side to side action

[Fishermanjm]

why does this boat go back an fourth from right to left when i'm going at idle speed down the channel??? is this normal or what? i ment to ask this earlier in the season... i have found a spot in the steering where i dont have to keep turning the wheel, butt the boat will go left than right,,, its a pain,,, my skiff doesnt do this,,, is it the deep V hull??

[gcarter]

They all do it.
Frustrating isn't it?
Some will say to drop your tabs, or change your trim....
What ever reduces it is good

[MOP]

Simple just put the tabs all the way down it will run straight as an arrow!

[Morgan's Cloud]

A single DP unit takes care of the problem !

(oh , the trait is commonly referred to as 'hunting')

[MOP]

Steve I figured you would jump in! Yes it is a single engine/propeller deep V issue, it in tech school many years back was explained. A propeller tends to walk off in one direction as it does it pulls the stern in that direction, as the stern moves over the water pressure builds and finally over comes the prop walk. The boat gently sways back the other direction until that side of the hull loads up then cycle starts over again, the wag at idle will go on forever. Simply dropping the tabs down kills the action, with standard sized tabs full down is needed. K planes require a bit less tab is needed though I have a few friends that control there idle speed with the K's.

[Morgan's Cloud]

@ Phil . . lol , Your response was as expected as your explanation ! !

Although it's a phenomenom I've experienced in many boats , I got so used to it in the St T that I could anticipate it in advance and could subconsciously maintain a straight line without even thinking about it.
Mind you , to any uninformed passengers , it probably looked damn strange why the boat was going in a straight line even though I was always messin' with the helm.

I always found the tab trick to work well , even though it never completely eliminates the hunting , it does reduce by a large factor the number of degrees that the boat wanders from port to stbd. Although this will vary from one boat to the next based on it's C/G.

It still takes a while to get used to the fact that I no longer have to correct though thanks to the whiz bang qualities of the DP.

** Now that I think of it , I once or twice experimented with it to see if over a long course it averaged out and I would end up in the same general direction and it doesn't even come close **

[Pismo]

The less steering you do the straighter it will go. The more you try to correct it, the more you will wander around.

[RickSE]

I agree with Pismo, just point it where you want to go and let it wander. It'll go back and forth but it evens out.

[biggiefl]

"I agree with Pismo, just point it where you want to go and let it wander. It'll go back and forth but it evens out. "

That depends on how narrow the canal is and if there is a cop nearby who would think your wasted. I'm with Morgan, kinda second nature. It is not really the deep V as it is the I/O. I have owned many Deep V hulls with outboards and they don't wander much at all.

[VetteLT193]

even my ZX wanders as does just about every other deep V I have ever run while going slow. It's a nature of currents and everything else on top of the single prop. On a deep V one side of the hull tends to catch a current, etc and it wants to head a certain direction.

If you turn the wheel before it wanders (i.e. anticipate the wander) you can go straight as an arrow with minimal steering input.

[MOP]

Why wear out your steering? Got to be honest I sit here giggling, how many of you go a fair distance through tight creeks or docking areas? Why not do with precise control? Try the tab trick you will be pleasantly surprised.

[Fishermanjm]

i will try that this weekend Phil

[Planetwarmer]

Just run on plane everywhere! (That) problem solved.

[Marvair]

Tabs down.....Throttle up.



Marvin.

[VetteLT193]

[ QUOTE=$originalposter]{$pagetext}[/QUOTE]

The tab trick helps the most based on the ratio of tab to boat size. on a classic the tabs are basically huge relative to the size and weight of the boat so it really helps. on my 28... not so much. it helps a little but it's not a miracle worker.

I have run boats my whole life and I don't even think about the wander anymore. it's second nature to anticipate the wander and steer but when my wife gets behind the wheel she always brings it up complaining the boat doesn't go straight!