I recently hauled my '84 Hunter 34 to do a bottom job. I did it myself. Sanded. painted. Buffed. Replaced zincs. The yard put the boat back in the water when I was not there. The first time I took it out it pulled to the left in a big way when motoring. In neutral it goes straight when coasting. There was no hint of this before. What could have happened? I dove the boat and could not see anything wrong. It was a quick look so I did not expect to. What can cause this? Any ideas?
Boat Pulls to left when Motoring
- Thread starter markwbird
- Start date
Is there any way that the rudder was over driven so what you used to have as center is no longer?
Edit: well probably not as it coasts straight. More likely what Chief RA said. Any vibration at wide open throttle?
Maybe they bent the strut.
Edit: well probably not as it coasts straight. More likely what Chief RA said. Any vibration at wide open throttle?
Maybe they bent the strut.
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I would check the prop and strut to see if any strap was placed on that. It happens at yards.
Chief RA; Long time no talk to. Hope you are doing well. A new one on me that I set the brush on fire with a crowbar. Got burned of course but a crowbar? Catching fish with a car and other things, boy I have pulled some stunts over the years.
Crazy
Chief RA; Long time no talk to. Hope you are doing well. A new one on me that I set the brush on fire with a crowbar. Got burned of course but a crowbar? Catching fish with a car and other things, boy I have pulled some stunts over the years.
Crazy
If you are going to that much trouble, might as well move the rear tires to the front, and the fronts to the rear. Helps equalize the wear.
How? By bending the shaft? Seems like there'd be other noticable issues besides a pull to one side or other. Like vibration.
fstbttms: Note that there is no indicator of whether it vibrates or not. If the stern lift strap slips, guess where it ends up. Chief
My point is that the only way that the prop is "out of alignment" is if the shaft was bent. If the shaft was bent, it seems likely there'd be other, very noticable indicators that this was the case. I don't believe the strut could be bent without it pulling out of the hull.
Had a similar occurrence once but never figured out the cause. Our diver had just cleaned the bottom a few days earlier and I asked if perhaps the prop had not been cleaned. The diver indicated that he had indeed cleaned the prop and that he had not noticed anything out of the ordinary. Since in neutral or under sail the boat tracked good I surmised the problem was not with the rudder but something with the engine drive train. I also felt the engine was lacking power and smoking a little which reinforced the theory of a fouled prop. I went ahead and replaced the fuel filters, adjusted the valves lash and changed the engine oil. Next weekend we went out and the problem was gone. Don't know if it was an engine torque issue or if the diver came back during the week to correct something he had done. Check the sacrificial anode and the balance on the prop.
There may actually be some vibration that was not there before. It was the first thing my wife noticed. This weekend I may dive the boat with the engine running and in gear to see if there is any wobble. Fstbttms: Is that safe or completely crazy?
As for my tires, I drive a pickup so I definitely rotate them back to front but I never switch left to right.
As for my tires, I drive a pickup so I definitely rotate them back to front but I never switch left to right.
If you are in a marina I would think of this: http://www.boatus.com/seaworthy/magazine/2013/july/electric-shock-drowning-explained.asp
Electric Shock Drowning is pretty much exclusively a freshwater issue. The OP is in a saltwater marina, a marina I have personally been diving in for over 22 years.
Is there a chance some of the steering linkage slipped a bit? On my B323 I centered the wheel and made adjustments until the quadrant was also centered. Then, I took the boat out on auto pilot to make sure it tracted straight.
UPDATE to add... if it does not go straight, adjust the cables to move the rudder as needed.
UPDATE to add... if it does not go straight, adjust the cables to move the rudder as needed.
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