Have any of you used one. I have a 21' with a 150 ,and its a little under powered. It takes a wile to get on plane and I also cant stay on plane at low RPM. Ive been thinking of installing one for a wile but don't want to drill into my cavitation plate. is it easy to install. Have you noticed bettr performance????? Is it worth it!!
Hydrofoil "Is It Worth It"
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foils
I think they work well .. I run one on my 21ft seabird with a 225hp evinrude. It gets me up on plane faster and can stay on plane at lower rpms. I ran the boat one season without it when I bought it and then installed it. I definetly noticed a difference. Some guys don't like them and say they've tried them and saw no improvement. I think that's cause their rig is set up correct right from the start. My seabird was built with an i/o and was converted to an outboard and this makes my bow a little light as the i/o was more in the center of the boat. I have much more weight to the stern now. The foli helps. Takes about 5 minutes to install. If you don't like it and go to take it off just fill the holes in with jb weld and you'll never know there were any holes there.
I think they work well .. I run one on my 21ft seabird with a 225hp evinrude. It gets me up on plane faster and can stay on plane at lower rpms. I ran the boat one season without it when I bought it and then installed it. I definetly noticed a difference. Some guys don't like them and say they've tried them and saw no improvement. I think that's cause their rig is set up correct right from the start. My seabird was built with an i/o and was converted to an outboard and this makes my bow a little light as the i/o was more in the center of the boat. I have much more weight to the stern now. The foli helps. Takes about 5 minutes to install. If you don't like it and go to take it off just fill the holes in with jb weld and you'll never know there were any holes there.
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1,054 Posts
I installed them in about 10 minutes on an old bayliner bowrider 17 foot I had years ago. Way underpowered (50 hp Force Engine) for water skiing... definitely helped boat get on plane faster and pull skier with 2 in boat.
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I agree
One nice thing about the hydrofoil, that even trim tabs won't get you is extra "bite" from your power trim. I installed a dole fin (misspelled?), only $26, for breaking in a rebuilt engine. It helped the boat plane better at low RPM's; what I noticed later was it allowed me to force the bow down in rough ocean, for a smoother & safer ride. The boats an aluminum 21 footer w/ a merc 115. The only downside I saw was about 1 MPH off the top end, and sometimes they make a funny noise.
Jon
One nice thing about the hydrofoil, that even trim tabs won't get you is extra "bite" from your power trim. I installed a dole fin (misspelled?), only $26, for breaking in a rebuilt engine. It helped the boat plane better at low RPM's; what I noticed later was it allowed me to force the bow down in rough ocean, for a smoother & safer ride. The boats an aluminum 21 footer w/ a merc 115. The only downside I saw was about 1 MPH off the top end, and sometimes they make a funny noise.
Jon
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7,348 Posts
i had the dole fin on my old 115 mariner that was on my 18ft stamas and it definetly helped out allot i since got a new motor and dont need it anymore
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886 Posts
go for it! 2 boats ago i had a 21 cruisers inc. bonanza, and a 175 evinrude, heavy,heavy boat. used to take me 4500 rpm to plane off. installed a pair of dol-fins. very simple procedure. i dont like drilling holes in boats never mind a 10k motor!!!
just line up fins with cavitation plates, mark the 4 holes with marker, and drill, insert nuts, bolts, lockwashers, hint; teflon nuts will hold indefinitly. as i recall it helped me in getting on plane drammaticly. 4000-4100 to get on plane. much cheaper/easier alternative to installing trim tabs. doesnt help with side to side trim, but bow down is much more effective...go for it! you'll be glad you did!
just line up fins with cavitation plates, mark the 4 holes with marker, and drill, insert nuts, bolts, lockwashers, hint; teflon nuts will hold indefinitly. as i recall it helped me in getting on plane drammaticly. 4000-4100 to get on plane. much cheaper/easier alternative to installing trim tabs. doesnt help with side to side trim, but bow down is much more effective...go for it! you'll be glad you did!
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