outboard fins
- Thread starter majt
- Start date
Clint r
Well-Known Member
Hydro foil, dole fin or whatever you want to call them will get your boat on plane faster. I had a 16' K&C with a 115 that got up on plane with no problems. Installed a set of fins because I had them laying around and was amazed at the difference. Went from going up on plane in meters to literally up on plane in feet. Makes steering very responsive so take it easy til your familiar with them. Plan on installing some on my new boat too.
FisherTim
Active Member
I also had a K&C165, but with less than half the power, I had a yamaha 50HP Efi 4 stroke. It would struggle planing with a full load, I could not bring her up to plane above 400LB Load(Which is not really that much, 2 people@180LB=360LB 70L of fuel=120LB, Plus 70LB fishing gear would not plane.)
But with planing fins attached, I could double my load Capacity, The boat was more stable, and rode at all speeds, it leaves many semi-planing speeds that are nice in rough weather.
Buy a clamp on model, your Cav plate wont have holes in it incase you want to sell it, or it doesn't work out for you.
SpringVelocity
Crew Member
I have one but it's on inboard leg. It will get you up faster on plane. It also will push your bow down when at speed. It also does this when your not on plane as well. I know several that have them and I would recommend them. Also a big difference you will notice is turning on plane. Your stern won't slip out when making turns... as far a stress it's going onto ductile aluminum on only 4 points. The fins flex also so don't worry about stress. The caviation plate on leg is beefy enough and never heard any issues with them. Only thing don't like is it a great thing for seaweed and kelp to grab on.
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MRWood
Well-Known Member
Hi Spring V....I have a secondary boat that I bought this summer. It's a 17' glasscraft with an older Johnson 70HP seahorse on it. It came with fins but they weren't on the motor....someone had taken them off for whatever reason. When I'm by myself on plane the boat leans to one side as I'm the only one in the boat. Would the fins help keep the boat from tilting to one side a little less.
scott craven
Well-Known Member
No, they don't, Trim tabs would.
Or you can simply balance the load by putting your fuel tanks, lead battery;s etc
on the opposite side of the boat.
Or you can simply balance the load by putting your fuel tanks, lead battery;s etc
on the opposite side of the boat.
SpringVelocity
Crew Member
Before
The only other thing if foam. If your boat has water logged foam it throws it off too. Trim tabs are great but you should look at what making it lean as well. I see a lot if guys that put them on as a band aid for another problem.
Btw my Malibu has leaning issue and I will have to put tabs on. But my issue is that owner put kicker on driver side. I am not moving it to the other side so tabs are an option.
Before u do anything look closely at lower skeg..I bet u its bent. I had same problem on my 16 double eagle ot would lean to one side. I found it had struck bottom before I got at and had a bend on it. So it would always lean. Once a straightened it was fixed.
The only other thing if foam. If your boat has water logged foam it throws it off too. Trim tabs are great but you should look at what making it lean as well. I see a lot if guys that put them on as a band aid for another problem.
Btw my Malibu has leaning issue and I will have to put tabs on. But my issue is that owner put kicker on driver side. I am not moving it to the other side so tabs are an option.
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SpringVelocity
Crew Member
agreed will not fix a leaning problem
SpringVelocity
Crew Member
No problem but I can't see how that would fix your issue. So why do I still have leaning problem then? Those fins are not for correcting side to side loading. That is what tabs do. In your case I would really look then at your skeg and make sure the bottom has not been bent. I could see if you added fins it would straighten it up. But for loading issue dont think so...
Fisherman Rob
Well-Known Member
Unless you tweak the fin down on the leaning side, don't think this will fix your lean issue. You don't want to introduce more drag with fins and/or trim tabs, without first seeing if it's a bent skeg, or weight distribution issue. That said, unless you have twin engines with counter rotating props, (or a duel prop), pretty much every boat has some amount of lean that varies with RPM due to the torque the from the prop.
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