Need help with the new bug.

I have never owned a performance boat before. I got my new zx250 last week. went out tonight for first trip after getting break in done. It won't stop porpoising. If you are running on a smooth surface and trim up more than a 1/4 it starts porpoising. I am not sure if weight distribution is the problem or what.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Yea. CHeck weight distribution. Motor/prop?

Yamaha sho 250 prop that comes on them from skeeter. I probably only have about a total of 60 lbs in the front boxes

Break in should have shown you at what speed it comes on plane and when it falls off. If you did initial break in properly and ran with no trim applied, you should have found that you can run up to a pretty decent speed and not have to trim at all. So when it starts to porpoise you have too much trim for the given speed. You either need to speed up or trim down to match speed with trim.

Take a few minutes and run the boat from 1-3k rpms. Run about 60 seconds at each interval and slowly increase 100 rpms at a time. Run up to 3k and then back down again, 100 rpms at a time. This is how I was told to do my first 2 hours of break in and the entire time I was thinking what a great tool it would be for a first time Skeeter owner.

When you need to come off plane, keep rpm's up and reduce trim. As you feel speed slow down you can reduce throttle. You will learn to set it down and never porpoise.

I was told to do the entire break in time with the motor trimmed all the way down. I did that. tonight I was able to run it like I wanted too. So right now top speed without porpoising is 44 mile an hour. something seems wrong to me. I am talking about running across the lake. Not porpoising when slowing down.

Call the dealer you bought it from.

You say it's your first high performance boat and we all know Skeeters are trim sensitive. I wouldn't start adjusting anything. Just give yourself some seat time and each time it starts to porpoise, either put your foot in it, trim down a little, or do both till it stops.

And yes, call your dealer. Either your sales man can help or put you in touch with someone who will spend some time with you to help

The skeeter I traded in had a 115 two stroke and the same gear in the same boxes. You could run it wide open trim up and get top speed and never ever porpoised. That is why this one puzzles me as to why it porpoised if you trim up at all at any speed on plane.

Drive it like you stole it

I would bet you're not running with the hot foot pegged. (You should be). During the rest of your 10 hour break in you should run it HARD! Control speed with trim and not throttle. You want the engine hot to seat the rings correctly. When you vary your rpms every few minutes just use trim to do so.

It will be hard to make it porpoise if your foot is buried in the throttle.

I have an older ZX that never chine walked, soaked you coming off plane or porpoises at any speed or trim..... Based on some responses it sounds like the newer hulls porpoise? A buddy of mine had a hull on a cudy cabin that porpoised at 30-40. You could drive through it but in chop it would beat you to death between the waves and porpoising. Point is conditions may not always allow you to drive through it. I would have the setup checked out as it should not porpoise at all. Did you test drive one before you bought? And run it at all speeds? If you did and that one didn't then check setup and loading of weight.

I'm currently in the first Skeeter I've ever owned. You can watch Skeeters all across the lake porpoising. It's the thing I dislike most about my boat. I've learned to drive it properly but it was never an issue with the Ranger or Stratos I owned. As long as I'm driving it with the hot foot pegged I can trim it high and roll. If I want to cruise 40 or below, I have to lower the trim way down. I tell people it likes to go fast. :-)

Don't even try to pull a tube around at 20 mph. I tried and looked like one of those wake/surf boats with the nose high plowing down the lake.

Of course, there could be something wrong with the motor height as well and might need to be tweaked??? Let us know what you find out.

No I didn't test drive one. I had my older skeeter and loved it. I new the new one would drive different, but this one is frustrating to drive. It runs smooth with the trim all the way down, but you can't trim up at any speed on plane. The more trim you put into it the worse it gets. I tried throttling through it, but that's a no go. It just gets worse. I thought maybe my gear was too nose heavy. But it is the same gear in the same locations as my old boat. Its just kinda weird how it acts. Sorta feels like the nose is always falling down even at 5000 rpms. you get it up on plane and then when you try to trim up even a little in starts dropping the nose. The jackplate has not been messed with since I picked it up. Guess I will have to get the dealer to take a ride with me.

Just got my new ZX250 broken in a few months ago. I came out of a Nitro Z7 and I must say the ZX is very trim sensitive compared to the Nitro.

I am not expert by any means but I am not sure it is weight distribution as much as it is proper trim.

I have never driven a boat that seems as trim sensitive as the ZX.

Call your dealer but keep playing with the trim at all speeds and I bet you will get it figured out...took me a while but I did.

I am hoping to take it out again tomorrow and spend some more time with it. If I can't get it figured out then I guess its dealer time.

How smooth is yours when its in gear at idle. Mine is rough enough that the access panel under the dash vibrates. Is isn't near as smooth as my 2008 115 two stroke.

Sounds like a ride along from the dealer will be required. My SHO is very smooth and quiet. I really like it.

Ha! I just looked up Laird Hill to see where you live. To say you're in the heart of Skeeter country would be an understatement! What are you, 10 miles from the factory?

You'll get this worked out. I'm sure of it

I live 4 miles from the factory, Main reason I wanted to stay with skeeter. I have had two mercury four strokes a 90 and a 60. This one seams to vibrate a lot at idle in gear. It vibrated the same way the first time I fired it up.

the Skeeter "Slap"

You got something wrong going on, every boat I've been in with a SHO has been super quiet at idle.

Only logical answer is to sell it and get a Ranger...

Also known as, the Skeeter "hop." As Bass Elite guys so eloquently put it.

Mine is very smooth...if yours is causing that much vibration I would certainly take it back to the dealer.

