# Boat Pulls Right



## jmay (Jun 12, 2012)

I installed a stabilizer and now my boat pulls hard to the right. Is there any way to fix this problem?


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## KaGee (Sep 8, 2006)

What do you mean by "stabilizer"?


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## sherman51 (Apr 12, 2011)

the only thing i can think of that might help your problem is the little trim tab just above your prop. its also your anode for corrosion. but you can loosen it up and turn it left or right to trim the engine where it doesnt pull.

i had to replace the steering cable on my little tri hull, so i just went with the no feed back steering. its just alittle stiffer than the old style but it doesnt pull either way.
sherman


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## firstflight111 (May 22, 2008)

put all your heavy stuff on the left side of the boat ..mine does it when i got more then 3 people in the boat ...or fill the left side live well ..


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## UFM82 (Apr 6, 2004)

The steering shouldn't feel any different just because it's an NFB system apart from eliminating the torque-steer. If you adjust your tab you can get easy steering again. Try it- it works. NFB eliminates the "pull" you feel from the engine but it shouldn't be any harder to steer than it was with the original system. 

If you wind up with a pull when you add something logic suggests it is that additional item. If you mean a plate on the L/U when you say stabilizer it would tell me that the plate is in the water when it shouldn't be. The water should only be hitting the bottom of the plate. If it is going over top it is causing drag. And that can mean other issues like engine height, etc. Too much to guess at. Try the tab adjust and report back.


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## jmay (Jun 12, 2012)

Thanks for the advice. It is a hydrofoil ( mounted on my outboard). It ran straight before I added it. Now if i were to let go of the wheel when running over 20mph I would probably get thrown from the boat. It helped my plaining problem but added another one. My boat is a 16 foot Sylvain with a 40 horse Mercury. Thanks for the help!

Joe


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## M.Magis (Apr 5, 2004)

I think UFM82 is right, your motor is mounted too low. It probably had a slight pull before that you didn&#8217;t even notice. You could try adjusting the tab, but I don&#8217;t know if it can overcome the pull of the hydrofoil or not. It&#8217;s worth a shot. If not, you&#8217;ll probably want to raise your motor. I had to raise mine until the anti-cavitation plate was about even with the bottom of my boat. I think that&#8217;s pretty normal. Turns out that once I raised my motor, I didn&#8217;t need the hydrofoil any more.


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## dmills4124 (Apr 9, 2008)

Yep, ya'll need to sit on the left side of the boat and reach across to steer it. I am real confident that will solve the problem..............OR..............You could listen to these guys who know how to fix it and raise the motor till it runs correct. But thats just my two cents worth. And thats about all I have or need to say on this subject. LOL
It must be the heat. 
I'm gone....
dm


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## jmay (Jun 12, 2012)

How can I raise my motor? I will also have to raise my transome, correct? The motor and boat came as a package deal when it was new. I would like the motor is fitted to the boat. It is bolted on so moving it up would be a pain. The anti-cavitation plate is already slightly higher than the bottom of the boat. I needed the hydrofoil to help plain with 3 people on the boat and to help with the prop blowing the water out. It worked but seems like a hassle. I might just take it off and be done with it. I do not think adjusting the tab will help. It pulls really hard! The boat is not really safe to run the way it is. Thanks for all the advice.


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## Bad Bub (Jan 17, 2006)

jmay said:


> How can I raise my motor? I will also have to raise my transome, correct? The motor and boat came as a package deal when it was new. I would like the motor is fitted to the boat. It is bolted on so moving it up would be a pain. The anti-cavitation plate is already slightly higher than the bottom of the boat. I needed the hydrofoil to help plain with 3 people on the boat and to help with the prop blowing the water out. It worked but seems like a hassle. I might just take it off and be done with it. I do not think adjusting the tab will help. It pulls really hard! The boat is not really safe to run the way it is. Thanks for all the advice.


That's why you need to raise the motor.... or make sure the hydrofoil is mounted correctly.

Outdoor Hub mobile, the outdoor information engine


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## Bassbme (Mar 11, 2012)

Depending on which hydrofoil you bought you can buy torque equalizing tabs that screw on to the bottom of the hydrofoil. I doubt if adjusting the little tab on the bottom of the cavitation plate is going to help much if its pulling that bad. As far as raising your motor, there should be at least three sets of holes in the mounting bracket on your motor. If your motor is bolted on in the lowest set of holes you're not going to be able to raise the motor. If it's not already in the bottom holes its not that hard to change. Your motor isn't that heavy. What you do is, trim your motor so it's at a 90 degree angle to the ground. Then lay a piece of 2x4 on the ground and let your skeg rest on it so it is supporting the weight of the motor........ take the bolts out of the motor and use the trailer jack to raise the front of the trailer which in turn will lower your transom. Then just bolt the motor back up using a set of holes in the mounting bracket that are lower than the ones it was bolted in. It's really not that hard to do, and as long as you keep the motor standing up straight it's not going to hurt the skeg. Normal spacing for holes in the mounting bracket are about 1" between holes. As far as how high you can raise it on your transom....you have to remember that water swells up behind the transom as it exits from underneath the boats hull at speed, so you should be able to raise it one inch without worrying about causing any major problems. Unless it's too high already.

Since you mentioned that your prop is blowing out, it may be too high already. Either that or you are over trimming your motor which is going to make your pulling problem worse because the hydrofoil is actually digging into the water at an angle. You could also try readjusting where your passengers are sitting, and see if that helps.

Good Luck


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## turkeyt (Apr 13, 2006)

You may need to contact the "Foil" manufacturer and ask them if it a design issue or the wrong one or for tech support.


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## Dan44149 (Apr 12, 2011)

Your planing issues may have been too much weight forward of your midships. Judging from what you said in your last post, I think your motor is too high and the boat is pushing water away from your prop.

I don't know you, and I don't know your boating skills... so don't be insulted.

When you start out on the throttle, you should be fully trimmed down and start trimming up once you get on plain. While watching the speedometer, trim up until you achieve max speed. You will see a point while trimming that you will start to lose speed. Trim back down. 

You have a fairly deep v hull on a 16' with a 40 hp. It's not going to be a fast process of planing. If you want to plane faster, put a 4 blade proper pitch prop on the motor. I'd also say that you could be pushing weight limits with 3 people and gear... and that could be causing your planing issues as well. 

Your USCG placard on your boat should tell you max number of people AND/OR weight. That doesn't mean 4 people and 500lbs... that means 500lbs as in 2 people that weigh 200lbs each and 100lbs of gear... meaning any weight other than boat and motor.

Like I said, I don't know your experience as a mariner, so I don't want to talk down to you... but some people just don't know any better and I'd rather see you learn from the site, than learn from a funeral.


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## jmay (Jun 12, 2012)

Dan

Thanks for the advice. No offence take. I am not a pro on a boat but I grew up boating and have owned two boats myself. The boat is a flat bottom and runs about 45 with one guy and gear. I do not think the boat is underpowered with 3 people. I do not exceed the weight of the plate. I just thought I would have a simple fix with a hydrofoil, but boy was I wrong. I am going to try a few minnor thinks this weekend and see what happens. I never thought about having all the weight in the mid of the boat. This is often the case. I will move some gear around and see what happens. I just do not know how this will fix my pulling problem. But I will give it a try! If that does not work, I will be adjusting the height of my outboard. Thank you to all that have respouned. The advice is very helpful.


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## MassillonBuckeye (May 3, 2010)

I would definitely contact the manufacturer of the hydrofoil. They've installed hundreds if not thousands of the things. More free(actually you've paid for it) advice from experts can't hurt can it?


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