First time boat owner Nitro 750

Burbarry · October 10, 2018, 12:45:14 PM

Just joined the site creeping on posts looking around. Anyways last night I bought my first boat, 2005 Nitro 750. It has the mercury 115. Runs great on the water at easily 50mph. He also upgraded it with 2 new lowrance HDS7 gen 3 fish finders which I need to learn how to use. Wanted to see if anyone has added a motor fin to help take offs. It seems the bow goes up pretty high at launch but at high speeds levels off nice. It's just lower speeds it's harder to see over the bow as I'm a shorter guy. But look forward to getting it out on the water this weekend to play with it.

Lipripper · October 10, 2018, 12:57:13 PM

Hello and welcome to Ultimate Bass and we would love to see some

of your new baby when you get the chance to post some up.

I'm a bank angler and don't own a boat so I can't be of much help in that area but if you need anymore

just holler.

OH and be sure to stop by them links I sent you in your welcome PM.

Bud Kennedy · October 10, 2018, 12:59:02 PM

Welcome to Ultimate Bass and to the boat ownership experience. I don't know what your boat driving experience is and perhaps you can tell us about your current knowledge and skills. I ask this first of all thinking that perhaps your knowledge of how to trim the boat might be new to you. As you get more seat time and or experience I am sure you will figure out a few things. I would not recommend a "wing" until you have some seat time and fully understand the set up (prop to pad) of your boat and perhaps some description of your prop. Any further information about what RPMs you are currently achieving may also be helpful. If you are an experienced boat drive then I am sure you can answer all of these questions easily. Once you are solid on the set up and s till have some issues I am sure the group here can recommend some logical things to measure or try. Looking forward to hearing back from you and again welcome to Ultimate Bass.

Burbarry · October 10, 2018, 01:09:07 PM

Here is a few pictures I took last night at the rest stop.

As for experience I'm on the newer side. I've owned a job boat for years, rented boats about once a year to get on the lake. the owner said it's always had a hard time keeping the front end down at lower speeds. For me when I launch I start with trim down and slowly trim it to level as front starts to drop and keep it as close to level as I can. The original owner did have a fin on it before but said it broke on one side and never replaced it. I will look at the rpm this weekend. Are you looking for launch rpm or top speed.

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Lipripper · October 10, 2018, 01:12:01 PM

That's a nice looking boat.

Bud Kennedy · October 10, 2018, 01:19:53 PM

Top speed would be my preference to know. The conditions you describe are often a sign of having the motor in too deep that may result in the bow staying a bit high. If you happen to notice, another curiosity is what water pressure are you getting? If you don't have that gauge then have you noticed a good water flow (peeing) from your motor. If you need additional information for measuring prop to pad just let me know and I can send you some information.

WTodd · October 10, 2018, 03:05:08 PM

I had a "whale tail" on my aluminum boat and I did see a difference in lowering the bow at slower speeds but see if Bud is correct about the motor being mounted too low first

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Burbarry · October 10, 2018, 03:44:49 PM

I noticed the motor does shoot water out pretty steady rate. If you could send me any information that will help me a lot. Thanks

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Bud Kennedy · October 10, 2018, 04:03:07 PM

Here is a website link that will explain and depict the process to determine prop to pad

http://www.stevescustomprops.com/faq.html

Just scroll down a bit when the page opens.

FYI the target measurement you are looking for is a prop to pad of 3- 1/2" I have a hunch you are gonna find that you will measrure 6" + or even a little more. Have heard this a number of times for nitro owners. Since you don't have a jackplate it would be interesting to know which mounting hole you motor is setting in. Most likely you will have to raise the motor but the measurement should tell you for sure.

Burbarry · October 10, 2018, 04:14:46 PM

So the boat has no jack plate on there so adjusting is going to be impossible right? I've thought about buying a jack plate in the future but would want to get an automatic one and probably not manual one. Maybe before weekend I can get prop to pad measurements to see how far it's off.

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Bud Kennedy · October 10, 2018, 04:29:28 PM

No, you can still adjust the motor height. You may however need the help of your local boat dealer to help perform the task. It is especially important however to know your current measurements so you have something to tell the dealer about what change you will want to make. Each motor make has a slightly different style or set of mounting holes and I don't know who many you have with your tracker motor. I suspect that since it is a fairly small motor (90 hp) that you will have the basic three holes. FYI on my old Johnson motor set up 150 hp it has 8 hole options. So each model is different. I however have a fixed jackpate so making the change for me is no big deal. That is the true advantage of a jackplate. Once you get the set up correct you would seldom make any more changes anyway. If you want to actually have a discussion about this just PM me with your phone number and perhaps we can chat a bit about it.

WTodd · October 10, 2018, 05:09:19 PM

Ok Bud I have what maybe a stupid question; couldn't you level your boat and the motor (after trimming it down of course) and then take a yardstick, for example, and place it against the bottom of the boat where it would stick out towards the prop and take that measurement? Just trying to simplify the process.

