SS Hazard to Navigation

I took my Jon boat out for the first time. My nephew and I went out on the fox river to test out the boat and do some fishing. All went well no leaks and the transom didn't break. No fish either. There are 7 blinds on the 6 miles of river we traveled. I talked to another jon boater/hunter who was out with his 2 dogs a retriever and short haired pointer. He was testing out a 20hp mercury on his 16' 60" boat. He has hunted that stretch of river for years untill he moved. We saw around 100 ducks and some geese only 6 miles from home. Looks like it's going to be a good duck season.
The motor ran great too.

Good to hear everything went well.

The only thing that was odd was when I was going full speed straight ahead the bow of the boat would drop down and the motor would rev up but we would slow way down. I would have to slow the motor and start up again. I think I need to adjust the tilt of the motor or add weight up front?

If the bows digging in don't think you want anymore weight up front.
Just try tilting it first.Probably need more weight in the back.
Is your shaft the right length for your boat?

The plate above the prop should be 1 to 1.5 inches below the bottom of the transom.That is what most motor install manuals say that I have read.

Your prop is blowing out and losing it's grip on the water.

It could be because you boat is too heavy for the prop or the trim angle is too high.

Zum said:

If the bows digging in don't think you want anymore weight up front.
Just try tilting it first.Probably need more weight in the back.
Is your shaft the right length for your boat?

Click to expand...

It's not that the bow digs in. I was running fine on plane then the bow would just drop. I moved the anchor up front and it seemed to help. It only did this a few times otherwise it ran fine. I'm going out again tomorrow and will try adjusting a few things and see what works best.

Quackrstackr said:

Your prop is blowing out and losing it's grip on the water.

It could be because you boat is too heavy for the prop or the trim angle is too high.

Click to expand...

The boat is pretty light only things in it are 2 seats 15# anchor 6 gal fuel me 200# my nephew less then 100# 3/4" plywood floor on 2x3's. The prop is the original. I will play with the trim angle.

Short shaft motor on a 15" transom.

Congrats on a successful first voyage. As others have said, I'd first check that the prop-shaft is at least a couple inches below the bottom of the boat, then start playing with the trim, trim it down if the prop is blowing out. I wouldn't worry about bow drop until those two things are squared away, the bow drop problem is most likely related and will go away once the motor height/trim are setup correctly.

The original, worn prop on my old 1448 flat bottom acts a lot like that and the boat is bare bones with no flooring and no seats. Two people could probably set the thing off of the trailer if they had a mind to. The spare that spun the hub is in mutch better condition (before it spun the hub) and doesn't blow out or drop the bow.

If yours is worn enough it could be a prop issue.

Quackrstackr said:

The original, worn prop on my old 1448 flat bottom acts a lot like that and the boat is bare bones with no flooring and no seats. Two people could probably set the thing off of the trailer if they had a mind to. The spare that spun the hub is in mutch better condition (before it spun the hub) and doesn't blow out or drop the bow.

If yours is worn enough it could be a prop issue.

Click to expand...

I will take a good look at the prop. From what I've read it's a 8 1/4 x 8 1/2. Which should measure 4 1/4 from the outer edge of the blade to the center of the shaft?

That would be 4 1/8 from shaft to tip. The second number on a prop is the pitch.

A prop won't just wear on it's outer diameter. The leading edges of the blades will wear as well. My worn prop has almost 3/16" worn off of the leading edges of the blades as compared to the one that I have with a spun hub.

Thanks.

congrats on your outing