Any experience with a tunnel hull and prop motor

[Blue Heron]

I ordered a 1756 with a tunnel hull and 27" transom. I will be running a new Merc long shaft 40hp, 4 stroke, tiller. The boat will not have pods on the rear since I need it to fit in my garage. Trim tabs wouldn't fit either so I was thinking about a hydrofoil to help with planing. I have a 5 1/2" jackplate but thought I'd just bolt the motor straight to the transom for starters. The motor will have a 13 pitch Merc prop but not sure if I should go with a 3 or 4 blade. I have never owned a tunnel hull and was wondering if anyone could share their experiences or knowledge about setting this rig up for good all-a-round handling. Thanks.

[weedeater]

what brand boat and is it the wide shallow tunnel or narrow deep style? I run an 1548 alweld with the shallow wide and have a 25 yam thats hopped alittle that runs pretty shallow but i can run ruff water in the lake, it also has a cmc trim that sets it back 5 1/2 inch and i can trim pretty high and it planes fine

[LPfishnTIM]

forget the hydrofoil and use jackplate!

[Raymond]

I'll take a stab at it .
Must use jack plate with a 20" shaft motor, cavatation plate should be even with top of tunnel for best performance . 4 blade will give best hole shot but 3 will be faster. Pitch, don't know much about 4 strokes but I would get plenty of cup in any tunnel setup. More cup less slip. Trim tabs can be welded at the bottom of the transom and adjusted using wasa cresent wrench. Make sure you balance your weight, keeping gas,battery up front to hold the front down. Weight distribution is key in the performance of any tunnel boat. Post a pic and more info and someone on here will be glad to walk you through the finer points. Can you tell us what type of terrain you will be running the tunnel in? Never though tunnel boats would be necessary in Ar. Will try to post a pic of my setup tomorrow.

Raymond

[huntin fool]

Just get a hydraulic jack plate and be done with it.


Speed= 3 blade
Hole shot= 4 blade

[Blue Heron]

It's a WeldBilt brand. From what I've been told it's a deep tunnel (5").

I did order a Bobs Machine Shop Stabilizer plate[SIZE=2].[/SIZE][SIZE=2][/SIZE]

[weedeater]

Originally Posted by Raymond

I'll take a stab at it first.
Must use jack plate with a 20" shaft motor, cavatation plate should be even with top of tunnel for best performance . 4 blade will give best hole shot but 3 will be faster. Pitch, don't know much about 4 strokes but I would get plenty of cup in any tunnel setup. More cup less slip. Trim tabs can be welded at the bottom of the transom and adjusted using a cresent wrench. Why did u buy a tunnel to run in ark??? Make sure you balance your weight, keeping gas,battery up front to hold the front down. Weight distribution is key in the performance of any tunnel boat. Post a pic and more info and someone on here will be glad to walk you through the finer points.

Raymond

i am told they use the tunnels up there due to rocky streams along with jet drive

[Blue Heron]

Wondering if a stock Trophy Sport (4 blade) 10 5/8 x 13 will have enough cup?

[huntin fool]

Originally Posted by Blue Heron

Wondering if a stock Trophy Sport (4 blade) 10 5/8 x 13 will have enough cup?

It's not hard to add cup to a prop.

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by Blue Heron

Wondering if a stock Trophy Sport (4 blade) 10 5/8 x 13 will have enough cup?

Doubt it, tunnel cup is aftermarket in most cases. Are u running in rocks?? If so, might want gravel guard and skeg welded into tunnel.

[weedeater]

Originally Posted by Blue Heron

Wondering if a stock Trophy Sport (4 blade) 10 5/8 x 13 will have enough cup?

depends on what you call cup, i have seen boats here in s. la that you could eat out of the cup in a prop. I have never seen a stock or out of the box prop with realy any cup, there are prop shops down here that you can ship to and have work done and they will ship back, not sure how it works up dar

[LPfishnTIM]

Originally Posted by huntin fool

It's not hard to add cup to a prop.

yeah I usually get a prop and bring it to a prop repair shop and tell them what I want or ask what works best, they repair and change up props all the time and can probably give you the best information on what you should want!

[huntin fool]

Originally Posted by Raymond

Doubt it, tunnel cup is aftermarket in most cases. Are u running in rocks?? If so, might want gravel guard and skeg welded into tunnel.

Or a skeg mounted on the jack plate's bottom..

[Blue Heron]

Getting the boat mainly because... prop should miss a few hazards that would otherwise be hit, the tall transom looks cool, I've never had one, and I've never known anyone who has owned one. Betting it will do ok for running lines and hunting.

[weedeater]

somthin else that comes into play with tunnels and props and cup is pitch, you may give up pitch to run mor cup so you may want to find a good prop shop that knows thier stuff so you can get the right pitch and add the cup

[Blue Heron]

Sounding like I may have to ship a prop South to have it worked by someone that is familiar with my needs. Doubt any prop shops around here would have a clue. I could schedule having it worked on and take a vacation, maybe eat a crawdad or two.

[Blue Heron]

If anyone (Raymond) has pics of their setups I'd love to see them. There is just not much info on the www about tunnels with props and there are fewer pictures of 'em. I can't wait to start putting this rig together, should be interesting.

[Micah]

Originally Posted by Blue Heron

Sounding like I may have to ship a prop South to have it worked by someone that is familiar with my needs. Doubt any prop shops around here would have a clue. I could schedule having it worked on and take a vacation, maybe eat a crawdad or two.

Crawfish!!!!

[huntin fool]

Originally Posted by Blue Heron

If anyone (Raymond) has pics of their setups I'd love to see them. There is just not much info on the www about tunnels with props and there are fewer pictures of 'em. I can't wait to start putting this rig together, should be interesting.

If you know how to run them, they are fun boats to run in the marsh. Ofcourse with you being in arkansas i don't think you"ll be doing marsh running much

[Blue Heron]

The lakes here do tend to get very low in the summer. With my bass boat I found myself using the trolling motor to navigate for miles sometimes just because I could risk beaching that heavy bass rig. Most of what I fish is where mouths of creeks/rivers dump into lakes. These areas tend to get silted in and can be unpredictable. Also, the Arkansas River has a lot of back waters that bass boats can have problems accessing.