Looking for Boat Whisperer in Lower Mainland

[Kiwi Canuck]

I have taken delivery of a Stabicraft 2050 Super Cab recently and would like to have an independent expert look it over and fine tune the boat/motors/props and see if it's setup properly, we have done 2 water tests to setup and calibrate the electronics, which went well but it exposed a few issues with the install of the kicker motor and a few other issues including issues with the trailer.

After the first water test I discovered the kicker motor tie-bar was bent and during the investigation stage of looking to see why it got bent, I looked a bit closer at the workmanship on the kicker motor install, after a few hours of measuring and watching YouTube videos, I discovered a few setup mistakes that there was no way to correct without starting from scratch.

Setup is Yamaha 150HP with Yamaha 9.9HP Kicker

The original install had the motor offset to the kicker motor bracket, apparently because the Tie-Bar kit wasn't long enough which created clearance issues when tilted so they "modified" the kicker bracket.

I purchased new parts from McMaster Carr to build a better tie-bar, as all the kits I found online only come with a 24" rod and this setup needed at least 27", the new parts from McMaster Carr are so much better than the kits available online and didn't cost much more if any.
I ordered some heat shrink to cover the threaded rod and it worked out well.

Here's the list of parts if anyone is interested.
https://www.mcmaster.com/93250A269/
https://www.mcmaster.com/6058K74/
https://www.mcmaster.com/7856k47/

I could have taken it back to the dealer to fix this issue, but I love figuring this stuff out and I get to learn something new, so I jumped in and relocated the kicker motor, made a custom bracket and I'm very pleased with the results, but I still need a more experienced independent tech help with the final setup of the motors/prop etc, as I'm not able to do this on my own, and I don't think the tech who set my boat up originally is the right guy for this.

Now the trailer setup I can handle myself, big learning curve but not that difficult, it's amazing how bad the basic setup or lack of setup as delivered, the boat would not sit straight on the trailer due to the bunks misaligned and the winch was all offset, the jockey wheel was a cheap piece of junk, I expected better for a $14,000 trailer.

I ordered a new jockey wheel from this company, I called them to discuss what would be suitable for my setup and they recommended the XO500 model.
They are an Australian Company but have a warehouse in Surrey BC so it should be delivered this week.
https://www.kakaducamping.com/products/xo500-off-road-trailer-jockey-wheel

So if any of you know a guy who's well regarded in setting up motors/props I would appreciate the referral.

David.

 

[zurk]

aah. nothing like a new boat.
took me 1.5 yrs to get mine to good status. probably take 3-4 years for my new one.
you will get it settled eventually.
unfortunately haney marine got bought otherwise they would have been able to do it.
Fulton F2 is what i use - https://www.fultonperformance.com/product/1413050334_f2-jacks-twin-and-wide-track
throw on teflon bunk sliders - highliner can supply you. slap 8 coats of interprotect 2000e on the hull in alternating grey/white. throw a brick of these on : https://performancemetals.com/collections/commercial-anodes/products/hc23a-10-lb-bolt-on-hull-anode

 

[Corey_lax]

aah. nothing like a new boat.
took me 1.5 yrs to get mine to good status. probably take 3-4 years for my new one.
you will get it settled eventually.
unfortunately haney marine got bought otherwise they would have been able to do it.
Fulton F2 is what i use - https://www.fultonperformance.com/product/1413050334_f2-jacks-twin-and-wide-track
throw on teflon bunk sliders - highliner can supply you. slap 8 coats of interprotect 2000e on the hull in alternating grey/white. throw a brick of these on : https://performancemetals.com/collections/commercial-anodes/products/hc23a-10-lb-bolt-on-hull-anode

Haney is under new ownership since February. Not the Bluewater clowns that went out of business. Same mechanics that have always been there since Joe was the owner.

 

[Max123]

Not an expert by any stretch, and I'm also having some fun going through this process on a 'new to me' Jasper Marine Orca 18. One word of advice I would offer is this: get the motor mounted at the correct height before playing with new props, or playing with tabs.

The general rule is this: When the boat if planing at cruise speed, the anti-cavitation plate should be visible above the waterline and should 'skim' along the surface of the water. Just get someone to hold the wheel, and then take a look over the transom (take a video for reference if you want to share with your mechanic). Likewise, you should have a good range of trim settings. If the prop is constantly blowing out/ventilating, the motor is likely too high. If you porpoise, or need to run with the trim all the way down - likely too low. While the best way to lift a motor is with an engine lift/chain block in a shop, I've also had great success doing this myself using the 'trailer jack method'. 20 minutes to lift/lower.

In my experience the outboard on both of my boats was mounted too low, and its important to get it right before you do anything else. Even one hole means you are dragging an extra 3/4" of motor through the water. It kills your fuel economy, the handling sucks, you reduce top speed, and also means that you can't get select the correct prop. In both cases, I talked to a mechanic and they both recommended a hydrofoil rather than re-mounting. I fell for that once, and regretted it after later getting the motor mounted correctly. Repairing/rigging a boat is one skill set - commissioning is another separate skill set. In my experience, the initial rigging tends to be conservative.

