Can someone offer some tips on how to properly trim the motor?

I know it should be a certain way for the hole shot then another way when cruising.

I guess I am not sure what trimmed up and trimmed down mean and when to do each.

thanks

Larry

When you take off you want the motor trimed all the way down. Once the

boat plans off ( this will probbly be with the throttle all the way down or if you

have a foot pedal all the way to the floor) the boat will be running flat in the

water. Ok it is time to start trimming your motor up, you will see the front of the boat start to rise and your speed will pick up. Trim it up untill you reach max

RPM or where you can steer it the easiest. This will take a little getting use to

put you will find the wright place to trim to. Oh yea what size motor and kind

of boat do you have?  If it's a 300 hp, put your life vest on, hookup kill switch

and hang on. ;D

Thanks for the reply.  It is a 97 Lowe Aluminum bass boat; 17' long with a 50 HP Evinrude.

Hopefully with my big butt I can get the thing up on plane.  I am pushing 300lbs.

lb

It should handel that ok! ( You don't have much on me )

I agree with frogtog completely -  

Frogtog nailed it...The only piece of advice that I would add is when you start trimming up do it with short bumps on the trimm switch.  Many people will hold the trim switch for a second or two at a time.  I trim like I was pulling a trigger and give it a second to take effect and then bump it again until I get it where I want it.  Also. if you are running down the lake trimmed out and you want to make a quick turn and stop (like maybe to fish a slough you saw at the last second)  I trim all the way down as I am turning.  I may be completely off on this and if I am I want to know.  It has all been trial and error for me.  I just played with a trim switch until I thought I had it figured out.

It's all in how the boat responds to trim and like mentioned, you learn buy trying and seat time and is also based on the boat, HP of the motor and how good your setup is. On my current boat, a 20' Javelin with a 225 Evinrude, I almost never trim all the way down. Mine actually comes out of the hole slower with the motor fully tucked than trimmed out some. I also start timming up as soon as I nail the gas to start off. I continue to hold the up trim lever until I reach the point that I know is close to max trim for WOT (again, this is from experience and seat time). Once the boat has fully lifted and getting close to being flat out, I them start bumping the trim up in very small increments until I feel that sweet spot come in. Then we hang on and go. This is when running wide open at about 75 mph. If your boat will run fast enough to get fully on the pad, ALWAYS trim down some before coming off the gas.   It's not a big problem with the 225 on my boat but when I put one of my hotrod motors on it, chopping the gas at over 80 mph can make for a real hairy ride, huge increase in the pucker factor.

If just getting up to a good cruising speed, I don't trim as far up and wait for the boat to reach the rpm I want to cruise at. I then start bumping the trim up and backing off the gas until I'm giving minimum gas and the boat has max lift at that rpm. Again, this is learning the feel of the boat.

I was told by my Uncle who owns a Marina that you keep your trim all the way down on hole shots. When up on plane trim the motor so the steering does not turn by itself left or right it stays straight. It may not be the perfect and precise way of doing it but it works for me.

I would add only a couple of things to the answers above:

• If the boat starts porpoising (the front starts bouncing up and down), you've trimmed to far up.
  
• Trim down some for turning, but you should never have to trim all the way down.  Experiment to find out how your boat handles.  Suggest doing it in small increments, as you might end up tossing yourself overboard if you trim too far down when turning (the boat will "dig" and turn sharply).
  
• In rough water, trim down a bit to get more of the "V" in the water to help cut through the waves.  However, if it's really rough, then bring the boat off plane and trim up quite a bit.  This will keep you from spearing a wave.  (Don't ask me how I discovered this.)
  
• Ideal trim height at max WOT will give you a rooster tail at about the height of your engine cowling.  If your rooster tail is higher than that, then you're trimmed up too high.
  

Some good info here.  Thanks.

Good responses.

I would like to add that you will have to experiment a bit to find the right trim at the desired speeds. The trim coming out of the hole will need to be modified once on plane but depending upon your speed or desired ride the trim will be different from WOT and medium speed. The key is to feel the boat and the steering and listen to the engine and watch your speedo or GPS. When you have the right trim you can feel a difference in the boat and your speed will increase while the motor RPMs have not changed. After a while you will be able to tell that you have optimum trim just by how the boats feels and sounds. One thing I have found with my boats is that the Nitro 750 is a whole lot more trim sensitive than is my Regal deck boat. A lot of that has to do with the weight of the boat and the hull design. Neither of these boats react like the other boats that I have operated in the past. Spend lots of time in your boat and experiment with it to figure out it's optimum capabilities.

Be careful not to cavitate the propeller or drive. This can be costly. Too much trim up can cause this at higher RPMs.

Have fun with your boat.