That Ain't All

[Slim Wilson]

This is my first post. I have owned 14 boats and would consider myself somewhat knowledgeable (about boats). Of these boats all have been used except a 14ft Duracraft that I bought back in the 70's. I have bought all of these boats without a trial and been pleased with all of them including a 96 Nitro FS 185 and a 06 Grizzly 1754 SC. Except the last boat that I purchased this past December which is a 2006 Nitro 482 SC with a Merc 90. I saw the boat on Craigslist and set an appointment to see the boat. The boat was in great condition, the trailer needed a couple of tires from dry rot, otherwise the boat needed nothing. I knew it was underpowered and ask the seller about it and he said it was slow to plane. I bought the boat for $7500.00. I took the boat out several weeks later and it was slow to plane, problem solved with a $74 Hydrofoil SE 300 from West Marine and no more than half full of fuel and minimum water in live well. Unfortunately, as we say in the south, that ain't all. The boat rolls either right or sometimes left at speeds above 18MPH and seems to bite. If I keep the boat at FT and trim it up perfectly it will get on plane without rolling but will roll coming off plane. A little scary for a 70 year old. After this happened I researched this problem (a little late) and found that this has been discussed on this forum. I have tried everything that I can think of to fix it (moved trim tab to all positions, installed hydrofoil, installed different hydrofoil, removed hydrofoil, made sure weight was distributed equally, beginning plane with motor in different positions, throwing horseshoes over my left shoulder and spitting in the wind). By the way, I Know I should have tried the boat before buying. There is no way I would sell this to someone else without them having full knowledge of this problem. Nitro should be ashamed of themselves for building a boat with a dangerous handling problem such as this. If you know of any resolve please let me know. Thanks for reading this. Slim W.

 

[chris0007]

This is my first post. I have owned 14 boats and would consider myself somewhat knowledgeable (about boats). Of these boats all have been used except a 14ft Duracraft that I bought back in the 70's. I have bought all of these boats without a trial and been pleased with all of them including a 96 Nitro FS 185 and a 06 Grizzly 1754 SC. Except the last boat that I purchased this past December which is a 2006 Nitro 482 SC with a Merc 90. I saw the boat on Craigslist and set an appointment to see the boat. The boat was in great condition, the trailer needed a couple of tires from dry rot, otherwise the boat needed nothing. I knew it was underpowered and ask the seller about it and he said it was slow to plane. I bought the boat for $7500.00. I took the boat out several weeks later and it was slow to plane, problem solved with a $74 Hydrofoil SE 300 from West Marine and no more than half full of fuel and minimum water in live well. Unfortunately, as we say in the south, that ain't all. The boat rolls either right or sometimes left at speeds above 18MPH and seems to bite. If I keep the boat at FT and trim it up perfectly it will get on plane without rolling but will roll coming off plane. A little scary for a 70 year old. After this happened I researched this problem (a little late) and found that this has been discussed on this forum. I have tried everything that I can think of to fix it (moved trim tab to all positions, installed hydrofoil, installed different hydrofoil, removed hydrofoil, made sure weight was distributed equally, beginning plane with motor in different positions, throwing horseshoes over my left shoulder and spitting in the wind). By the way, I Know I should have tried the boat before buying. There is no way I would sell this to someone else without them having full knowledge of this problem. Nitro should be ashamed of themselves for building a boat with a dangerous handling problem such as this. If you know of any resolve please let me know. Thanks for reading this. Slim W.

This is my first post. I have owned 14 boats and would consider myself somewhat knowledgeable (about boats). Of these boats all have been used except a 14ft Duracraft that I bought back in the 70's. I have bought all of these boats without a trial and been pleased with all of them including a 96 Nitro FS 185 and a 06 Grizzly 1754 SC. Except the last boat that I purchased this past December which is a 2006 Nitro 482 SC with a Merc 90. I saw the boat on Craigslist and set an appointment to see the boat. The boat was in great condition, the trailer needed a couple of tires from dry rot, otherwise the boat needed nothing. I knew it was underpowered and ask the seller about it and he said it was slow to plane. I bought the boat for $7500.00. I took the boat out several weeks later and it was slow to plane, problem solved with a $74 Hydrofoil SE 300 from West Marine and no more than half full of fuel and minimum water in live well. Unfortunately, as we say in the south, that ain't all. The boat rolls either right or sometimes left at speeds above 18MPH and seems to bite. If I keep the boat at FT and trim it up perfectly it will get on plane without rolling but will roll coming off plane. A little scary for a 70 year old. After this happened I researched this problem (a little late) and found that this has been discussed on this forum. I have tried everything that I can think of to fix it (moved trim tab to all positions, installed hydrofoil, installed different hydrofoil, removed hydrofoil, made sure weight was distributed equally, beginning plane with motor in different positions, throwing horseshoes over my left shoulder and spitting in the wind). By the way, I Know I should have tried the boat before buying. There is no way I would sell this to someone else without them having full knowledge of this problem. Nitro should be ashamed of themselves for building a boat with a dangerous handling problem such as this. If you know of any resolve please let me know. Thanks for reading this. Slim W.

