trimming the motor

chrislocke · #1 05-10-2011, 05:24 PM

i have a 30hp mercury efi and it has electric trim. Im wondering if I trimmed the motor up (a bit), would i go faster? i do have a lot of weight in the front of the boat.

boris · #2 05-10-2011, 05:53 PM

generally yes but if you trim to high it will porpise and the prop may cavitate.

There will be a sweet spot with all boats and motors though.

ledge n · #3 05-10-2011, 05:53 PM

maybe!

try it. It wont hurt in any way.

"trimming up" gets more hull out of the water, hence less drag and hopefully more speed.

the pressure on the motor and trim shouldn't allow you to over trim and cause any danger.

let us know how your go

Tony

BloodWorm · #4 05-10-2011, 08:37 PM

If you trim the engine all the way up to the point where you get cavitation and then go down until it grabs again that should be the optimum trim for a straight line. You should note that the boat is sitting with the least amount of boat touching the water. You should be able to gauge this by the spray out the side of the boat.

This is not a good trim position when taking off or when cornering.

Definately a good thing to play with and find the setting that suite you boat and motor setup the best.

chrislocke · #5 06-10-2011, 01:44 AM

thanks for the info guys

phil jagger · #6 06-10-2011, 07:52 AM

Don't try and turn hard when you are trimmed up either.

Now go faster!

Quintrex1997 · #7 29-04-2013, 08:08 PM

I have a little 20hp honda 4 stroke on my 370 explorer and i gain far more speed by trimming the motor up a little bit, too far and you will just cavitate throughout corners but if you find the right spot the boat will ride better and you will get more speed and should cavitate in corners.

All said it definitely makes a difference.

Brad Y · #8 29-04-2013, 08:47 PM

You can find your sweet spot pretty easily. Get to a spot where you have a long straight run. Start trimmed all the way down. Take off and get to WOT. Start trimming up slowly. You should reach a point where you feel a speed increase- the boat will pull forward and want to go a bit more, and revs will increase. That is when the boat is planing on as little hull as possible. As mentioned it might not be good for cornering so be prepared to trim down to corner. Things like cupping/no cupping on the prop and depth of cav plate on the motor into the water will also have an affect on possible cavitation.

Stik · #9 29-04-2013, 09:27 PM

Grab a hand held GPS to find your optimum speed.