only way an Otter will submarine is if you have the line on the board that goes to the tow rope screwed up (you have to set the correct lengths - again this is what Big Jon recommends in the instructions)

 

3.) There's no way a double keeled Otter is breaking a standard tow rope (130-150# test) from regular use. Perhaps a knot will fail, but I will put my money where my mouth is this year and pull in the board using my 80# spring scale to measure what the pull weight is when I'm pulling it back in. If it's over 80#, I stand corrected and will admit I am wrong here. But from my experience, I have been using them for years with el-Cheapo Cabelas planer line (I think it's 130# test) and it's never failed me. The planer line is around 10 bucks. That being said, it sounds like the Power Pro braided line allows the release to slide better which may be an advantage.

 

 

Disclaimer - I have absolutely no financial or personal ties to Big Jon. I have used Otters for 3 or 4 years and they have been great.

 

Good luck,

 

Chris

There is a problem.

A few years ago I was at Fat Nancy to buy a set of half keels. The person who "helped" me told me that everybody who wants extra keels must have full keels and that there is no such thing as a half keel. Then this person told me that he knows a lot more about trolling than me. That was my last visit to Fat Nancy. People who bought the extra full keel did have problems when they slowed down because the double keels did sink.

Having to special order the half keels from Big Jon instead of being able to buy them in stores is a problem and causes situations like the one I just described.

Edited March 9, 2014 by rolmops

[GAMBLER]

Hey there

i think i'm folowing you a bit

just like when i did my boards i drilled another hole a bit further back

cause they were not pulling sideways enought

 

so you are saying that my tow line wasnt picking up enought slack and the nose was diving down

is that correct?

 

thefrenchman

 

If the measurements of the line on the board is wrong, it will pull the nose towards the boat and cause it to dive.  If you dig back through old posts, Yankee Troller posted the measurements for them. 

There is a problem.

A few years ago I was at Fat Nancy to buy a set of half keels. The person who "helped" me told me that everybody who wants extra keels must have full keels and that there is no such thing as a half keel. Then this person told me that he knows a lot more about trolling than me. That was my last visit to Fat Nancy. People who bought the extra full keel did have problems when they slowed down because the double keels did sink.

Having to special order the half keels from Big Jon instead of being able to buy them in stores is a problem and causes situations like the one I just described.

The half keels are full keel with half the weight.  The original double keels did sink because guys were using them with a full weight on them.  There is no need for a full weight. 

[momay4000]

There is a problem.

A few years ago I was at Fat Nancy to buy a set of half keels. The person who "helped" me told me that everybody who wants extra keels must have full keels and that there is no such thing as a half keel. Then this person told me that he knows a lot more about trolling than me. That was my last visit to Fat Nancy. People who bought the extra full keel did have problems when they slowed down because the double keels did sink.

Having to special order the half keels from Big Jon instead of being able to buy them in stores is a problem and causes situations like the one I just described.

That's terrible man - at $75 a pop, that was some bad advice......but I stand by my original statement above that the board will not sink if you use the half-weight keel that BJ recommends and if you use the correct measurement advice on the connector rope that Brian gives above.

 

 

 

- Chris

[BAZOOKAJOE]

Atommik sells the half-keels.  The boards do start to sink at rest with both keels.