# How to plane out a boat



## gander_lander34

I have a question guys. Actually two. One is, I just bought a 25 HP outboard for my 15 flat bottom jon boat. I took it out to the lake to get a feel for it. the only people I had in it were myself (185 lbs.), my wife (130 lbs.), our infant daughter (10 lbs.), who by the way looks like a little sunflower in her life jacket, and our mutt dog (45 lbs.) (370 lbs. total). I originally had a 7.5 HP OB on it but hardly seemed to move. Now i put the 25 HP on it and it really doesn't seem to be going any faster. A little but not much. I figured a 25 HP motor would've made the boat fly. My question is, 1) how do i know when the boat is on plane and 2) any tips on how to make it go faster? Cause for duck season, you add in another full size guy, a boat blind, my lab, decoys, guns, and ammo, and I foresee us just sputtering along. I would have to leave friday morning to make it to the hunting hole by saturday morning it seems. Any help would be appreciated. Also, the shaft length of the motor is 20", the transom is 17", but the lower unit is level with the bottom of the boat like most other forums say it needs to be on the boat. Thanks for the help guys.


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## shiawassee_kid

gander_lander34 said:


> I have a question guys. Actually two. One is, I just bought a 25 HP outboard for my 15 flat bottom jon boat. I took it out to the lake to get a feel for it. the only people I had in it were myself (185 lbs.), my wife (130 lbs.), our infant daughter (10 lbs.), who by the way looks like a little sunflower in her life jacket, and our mutt dog (45 lbs.) (370 lbs. total). I originally had a 7.5 HP OB on it but hardly seemed to move. Now i put the 25 HP on it and it really doesn't seem to be going any faster. A little but not much. I figured a 25 HP motor would've made the boat fly. My question is, 1) how do i know when the boat is on plane and 2) any tips on how to make it go faster? Cause for duck season, you add in another full size guy, a boat blind, my lab, decoys, guns, and ammo, and I foresee us just sputtering along. I would have to leave friday morning to make it to the hunting hole by saturday morning it seems. Any help would be appreciated. Also, the shaft length of the motor is 20", the transom is 17", but the lower unit is level with the bottom of the boat like most other forums say it needs to be on the boat. Thanks for the help guys.


should do 15-20mph. mine does. you forget to pull your anchor up or something?


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## Kelly Hannan

there is an adjustment on the motor to trim the boat differently. Tip that motor up, there should be a rod(about 1/4 inch dia.) that goes sideways thru a series of holes. The farther from the back of the boat the more trim, which will raise the front of the boat out of the water under full power. Unless you have a super heavy boat, and a sick 25, that motor should make your eyes water going across the water.

When starting out, give full power you should feel the boat raise up in the front and start to climb out of the water. Then it should level off(plane out). Check to see where the splash is coming from under the boat. If it is up towards front of boat trim the motor up(away from boat), if the spray is way back by driver trim motor down. Go one step at a time untill happy. This may have to be adjusted again with different loads.


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## Plainsman

With a 25 you absolutely should be on plane. Maybe I'm slow, but there is only one reason I can think of for you to be going this slow. Is your motor trimmed out? If your motor is set right up against the boat your thrust is not just forward, but downward on the front of the boat. This just drives the front of your boat low and your pushing water like a bulldozer. 
I have not had my coffee yet so I'm slow this morning. I don't remember some of the basic terminology right now. You know where your tilt control is at? This is a basic outboard without electric tilt and trim I presume. Anyway, pull the pin on your adjustment, tilt your motor upwards some and reinsert the pin so your motor is held at a slightly more upward angle. This should lift the front of your boat and bring it on plane. If not, tilt it up more. 
Just a guess, but with that weight and a 25 hp motor you should come on plane with a flat bottom at speeds as low as 15 to 16mph. You should be able to reach 22 to 25 mph I would think. I'm not sure, I run a 9.9 and a 130 hp. My boat with 1700 lb comes on plane at 18mph and reaches 44 mph with a 130 hp.

Check out this site. http://www.tropicalboating.com/powerboa ... -trim.html 
The guy says:


> This one is for the manual tilt small engine folks:
> 
> Most outboard engines 30 hp and below do not have power tilt and trim. They usually have 5 holes into which a pin can be inserted, varying the angle of the engine relative to the transom of the boat. They also have a bracket that can be flipped down to prop the engine up at around a 45 degree angle for operating in shallow water at slow speeds. A small outboard in shallow water drive can operate in as little as 6 inches of water.
> 
> So how do you decide which of the 5 tilt positions is best for your boat? And once the best one is identified, is there any use for the other 4?


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## gander_lander34

For clarification, the cavitation plate is even with the bottom of the boat. I'm new to the whole owning a boat. Still trying to learn the terms.


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## just ducky

Okay, I'm a bit slow, but tell me why you absolutely need to plane out when duck hunting? Especially in nodak...are you hunting devils lake? Not much is that big where you need to plane out. I have a Lund Alaskan, and when I'm fishing walleyes in the summer here in Michigan it's nice to get across the lake. so sure...planing out is good. But I rarely need to plane out when duck hunting...even when I'm on the big water loaded with guys, dogs, gear, etc. As long as you're making good time (if you have a GPS...time your boat), what's the difference?

