Wedge topic revisited...

Brian F.

Brian F.

Well-known member
To wedge, or not to wedge...
Totally duckboat related... ;^)

I have read the past posts here with much interest about the pros and cons of adding wedges to the aft hull bottom to improve hull plane performance.
After a couple years of internal debate, I made the leap, and I added wedges to my Devlin Broadbill. In part, as I'd like to go back to using my old 9.5 o/b motor which has struggled, at best, to get the hull up on plane.

The pictures below document the process.
I used 1/2" plywood, 5" by about 18". I used my bandsaw to resaw it into the wedge. After the wedges were epoxied to the hull I covered them with a couple layers of 4" wide, 8 oz. glass cloth tape. I have a little bit of faring left to do and will call it ready for paint. Hopefully be able to get paint on the hull one night this week yet.

I think the hardest part of this process was sanding off the old bottom paint and base primer but not sanding through the original epoxy and glass.

I'll try to take a few more pics as I get the hull and transom fared, and painted.


PB090373.jpg

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PB130380.jpg

 
thanks yous so much for the idea...ill prob fool around more to get it right thanks again
shermie...
 
Brian,

Let me know how this works out for you. Curious to know why you want to go back to the 9.5 vs. using the 15? Weight?

Hope all is well with you and your fam.

Ryan
 
Brian,

Let me know how this works out for you. Curious to know why you want to go back to the 9.5 vs. using the 15? Weight?

Hope all is well with you and your fam.

Ryan
Click to expand...

Yes, will do.
The Old Johnson o/b is a very good little motor and it is both lighter and has a lower height profile for the motor hanging off the back of the boat. The top of the 9.5 motor cover is nearly 4" lower than the 15 Yam cover. I'll propably still use the 15 on the rivers, where I want the added safety for extra up-stream power.

I'm pretty busy with all the kids. Stay tuned this week for some more pics of my little guy. He's turned 4, today.
I bet there's no dull moments at your house these days either!!

Be safe.

Brian F.
 
Brian,

No dull moments for sure!

Now that my BB is complete and I've had an opportunity to run it with the 9.9, it surprises me that the 9.5 would have difficulty getting your boat up on plane. Did you use 1/4" ply or did you go bigger?

Ryan
 
Ryan

I've owned several of those OMC 9.9/15 hp motors and there is a real big difference depending upon the year. That motor was reworked in the mid 80s with an increase in displacement. They basically look the same from the outside with the low profile and all but the later ones spanked the older ones in top end. It could be Brian has an older 9.9 that isn't the same creature as what you have experience with.
 
Ryan,
Eric has nailed it. My 9.5 o/b is a vintage '68/'69. Plus, I added two layers of glass cloth with a total of 4 layers of epoxy on the outer side of my boat hull. She's heavy!!

Brian F.
 
Thanks for the clarification. I assumed it was likely due to hull weight, but knew nothing about the motor/year displacement variable.

Looking forward to hearing your performance post 'wedgie'.

Ryan
 
Rhett,
The theory is to help get the boat up on plane more easily, keep it up on plane and yes to force the bow down.

That said, I did more walk-in hunting this year and as such haven't had a chance to to test the new wedges yet.

Best,
Brian F.
 
I really am interested so when you do run it please post results here. I'm trying to keep from adding trim tabs or a hydrofoil to the boat....I seem to knock alot of pieces of my boats, the less pieces the better.

Thanks
Rhett
 
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