Ok I see guys that dont know how to drive a boat properly on the lake all the time porpoising and there is no problem with the hull designs just how they are driving the boat. Get boat on plane with trim all the way down and dont start trimming up until boat is completely on plane and flat, then around 40mph start trimming the motor equal to throttle....meaning 3/4 throttle then 3/4 trim and so on. Then when you are slowing down start trimming the motor down "before" you start coming off the throttle. So trim the boat down flat and then start letting off the throttle and this will keep the boat from porpoising during the slow down. It all has to do with the trim position at the speed that you are going....low speeds... then low or no trim. Hopefully this will help!

Every 250 SHO I've driven is VERY smooth.

Maybe the prop is whacked?

That sounds weird and not normal. I just bought a new Legend V20 a month ago with a 250 SHO and mine is super smooth. The only time I've had it porpoise is when I'm slowing down and I'm trimmed up too much, which is easily corrected by trimming down.

I get on plane with it trimmed all the way down then trim it up while throttle is full until I'm at the speed I want. It's super smooth.

Sounds like to me your motor height is wrong and you're over trimmed. The boat you came out of was smaller and probably required less speed to get on plane and stay there.

I've got an FX21 with the 250 SHO, 15 1/8", 25 pitch T1. I start out trimmed down and jack plate down. After breaking over, I trim up to my desired RPMs. Then begin raising the jack plate and tweaking the trim to find that "sweet spot". On my boat, the jackplate's at 12 or 13 and I'm about 7/8 trimmed up at 6,000 RPMs.

The vibration...I don't get. Sounds like a bent prop or prop shaft, or that SHO's just more of a beast than the 115 and you aren't used to it.

RedRanger can help you out. He knows a lot about Skeeters.

At first during this thread I was thinking maybe your jack plate could be the problem or you have just not figured out the trim sweet spot yet. However, after reading several of your posts, it sounds like you might have a different problem than just the jack plate or trim. I could be wrong but that is just how I feel. The reason I said this is because you said you felt a lot of vibration at idle. That's uncharacteristic with SHO's. I would contact your dealer and tell them the problems you're having. They'll point you in the right direction.


In the end it could be you're just trimmed up too high. But check with your dealer before you do anything drastic.

Give it more gas!

similar thread from 2 years ago. looks like the OP ended up getting the factory involved . . .

link

No problems with porpoising on my SHO 250/ FX21LE
I'd have a Skeeter rep ride with you.

The vibration could be a bent prop shaft or maybe 1 or 2 cylinders not firing, causing the vibration and the inability to power through the porpoise.

I've had three Skeeters over the years. The first, a late 1990 version ran fine and fast with no porpoising. It was a bit unstable and chine walked at high speed. I owned an infamous 2006 20I that at first porpoised at all speeds. I returned it to Skeeter and they fabricated and added the rear-end "down flare" and it improved the problem greatly but there was a speed where at higher trim where it porpoised. When it happened, I just trimmed it down. I bought a 2016 250 ZX and it runs great at high speed and high trim but also has a speed where it porpoises. I just trim it down to stabilize. The greatest difference I see between the ZX and 20I is the ZX seems to have a lower profile off the water at high speed. There is not as much movement of the bow up as the trim comes up. It still planes at the back of the pad and is in my mind an overall more stable ride. I think all Skeeters porpoise at lower speed and high trim.

I'm running a new zx225. There was a bit of a learning curve with it. Very trim sensitive. Don't trim up too early and trim down before you slow down.

What type of motor toter do you have ? Do you have a motor-mate if so, did you take it off before launching ?

Ok I talked to my dealer and they said to bring it in. I took it over to nautical mile where I purchased it. The owner met me out front took the boat around back fired it up for a little bit. Checked the throttle linkage. Turned to me and said lets go to the lake. He took it out for a spin came back picked me up and showed me a lot about how to really use the trim. There was no problem with the boat. I did have a weight distribution problem. But he showed me what to do to get it right. He also spent some time showing a lot on my electronics. Biggest problem was me and babying it too much. As he told me "you have to let the beast out". I will have to say the guys at nautical mile have been great. And that is saying a lot after dealing with someone as hard headed as me. Thanks for all the advice that everyone has offered. Most of the problems were in my head, and mentality driving the boat. So yes I will admit it was me. And we turned a top speed of 71.6, so now that I have admitted ignorance, I am very happy with the new bug, and extremely happy with Nautical Mile Marine.

Glad to hear. That little bit of time will pay big dividends in your ownership experience! Enjoy your new Bug Boat!!

I call it the trim dance. It is not a set it and leave it thing with mine unless I am doing WOT. Even then there can be tweaking depending on what is going on with the water. When mine porpoises I know I am off on the setting for the speed. I agree with the dealer about letting the beast out. I have the older Ox66, and it likes to run.

Awesome!
I remember when I came out of my 18 ft champion with a 150 to a 20ft Skeeter with a 225 I was a little throttle shy too, but got over it pretty quick!

That's me going from a 18 ft skeeter 86 model to 05 ZX225 with 225 that's a little getting use to

I bought a zx20 this week.... I learned quick keep trim down until you want pure speed

Took mine out again today. Funny how much better a boat runs when you are mentally relaxed.

Captain, I have been in my ZX250 for a little over a year now, and coming out of a 18'X-press, I completely understand the whole "let the big dog eat" thing. I was never so excited to see 74.8 but really who needs that? I live on Fork, so I choose to make my runs between 50 and 60 depending on the conditions and traffic. That seems like a comfortable cursing speed. I am no professional driver but my bug likes the bow down a little at that speed. That being said, when the crowds are gone and conditions permit, hammer down, your motor will appreciate it. not to mention, it's good for the sole! LJ & KS!