 

[chris0007]

slim...can you take a look at my post for me...chris0007...any help in this matter would be greatly appreciated...thanks chris

 

[Fish Catcher Jim]

This is my first post. I have owned 14 boats and would consider myself somewhat knowledgeable (about boats). Of these boats all have been used except a 14ft Duracraft that I bought back in the 70's. I have bought all of these boats without a trial and been pleased with all of them including a 96 Nitro FS 185 and a 06 Grizzly 1754 SC. Except the last boat that I purchased this past December which is a 2006 Nitro 482 SC with a Merc 90. I saw the boat on Craigslist and set an appointment to see the boat. The boat was in great condition, the trailer needed a couple of tires from dry rot, otherwise the boat needed nothing. I knew it was underpowered and ask the seller about it and he said it was slow to plane. I bought the boat for $7500.00. I took the boat out several weeks later and it was slow to plane, problem solved with a $74 Hydrofoil SE 300 from West Marine and no more than half full of fuel and minimum water in live well. Unfortunately, as we say in the south, that ain't all. The boat rolls either right or sometimes left at speeds above 18MPH and seems to bite. If I keep the boat at FT and trim it up perfectly it will get on plane without rolling but will roll coming off plane. A little scary for a 70 year old. After this happened I researched this problem (a little late) and found that this has been discussed on this forum. I have tried everything that I can think of to fix it (moved trim tab to all positions, installed hydrofoil, installed different hydrofoil, removed hydrofoil, made sure weight was distributed equally, beginning plane with motor in different positions, throwing horseshoes over my left shoulder and spitting in the wind). By the way, I Know I should have tried the boat before buying. There is no way I would sell this to someone else without them having full knowledge of this problem. Nitro should be ashamed of themselves for building a boat with a dangerous handling problem such as this. If you know of any resolve please let me know. Thanks for reading this. Slim W.

Hi Slim,
I had an old duo that did this.
The 2 factors I found was the outboard kept getting of center.
Very slightly but enough I guess.
The other was water log foam and or wood under the floor.
Don't know if this even applies
to your situation but thought I would share.
Hope you get it figured out.

 

[BCGreen]

This is my first post. I have owned 14 boats and would consider myself somewhat knowledgeable (about boats). Of these boats all have been used except a 14ft Duracraft that I bought back in the 70's. I have bought all of these boats without a trial and been pleased with all of them including a 96 Nitro FS 185 and a 06 Grizzly 1754 SC. Except the last boat that I purchased this past December which is a 2006 Nitro 482 SC with a Merc 90. I saw the boat on Craigslist and set an appointment to see the boat. The boat was in great condition, the trailer needed a couple of tires from dry rot, otherwise the boat needed nothing. I knew it was underpowered and ask the seller about it and he said it was slow to plane. I bought the boat for $7500.00. I took the boat out several weeks later and it was slow to plane, problem solved with a $74 Hydrofoil SE 300 from West Marine and no more than half full of fuel and minimum water in live well. Unfortunately, as we say in the south, that ain't all. The boat rolls either right or sometimes left at speeds above 18MPH and seems to bite. If I keep the boat at FT and trim it up perfectly it will get on plane without rolling but will roll coming off plane. A little scary for a 70 year old. After this happened I researched this problem (a little late) and found that this has been discussed on this forum. I have tried everything that I can think of to fix it (moved trim tab to all positions, installed hydrofoil, installed different hydrofoil, removed hydrofoil, made sure weight was distributed equally, beginning plane with motor in different positions, throwing horseshoes over my left shoulder and spitting in the wind). By the way, I Know I should have tried the boat before buying. There is no way I would sell this to someone else without them having full knowledge of this problem. Nitro should be ashamed of themselves for building a boat with a dangerous handling problem such as this. If you know of any resolve please let me know. Thanks for reading this. Slim W.

Slim I had the same problem with the Nitro I purchased without a trial. After doing many of the same things you did I decided to put on a new steering cable. The current looked fine but tight steering even though Nitro’s are famous for hard steering. Anyway problem 95 percent solved....

 

[super-bee_ski]

Hello Slim and Forum members:
Guess what?
My 2008 Nitro Z6 planes to the Right.
Took it to a reputable Marine facility, said to add weight to the Left side.
Took it out Friday 12 June with 60 lbs in left side rear and was a little better...
But???
So, As BCGreen and Fish Catcher Jim suggested, I'm looking into these as possible factors...
To be continued.