Something dragging

[takeemmac]

Just got the 1998 tr21 back up and on the water added a Garmin force trolling motor however the last few times I have taken it out the boat that is when I get up on plane it feels like something is dragging the left side of the boat down like there's a 500 lb midget sitting beside me when in fact there is no one in the boat I have tried taking my tackle boxes out of the front port Rod Locker box and removing them and it is still happening now once I start to trim out it kind of goes away I also have two Minn Kota
15 ft talents on the back and I have checked the bracket to make sure that they're not down too far I can't really think of anything that would be causing that I went through and checked the Jack Plate the bolts the transom bolts everything back there is tight your thoughts would be greatly appreciated

[mactlman]

water logged in the rear area? wet foam?

[takeemmac]

Thank you for your response there is nothing wet on the inside of the boat in fact I can't remember the last time the bilge pump kicked on unlike my Stratus which I would hear the Belgium pump every 10 minutes

[MeBassn]

Check the gel-coat on the bottom, there are several people dealing with hull blisters which could be what you are feeling. If the boat is listing to the port side while sitting still in the water, you may have a balance issue with your load, or something worse. Also, with the addition of the garmin trolling motor, it's going to change the way the boat rides, it's almost 80 pounds sitting right on the nose, prop lift, jackplate settings, and trim may all need to be adjusted to compensate for the extra weight.

I have a 2003 TR-21, adding a garmin TM, 2 bow graphs, graph mounting hardware, and a rite-hite turret have dramatically changed the speed and handling of my boat, losing 7 MPH overall. I also went with lithium batteries, and added 10' power poles to the stern, all have had a huge impact on overall performance.

Hopefully this gives you some ideas on where to look for issues or areas to target for improvement.

This page is loaded with recommendations and fixes, plenty of resourses on here to get you to where you need to go.

[MeBassn]

check out this thread, I'd start here and see if you have anything resembling this

https://www.bbcboards.net/showthread.php?t=600197

[Lightning 6]

#901-03-2020, 09:36 AM

IMHO most boats lean when fishing solo....and size matters. I found that moving 100% of my equipment forward of the consoles, managing fuel load and filling one livewell (port when solo & starboard with a co-angler) maximizes my performance and minimizes the lean.

Talons are heavy (especially 15 footers) and drag. Make sure the brackets are mounted as high as possible and as close to the sponsons as possible.

Fill your gas tank & take a 48” level to the lake & check the port-starboard balance. Using the level can really help balance the boat.

Make sure you have all your tackle along the keel….leaving the rid boxes for rods & light stuff (pfd, rainsuit, etc).

Early tritons (pre-2010) are very sensitive to transom weight….as they were not designed for shallow water anchors or 4s motors. I ditched my talons for powerpoles because of weight…..and it made a world of difference.

[TonyM]

What you are describing sounds alot like prop torque. Common on some boats, especially the older ones, to list to the port side due to right hand prop rotation. Boat levels out as speed increases. It was pretty significant in a Stratos I had. It’s possible the weight you added up front has exaggerated the effect. Was able to reduce it somewhat by moving heavy stuff to starboard, but never really went away and negatively affected low speed handling.

[takeemmac]

Thank you for all the things to look at. Sitting in the water the boat is perfect, no issues. I added the force tm and then shortly changed over to lithum batts...hummm. I went from 8 foot tallons to 15ft. quite a few changes is something to think about... I only notice it coming out of the hole and on plane for awhile until I start trimming it out say about 20mph it starts going away and leveling out. I have the tilt brackets on my tallons and have put them down on the deck thinking they might be dragging but it did not change anything I will have to check out the thread from MEBASSEN (thank you) and see if there is anything there. I will also check my hull for hull blisters. Thank you all, I will keep you posted