While you are at it, look at the transducer. These are often mounted too low as well and throw up a lot of spray. Take a look at the manufacturer's mounting detail. Typically the transducer mounts are slotted and have about 1" of easy adjustment. On an aluminum boat the transducer is often mounted on a bracket, so its easy to re-drill if you need to move up without needing to seal up any holes.

 

[Max123]

I'm curious about the trailer setup, maybe you could provide any websites/reading that informed your trailer setup. I've got a pretty basic Roadrunner, and I'm never sure if I have the weight balance right and I'd be curious about how to align the bunks. I've found that I still get a lot of 'bounce' at the bow stop when driving over a bump and I'd like to fix it.

For the trailer jack, I'd actually recommend a fixed unit with a footpad rather than a wheel. Way more stable for a heavier boat. Thought I wouldn't like it, but in retrospect I'd never go back.

 

[CIVANO]

I'm curious about the trailer setup, maybe you could provide any websites/reading that informed your trailer setup. I've got a pretty basic Roadrunner, and I'm never sure if I have the weight balance right and I'd be curious about how to align the bunks. I've found that I still get a lot of 'bounce' at the bow stop when driving over a bump and I'd like to fix it.

For the trailer jack, I'd actually recommend a fixed unit with a footpad rather than a wheel. Way more stable for a heavier boat. Thought I wouldn't like it, but in retrospect I'd never go back.

one way to stop the bounce scroll up or down

 

[Whole in the Water]

That's what I use for my boat - works great!

 

[BC Coast Pilot]

Does it turn to Port better than it turns to starboard when on the kicker?

 

[pescador]

I use these for my rear tie downs, and use one on my bow eye winched down to stop bow hop along with my safety chains and winch belt.

 

[Kiwi Canuck]

Not an expert by any stretch, and I'm also having some fun going through this process on a 'new to me' Jasper Marine Orca 18. One word of advice I would offer is this: get the motor mounted at the correct height before playing with new props, or playing with tabs.

The general rule is this: When the boat if planing at cruise speed, the anti-cavitation plate should be visible above the waterline and should 'skim' along the surface of the water. Just get someone to hold the wheel, and then take a look over the transom (take a video for reference if you want to share with your mechanic). Likewise, you should have a good range of trim settings. If the prop is constantly blowing out/ventilating, the motor is likely too high. If you porpoise, or need to run with the trim all the way down - likely too low. While the best way to lift a motor is with an engine lift/chain block in a shop, I've also had great success doing this myself using the 'trailer jack method'. 20 minutes to lift/lower.

In my experience the outboard on both of my boats was mounted too low, and its important to get it right before you do anything else. Even one hole means you are dragging an extra 3/4" of motor through the water. It kills your fuel economy, the handling sucks, you reduce top speed, and also means that you can't get select the correct prop. In both cases, I talked to a mechanic and they both recommended a hydrofoil rather than re-mounting. I fell for that once, and regretted it after later getting the motor mounted correctly. Repairing/rigging a boat is one skill set - commissioning is another separate skill set. In my experience, the initial rigging tends to be conservative.

While you are at it, look at the transducer. These are often mounted too low as well and throw up a lot of spray. Take a look at the manufacturer's mounting detail. Typically the transducer mounts are slotted and have about 1" of easy adjustment. On an aluminum boat the transducer is often mounted on a bracket, so its easy to re-drill if you need to move up without needing to seal up any holes.

Thanks, a member here has messaged me so I'll reach out to him for help getting the motors setup, I'm pretty new to this so I certainly need the help.

 

[Kiwi Canuck]

I'm curious about the trailer setup, maybe you could provide any websites/reading that informed your trailer setup. I've got a pretty basic Roadrunner, and I'm never sure if I have the weight balance right and I'd be curious about how to align the bunks. I've found that I still get a lot of 'bounce' at the bow stop when driving over a bump and I'd like to fix it.

For the trailer jack, I'd actually recommend a fixed unit with a footpad rather than a wheel. Way more stable for a heavier boat. Thought I wouldn't like it, but in retrospect I'd never go back.

I watched many youtube videos on boat trailer setup, I'll see if I can get links for the better ones I watched, I also used a scale that went to 200 KG's so I was able to measure the amount of weight I had on the tongue.

The setup guide I was following suggested 10% of loaded trailer weight as max tongue weight and that was my target, the truck (2022 Toyota Tundra) felt better after the adjustment, I moved the winch post back about 3.5", it went from about 370lbs to 340lbs, so I was going in the right direction.

I have received the new Jockey Wheel from Kakadu Camping, may install it tonight, it looks awesome with 10" dual wheels and quality wheel bearings.

I'll post some pictures once installed.

 

[Kiwi Canuck]

Does it turn to Port better than it turns to starboard when on the kicker?

Don't know as I didn't test that, we were just out setting up the electronics and that was the focus.
I do know the kicker motor was getting full rotation before the main motor was as the tie-bar was bending when turning full lock, that was the first thing I noticed once we got the boat home.
After redoing the tie-bar it's got full rotation of both motors stop to stop.
I will need the guy who going to set the boat up to check my work as I eyeballed the alignment of the Main and Kicker motors, it was hard to do as the boat wasn't level on the trailer as well.