Sorry to throw off the topic a bit.

As far as how do you know when you're planing, all I can say is...you'll know. You can feel the drag on the boat in the water, and there is a markable difference in "feel" when the boat rises up and is on plane. You can look over the side, and the front half of the boat, or maybe front 2/3rds of the boat, will have literally no wake coming from it at all. But a lot depends on the hull style of your boat.

Trimming the motor is a good place to start. Start with the motor trimmed all the way down (vertical) until you can't go any further. If you have power trim, as you get going maybe half speed, trim the motor up a bit at a time until you feel the bow rise up slightly. Then keep giving her throttle until your up. At some point you'll feel the boat break the friction point and plane. If you don't have power trim, drop it all the way down, then back it off to the first hole on a manual trim bar. If that won't get you on plane, back it off to the second hole and so forth. The point is to bring that bow up and out, but not TOO much. Just play around with that and you'll get it.

But again I say why?


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## dakotashooter2

> I'm a bit slow, but tell me why you absolutely need to plane out when duck hunting?


Boat control and motor efficiency. There is a point between fast trolling speed and planing out in which a boat can become somewhat unstable. Running straight and turning become a chore, the bow may bounce or dig, more water splashes in the boat, visibility may become an issue and the motor has to work harder and runs deeper in the water. Even running a small boat I will get it on plane then back off on the throttle if I don't need the speed. Another consideration especially in duck hunting may be shallow water depth. On plane, generally the hull will be on the top of the water with only the portion of the lower unit beneath the cavitation plate below surface. If you are not on plane the hull often displaces water below the surface level (especially if the bow is high in the air) increasing the depth of water you need to run by 8"-12".

Getting a boat to plane out is all about trim and weight distribution.


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## gander_lander34

I'm not trying to run super fast. I'm just trying to maximize efficency of the boat and the rate that I get to where I'm going. I don't know how much planing comes into effect, like I said, i'm knew to the whole boating thing, so just trying learn what I can.


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## just ducky

gander_lander34 said:


> I'm not trying to run super fast. I'm just trying to maximize efficency of the boat and the rate that I get to where I'm going. I don't know how much planing comes into effect, like I said, i'm knew to the whole boating thing, so just trying learn what I can.


You'll get lots of opinions, but IMO for duck hunting you want power and capacity, not necessarily speed. In other words, two or three hunters, dekes and gear, guns, maybe a dog....you need a boat that has adequate capacity to handle the load safely, and the power to push you through whatever conditions you enounter, including weather/waves if a storm kicks up. Sure, here on the great lakes there are times when you definitely need speed to get you off the water in a hurry should the conditions turn to crap. But in 99% of duck hunting situations (other than big water), speed is not critical. JMO


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## Plainsman

gander_lander34 said:


> I'm not trying to run super fast. I'm just trying to maximize efficency of the boat and the rate that I get to where I'm going. I don't know how much planing comes into effect, like I said, i'm knew to the whole boating thing, so just trying learn what I can.


Your going to go a lot further on a gallon of gas if you plane. If you know the lake well enough to know your not going to hit anything open her up and give yourself another 15 minutes to set up decoys. Sure you can spend the extra time, but it's your decision. Putt, putt, or plane it's entirely up to you. Some days are putt putt days, other days are up and on the move. It depends on your mood, the time you have, etc and is entirely up to you. Some mornings are to nice to listen to the sound of a motor. Sometimes the faster you go the sooner you get to shut it off.


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## Deserttoad45

You say it is a flat bottomed Jon boat. Is it one of them metal things or wood? I build small boats and it may be you need to get some fins on the bottom of your engine or just trim it better. However, something seems strange to me. Even without all this it should shoot you right along. My brother has a 15ft Jon boat with a 25 hp and loaded with two fat guys, deer stands and other stuff it still makes 22+ mph. If however your boat is a displacment style hull you could put a 90hp on it and it will not do any better than a 5hp could. Nature of the beast. Displacement hulls can be flat but will have rocker in the bottom. I don't ever remember seeing a commercial Jon boat of that style however. Strange.


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## Goose Guy350

If your motor sounds like its running weak I'm check the spark on both cylinders and make sure its purring like a kitten and not just firing on one cylinder. If its running good you either have a trim or weight distribution problem. Play with the trim with just yourself in the boat and try moving some things around, gas can in the bow/battery whatever you can think of to try and change things up. My 14 foot boat that I run around a lot scouting likes most of the weight forward while my 18 foot tender seems to plane faster with the majority of the weight around the mid point and some aft of that. Every boat is different and finding the sweet spot for the weight is crucial. Also look for any dents in your boat, a "hook" will put a lot of drag on your hull and slow you down.


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## Deserttoad45

Measure your transom and then your engine. You could be running a long shaft engine on a boat designed for a short shaft or perhaps the other way around. Could make a big difference.


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