Help!: Front ballast for 20' alum. boat?

[BleuGhill]

I need some advice on getting a 20'x72" Fisher aluminum boat properly balanced front-to-back. The problem is that it has a 90HP Honda 4-stroke (heavy) motor, and the front of the boat rises up too high out of the water even with a moderate throttle.

I was hoping that some of you might have suggestions on a reasonable way to put some weight in the front of the boat under the deck. We thought of just drilling out some rivets to be able to get access to beneath the deck and putting a few bags of concrete mix back under there, but still wanted some other input. Hope this is not too far off topic, but it *is* our crappie boat haha. Thanks from a KY boy who's bustin' to get to Weiss soon!

[Jerry Blake]

Before adding weight I would attempt to transfer some weight towards the front. If there's room under the front deck you could install a hatch and put your batteries up front. Anything you can move from the back to the front will help. I moved the gas tanks from the back to the front of a ski boat years ago and that helped it alot.

Concrete may cause some corrosion on your aluminum if you go that route.

Trimming the motor all the way down on take-off should reduce bow lift. Also, a prop with less Rake would help. Even raising the motor on the transom would help a little bit.

[SkeeterJeff]

When fishing in Canada out of a 16' Lund w/25 HP Yamaha, my wife works well as ballast!

She loves catching those walleye more than I do, I believe.

[ceb]

She loves catching those walleye more than I do, I believe.

I guess that she loves the catching more so than the fishing! I know mine sure does...She could care less about the fishing, but if I tell her, "hey baby, throw it right there and hold on," she's all about that!

But seriously, Jerry is right. Do some testing with weight shift or try out some sand bags in the front, before you make any major modifications to the boat. Got a picture of this beast of an aluminum boat, Bleughill? That might help with some answers...

[suey]

moving fuel tank is the best weigh to add weight forward

i have used a 140 qt cooler LOADED up and sat up front against the deck and tied up...this helped too

[NIMROD]

I had the same problem with my Alumaweld It was helped when I put a pair of batteries in the front box to run 12/24 volt trolling motor. The 90 hp motor and light front made it porpoise and bounce. I would put all the weight I could forward and concider a battery box . Even if it meant cutting into the front seat or raised deck to install.:D

[Songdog]

If I were going to add any ballast after the previous sugg. I would add play sand I had to put a bag in the front of a lowes I used to have JMO

[DRPEPPER]

I have been considering doing something to the front of my sticksteer for this same problem when I am trying to spider rig or troll. Even with my heavy duty body up front, I feel the wind still catches too much of the front because it sticks up too much. The scum line even indicates it is sticking up.
DP

[ShortStorie]

A hydrofoil like the Sting Ray or the SE Sport 200 (my favorite) will lift the stern on take off, keep the bow down, improve hole shot and keep you on plane at slower speed. Won't need much trim either. Depending on motor height, it may have no effect at all on top end as it is out of the water on most set ups. I have used one on an old Lowe Lunker III with a 50hp Evinrude that didn't have power trim so I had to set it and forget it... Worked well... No porpoising. Use one on my little Champion Mean 16 with a Merc 90.
Again, big improvement in holeshot and minimal low speed porpoising... out of the water at top end. Might still want to adjust weight a bit if still stern heavy when using trolling mtr but, for me, the shift of my 260lbs from amidships to front chair was more than enough to keep things level

[CatFan]

Make sure it's trimming down all the way. Some outboards have a shipping pin that has to be removed to get full trim, and I've heard of people running them for years without removing them.