Trimming the drive?
 

I have a 24 foot boat with a 454 Mag with KPlanes.
How far are you trimming out the drive when you are running? I am having a tough time trying to determine if I have the bow high enough. I run faster in the midrange with the prop down? But the bow feels to low. If I trim it out in the midrange, It will start to porpoise. I am typically running in 1-3 foot confused chop. I am running a 25" Mach Stern Driver prop. I am going to run a 24" BravoI next time out. I would like all the input you could give me on how you run your boat.

Thanks for the input.

Re: Trimming the drive?
 

for top speed trim it up. If you over trim it the boat will be way! loose. ANd will pick up usually too much rpms. For mid range nutral trim is usually good. Getting on plane tuck er in. For following seas trim it up a bit because the bow will want to stick to the waves for oncoming waves just the opposite.

Re: Trimming the drive?
 

Your boat will run totally different in 1' waves vs. 3' waves.
I have not ever tried a Mach prop so I can't comment on that. I have run Mirage and Mirage+ 3 blade props, stock and modified Bravo One 4 blade, and today I tried OH-Zone's Hydro P5-X.
Bravo 1 props are good out of the box and great when modified for extra bow lift.
In water 1' and less I run without tabs an with varying amounts of trim. The faster I'm running, the more I trim up.
In 3' waves I would run with my tabs at neutral and then trim the drive accordingly.
With the right prop and some seat time, you we learn how trim her and eliminate the porpoise.

Re: Trimming the drive?
 

How was the P5-X?

Re: Trimming the drive?
 

Awesome!
I could tell there is more stern lift and overall lift than a Bravo 4 blade, but the boat still ran vary stable.
I'm not sure how the extra stern lift would effect the ride in the rough???
It probably would have been just as fast as the B1 if it was the right pitch for my boat.

Re: Trimming the drive?
 

Hey Razor,

What year is your hull? Step or pre-step? With a 454 Mag you should be able to turn a 26 bravo. I think without spending a ton of $$ on some exotic prop, a Bravo1 is the best for the 24 Super. I run a 28 straight out of the box.

My hull is a '98. I find that my hull doesn't require a lot of positive trim. Over trimming is a good way to get in trouble. I have "neutral" marked on my drive and trim indicator. In 3' water I would be at neutral settings for tabs and drive. 2' a little more trim and a little less tab. On flat water, tabs all the way up and some positive trim but not too much. If you have a GPS you can easily find the sweet spot. Keep trimming till you notice a DECREASE in speed. The bump the trim down slightly and your there.

Re: Trimming the drive?
 

Well Said Dave!
I run my 1997 straight V exactly the same... :cool:
I ran my 28p Bravo 1 box stock last year and had it modified this off season to raise the rpm a little and to increase the "sweet spot". The Hydro P5-X is an awesome prop if you have the $$ to spend, but a B1 will do the trick... :cool:
If I'm running slow, say under 40mph, I do sometimes use the tabs to run more stable.
Happy Boating! :drink:

Re: Trimming the drive?
 

One other observation. depending on what kind of boat you are comming out of or were used to. In the 24 with the drop out bolsters you actually sit quite high in the boat which when looking forward gives you the feeling that you are running more nose down. Ihad the drop outs in my 24 as well. This was the first sensation I got when I had mine. Superbash put the sitdowwn buckets in his 24 similar to the 30 Y2k and the lower position was MUCH BETTER! Porpoising could be due to overtrimming it as well as the inability of that prop to carry the bow.

Re: Trimming the drive?
 

Bash's Ride

Re: Trimming the drive?
 

And yes that is SNOW in the last picture!

Re: Trimming the drive?
 

That's true. When i am sitting in my boat it doesn't look like the bow is up. But, in pictures it looks just right. :cool:

Re: Trimming the drive?
 

Exactly.....
Great shot!

Re: Trimming the drive?
 

Dave your ride looks GREAT !!!! Plenty of bow lift. !!!! Hey Ga, SUPERBASH does have a sweet ride !!!!!! :evilb: :evilb: :evilb:

Re: Trimming the drive?
 

Yeah...Kinda miss him around here. I do check on some of the S&F threads....

Re: Trimming the drive?
 

Thanks for all of the responses, I will try to answer as much as I can. Sorry for such a long post...

