2002 Futura MK2, Yamaha 50 TLRZ

[bdsprad]

Just purchased this boat this last week. It is in great shape and runs strong. Spent the last two days running it pretty hard.
There is one thing I noticed that I am not sure is correct with the motor and how it is mounted to the transom. The previous owner has moved the motor up so that there is a 2 inch gap between the top of the transom and the mount of the motor. I could drop the motor down to the top hole on the motor mount when I pull the boat on Monday. It seems that it would put less pressure where the transom is attached to the tubes and drop the prop another 2 inches deaper.
I am sure this will not be my last post, but it is great that there is a forum for a new infatable owner. Anyone else with a similar set up that has any pointers?

[prairie tuber]

If you have, or can borrow, a hand held GPS unit, it may be worth doing some trial & error testing of the performance of the 2 heights (also experiment with different trim positions). Record your findings. If the present position does give the best performance (which is probably why the previous owner positioned it that way), you could always add a wood block to the top of the transom. This would allow the the outboard collar mount to apply most of the weight of the outboard to the top of the transom (via the block), and minimize the shear forces on the through transom bolts.

[jyasaki]

Originally Posted by bdsprad

The previous owner has moved the motor up so that there is a 2 inch gap between the top of the transom and the mount of the motor. I could drop the motor down to the top hole on the motor mount when I pull the boat on Monday. It seems that it would put less pressure where the transom is attached to the tubes and drop the prop another 2 inches deaper.

If you're not having ventilation problems while running in rougher water or in moderate speed tight turns, the motor height is likely correct. Putting the prop deeper will increase drag due to the amount of lower unit being pushed through the water. Ideally, you want a sort of trade off between ventilation in odd conditions, and lessened drag. The sweet spot in that tradeoff is sort of a personal thing though.

jky

[bdsprad]

Water was less rough yesterday so i had a chance to just run her straight out. I am getting a lot of gurgling from the prop area and think that another inch or two lower may help. The bottom of the boat (the point between the self bailing holes) and the fin that is over the prop are even. Guess I should just drop it down and run her next weekend and see if there is an improvement, etc.

Thanks for all the feed back for this SIB newbie.