steering play???

[kjrinker94]

Question guys - When going slow, like no wake slow, does your boat "fishtale" or "wag" back and forth?  I've been told this is normal but this is my first boat with an I/O so this trait is new to me.  At cruising speeds the steering is fine, or at least seems to be, the boat responds sharply to even the slightest steering wheel adjustment.  And if this is normal.....why does it do it?

Kevin

[zieggy]

YEP!

Seems to be worse with a larger boat!

[ParkRode360]

Yep, it's normal - and the wind can make life a bit interesting! Very easy to overcontrol the boat at that point -- the captain that did our ride-along kept having us relax and *not* correct till we were sure that we were going off track, otherwise you're always a bit behind and you make things worse.

[frodo13056]

Kevin,
It's very common for boats to wander while idling along - it's a phenomenon known as "prop torque steer". The wandering is due to how the rotating prop moves through the water which in turn causes the boat to "wander".  It's more noticeable on Alpha I /Bravo I and Bravo II out drives and much less noticeable on boats with Bravo III or Duo-Props since the two props actually counter-rotate. The counter rotation on the duo props essentially eliminate the prop torque steering effect. Even the bigger boats with twin engines and duo prop setups wander but it's much less noticeable.
I wouldn't worry much about it if the boat is stable at higher speeds.

Steve