Previous boat was an old SeaRay 220SRV, no tabs, little power, and very heavy. Top speed was probably very low 30's. This is my first "Power Boat" and have never even been in anything similar. I wish this wasn't such a guessing game for me.

I only have around 10 hours behind the wheel of my Superboat so far. Top speed I have taken it to is 63, The boat seems to run better at 40+ than below. Where I run (Lake Saint Clair, between Lake Huron and Lake Erie), their will almost always be confused chop between 1 and 3 feet. Rollers coming from many directions.

I have a 95, no pad or steps....
I have not run the 24" Bravo yet, I received this and the 25" Mach with the boat.

Unfortunately, I do not have indicators for the K's. The Indicator for the drive is nicely hidden under the steering wheel. I do not have and room to put them in unless I put the indicators where the trim switches are now and put all the trim switches on the throttles. I would change out to a Livorsi throttle with 2 switches on the throttles with 1 switch for the drive as an add on switch.

I do have the stand up bolsters, although I drive seated in them. It just feels like the nose is low, maybe it is just a mis perception on my part behind the wheel.

Also, when you guys say "neutral", I have no idea what you are talking about. Sorry. Maybe I really need those indicators.

I would love to talk to someone about what it feels like, I just do not know how to describe it. Should I just get the indicators, mark them and go from their?

Thanks,
Brian

Re: Trimming the drive?
 

Neutral means parallel with the bottom running surface forward of the k-plane. My suggestion in lieu of the indicators(which by the way your suggestion on setting then up is perfect)would be run the boat with them all the way up which for the most part you should be running cause the boat generally doesn't require their use. Then drop both tabs to the point where you start to see the bow react down then tab up a split second and they should be neurtral. A good way to determine in tour head as to where the tabs are is to count in your head the time it takes to get to the neutral spot. This of course is provided that both trim pumps work the same speed. I also would check how fast each one goes from full to full down to see if they are similar or not and take that in to account. Honestly indicators are nice but seat time will give you the seat of the pants feel of tab input. Best to get out there (by yourself as not to scare passangers) and play with each tab. Careful though if you have the 240-s k-planes there are substantial in both their size and effect. Easy does it at speed with those bad boys...

Re: Trimming the drive?
 

get mechanical indecators they are the best ones

Re: Trimming the drive?
 

Thanks, Trick Marine said they could get me setup with everything for under a grand. New throttles with the 2 switches and the third add on, Indicators and the mechanical indicator for the drive. Is this to much money?

Re: Trimming the drive?
 

Post some pics of your boat. I managed to fit everything I need on my dash. I moved my ignition and fuel gauge down, added a voltmeter, depth finder, and indicators. To me, the indicators are very important and I am gladd I have them.

Re: Trimming the drive?
 

Gary has given some vary good advise in this post... :cool:
Mechanical indicators would be a great addition but not a necessity.
The first year I had my boat I had a difficult time getting used to the large 280 K-planes. They do have a large effect with just a touch of the switch. I had all the parts picked out to add the mech indicators, then I ran out of $$ for upgrades and my buddy Dave M. never found the cable lengths for me, so I didn't add them. By the end of the season I got the feel for how the boat reacts and during the past 4 seasons I have found a lot more goodies to spend that $800 on.
Be patient, and run the boat, you figure her out... :drink:

Re: Trimming the drive?
 

Hear is a pic, seems a little crowded to me.

Re: Trimming the drive?
 

Those pop up indicators are sweet

Re: Trimming the drive?
 

A little to expensive and I have a a garmin 172c on top now.

Re: Trimming the drive?
 

I found a pic of my setup. I had the pod for the throttle which IMO was much better. You can get that from JC @ Superboat. If you look close, my tab switches were infront of the throttle(though on the throttle as an add on would have been better).

Re: Trimming the drive?
 

I think I found the optimum trim setting! Actually, I was just looking for an excuse to use this pic! :evilb: :D :drink:

Notice, that little black tick on my indicator is level with the bottom. My hull doesn't seem to need much positive trim to get the best speed.

Re: Trimming the drive?
 

Vary Nice!
Now how do you run 80mph with your glasses off? :p

Dave with a stock 28p Bravo, my boat did require a lot of trim.
Now with the modified prop, not so much... :cool:

Re: Trimming the drive?
 

I wear these goofy darth vader looking glasses when I am running. Then when I stop I put my cool glasses on! :cool:

http://www.guard-dogs.com/shop/produ...d69dfba9af46f3