Will a hydrofoil help level a small boat with a 2.5 hp motor

[Mizzie]

Hello, Sorry to intrude on your thread but I have the same boat as you and have a question similar to your problem, rather than make a new thread, I figured I'd post here.

I also have the same problem of the bow raising and transom loosing free board under power with me on the rear bench. I have 2.2hp Mercury, which is actually faster than I was expecting when I bought it. I'm 210lbs and with me alone it moves pretty well, slows down with a passenger but still gets to the spots and beats rowing or charging trolling batteries every night. Anyways, Here's a picture of how my motor is trimmed, in order to fix the bow raise problem, which way did you tilt the shaft? (reference my picture, towards my boat(left) or towards the garage(right) ). I couldn't exactly understand what you meant. Also, I have about 2.5" before the bottom of my keel is lined up with my engines cavitation plate. I know on bigger engine boats that it's a big deal to have them lined up, however with a 2.2hp, would I see any difference in raising it to line up with the bottom of the boat?

And after you trimmed your engine so it would ride better with just you, did you have to change it back to the previous trim when a passenger is aboard ?

Thanks and sorry again for the thread intrude!

Mike

 

[Buddychrist]

I found an actual use for a hydrofoil on my 25 hp mercury outboard!!!

It holds the motor level when i lay it flat to work on it

 

[nlester]

I moved the prop forward, closer to the transom. It seemed to help or at least I feel more confortable with it. It is just me 99% pf the time. If I did have a second passenger, I would expect that to improve my trim and I could probably move the prop back to help with performance.

Once I was close, just a little bit of of movement seemed to make a big diffence. I was prepared to used shims if necessary. A search of this site and other sites provides some good suggestions so that you have a better understanding about what is going on. I don't know that my prop postion lifts my little boat as much as it does not push the stern down. How much your prop postion affects you boat position is better anwered by some others on this site who have more experience than myself.

As far as the stablizer goes, it makes a good step to get yourself back into the boat if you find yourself in the water. I found my self in a situation once andI was glad that I had read this suggestion some place. Yes, I always wear my PDF with a whisle attached and there are always a few boats on my lake. At my age, it is a long way up over the side to get back in the boat and using the motor got me back in. I could have left the boat on the lake and shore was not far away.