How will flotation pods affect my boat?

Hi all,

I have a 1236 tracker build. I have a 98 15hp johnson, trolling motor, full deck, rod locker, gas, battery, gear and I'm about 180lbs so I have a lot of weight on the boat. It rides pretty low, especially with two people. When taking a sharp turn at speed back corners get real close to the water, 1-3inches. I am thinking about adding flotation pods to give the back some extra lift. I was wondering though, how will they affect my performance. Mainly top end speed and turning? I've read conflicting opinions that say you will lose 1-3mph and same say it actually improve speed in some boats. My boat tops out at 23mph. I was thinking about buying some and tacking them on with a few welds just to hold it on for a test run so if I don't like them I can take them off.

I installed them on my boat and there was no effect on speed. I installed mine to help my boat float higher and it did help in that regard, raising the water line about an inch and a half, maybe. My boat is a 1448 and is a flat bottom jon, if your boat is floating pretty level with all that weight in it, you may end up redistributing the weight in the boat. I am pretty much alone in my boat most of the time too.

How did you mount them? Did you mount them flush with the bottom and sides?

Typically I see them welded flush to the bottom at the transom with a 3 degree rake up.

I am also considering adding pods to my 1756 Lowe, in the Fall. From my reading, the main negatives mentioned were...

#1. an inability to raise the bow to counter larger waves i.e. the pods stop the bow of the boat from rising easily, even with adjustment to tilt and trim. Raising the bow can be beneficial in heavier seas.

#2. Very poor steering ability when backing down/reversing.

My interest is in making my tinny go shallower than at present. I intend to take the boat to the Boatwright folks in a Houston suburb and talk to them. That won't happen for 6 months, though.

Sorry I can't help more.
rich

I bolted and epoxied mine on, and installed them the way the manufacturer recommended. I haven't noticed any issues in performance, overall it is improved I would say. I have a flat bottom boat and try to avoid rough water so I don't really encounter large waves too often but, I can tilt my motor up for shallow water and the boat has no problem squatting in the rear and lifting the front, which by the way I don't like and was hoping that would stop with the pods. It actually runs shallower with the motor down because of that.

Here is my install. https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=42216&hilit=pods

Ryan, you need to think about your pod install. I've made them and installed a lot of them. The thing about pods is yes, they provide lift so you can float in shallower water. You do not want to be caught in choppy water with them, they don't allow the front of your boat to lift as easily as without them. Needless to say you can have water come over the front in bad conditions. I doubt you'll be out in a chop with a 12 foot boat but you never know. Pods don't help when backing up and impede making turns by tending to "dig in" when making turns. You have to be very careful when installing them that they raise up in the rear of the pod. If they don't have proper rise they have a negative impact on getting on plane. Beavertail and all the other over the counter pod manufacturers make a one size fits all pod. What I'm saying here is they don't take into account transom angles, they leave that up to the installer to address and this is where a lot of problems occur. You need to address where drain holes are on your boat if other than center locations and where transducers mount. I've done an install on a 14 foot flat bottom and they work great for their intended purpose if installed correctly. It looks like you're packing a lot of weight on a little boat. My suggestion would be that you'd be ahead of the game by moving up to a bigger boat.

Forget about backing up straight....[emoji6]

My jon boat never backed up straight even without the pods. It always wants to go at an angle.