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Bud Kennedy · October 10, 2018, 06:11:07 PM

Have no idea. Seems to me the pad are is not necessarily level to the boat so perhaps that is why a common measurement to a hard surface and the subtracting the would provide the most accurate measurement. I have only done it the way that the prop guy recommended.

WTodd · October 10, 2018, 06:44:05 PM

Next time my boat is home I check both and see what I get

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Burbarry · October 10, 2018, 06:53:34 PM

So looks like it's way off 6." assuming I measured correctly. Measured from bottom of boat to ground 16.25" from center of propeller to found 11". That tells me 6.25" off set. Also posted pictures of the bolts for engine mount. So I wonder what the cost is to correct this? Maybe just pay for the jack plate now. But might need to wait til spring so wife isn't mad about spending more on the boat already.

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Bud Kennedy · October 10, 2018, 07:25:49 PM

The photo you provided indicates that the motor is way too low. However the gap distance you are providing is 5.25" versus a likely best gap of 3.5" So by your measurements you need to raise your motor at least 1 bolt hole.

I gotta say the photo you provided does not look like that measurement bears this out. Check back to the link I provided and measure again just to be sure. It just looks worse than the measurements indicate.

I would not jump the gun just yet on a jack plate until you can verify everything. It certainly would be more cost effective just to have the dealer raise the motor. I think you will find that once you get it set you will not likely have to adjust the plate again.

Be sure to follow the instruction on the link closely. Make sure the boat is level, Make sure the motor is trimmed down to a 90 degree point. If your original measurements are correct not too bad to deal with and I would recommend just having the dealer raise the motor with the goal to achieve 3.5" below pad

Still curious what prop you have. At lease you have two positions and two positions below the current setting to enable adjustment.

Burbarry · October 10, 2018, 08:38:31 PM

At first I did measure where the arrow is. But then realized that was about 10" off and reread the document. The measurements given were correct in the post above.

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Burbarry · October 10, 2018, 08:44:04 PM

You're right my match was off a little bit 5.25" is the total off. I wonder why the factory would mount the engine in the middle knowing that they are going to be off a little bit.

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Bud Kennedy · October 10, 2018, 08:52:52 PM

Seems to be a common practice for Nitro and tracker products. I can't tell you how many times we hear about the motor being a bit too deep. Now you are close but an adjustment is warranted. I stand by my reference to have the dealer do this for you unless you have a way to lift the motor. I had to do mine years ago but I just had a dealer do it so I could avoid the hassle. I was needing steering cables anyway so it was good to get it all done at one time.

The speed you mentioned in an earlier post is not too bad either. Seems to be about where others are reporting. Perhaps a wing will help you after you get the motor raised. but you may find you don't need it. You are a bit short on power so when the motor is raised up your hole shot might need some help that a wing can provide.

FYI it is very common to hear of a too deep motor especially on a tracker aluminum bass boat. I don't know why they do it either. I suspect may be because a lot of tracker owners are new to the bass boat driving gig and this makes it easier to plane. FYI, when you raise the motor you will likely see a slight improvement in your top speed and perhaps a better handling situation at slow speeds. Good luck with what ever you decide. This is a very important thing and I would recommend dealer involvement.

Burbarry · October 11, 2018, 05:12:33 AM

Thanks for the help on this I never realized height of mount could do so much.

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Nutt · October 11, 2018, 11:30:20 AM

What prop and pitch are you running? That's gonna tell a lot of whats going on. Second thing is I wouldn't get a hydraulic jack plate for your boat and motor combination unless you are going to be fishing and running in pretty shallow water. Hydraulic jackplates are pretty expensive compared to a good manual jackplate, so you may be spending money you don't have to spend. Check out the 6" Hydro Dynamics Rapid Jack. Its what I have and is very simple and easy to adjust and takes maybe 5 minutes. Last, I wouldn't put one of those fin things on a bass boat. Its just a band aid for a problem that can be solved.

Hydro Dynamics-903-763-5225
hydrodynamics-usa.com

Burbarry · October 12, 2018, 03:27:10 PM

Someone else mentioned for me to check the pitch and will try and figure that out soon and report back.

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Bud Kennedy · October 12, 2018, 03:34:42 PM

Quote from: Burbarry on October 12, 2018, 03:27:10 PM
Someone else mentioned for me to check the pitch and will try and figure that out soon and report back.

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Just in case you don't know. The prop information is usually stamped on the end of the hub.

Burbarry · October 12, 2018, 05:27:33 PM

Here is a picture of the stamp seems to be a 24 pitch and I have no idea what that means.

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coldfront · October 12, 2018, 05:56:04 PM

that 750 is a sweet boat. runs/rides great for a smaller boat.

good choice!