New member, new to me boat and question(s).

[ringneck5499]

Hi, new member here. I've been lurking and reading for a while and found some good info on setting up my "new to me" 1987 17' Lowe Commander. I'll get pic's on here eventually. It's been modified prior to me buying it and i've done a few little things here and there to fit my needs as well. Basically it's been converted from a bass boat to a waterfowl hunting & fishing rig with all wood removed and replaced with aluminum and composite decking, console removed, rod box and another storage box removed, back deck removed, and installed a tiller operated motor. The boat has a 20" transom I've put a longshaft 25 hp 2 stroke Mercury w. tiller handle on it.

Last week with me and 2 other guys in the boat while running the outboard it would pull very hard to the right; I moved the motor over about an inch to get it directly on center and adjusted the trim pin up a couple notches and didn't have that problem today while running the boat by myself. The problem I had today was, while running on plane in open water I had a column of water coming up between the motor and transom and over the transom where the motor mounts to it, into the splash tray. The vast majority of it would drain out the 2 corner drain holes of the splash tray, so no big safety risk, but it was definitely effecting the speed of the boat/motor. I didn't have this problem last week with 2 other guys in the boat. I did a little research and found a few things that could be causing this and possible ways to prevent it, but i'm not sure what to do to remedy it. I've noticed the cavitation plate on my motor sits a few inches below the bottom of the boat. Any suggestions? Would trimming the motor all the way down (or up) help?The motor does not have power trim, so I can't make trim adjustments on the run and there are I believe 6 holes for the trim pin to be set in. I do have one of the "whale tail" fins but it's not on the motor currently, would that help? I've got a group 27 battery and 6 gallon gas tank (with about 4 gallons of gas) in the back, is it a weight issue? Should I consider a setback plate? Thanks in advance for your help and suggestions!

 

[lckstckn2smknbrls]

I would raise the motor.
Can you post some picture?

 

[ringneck5499]

I'll try and get a pic. on here in the next couple days. I took the boat out fishing again today. I raised the trim pin a couple notches and didn't have the water coming in so bad, just a few drops splash in here and there. It ran smooth up to about 3/4 throttle but when i'd open up the throttle to wide open while on plane the motor acted like the prop was coming out of the water, the motor would rev up high but the boat would slow down considerably.