Here is an ad for a transom wedge: http://www.marinersdirect.com/shorts/details.php?ITEM=0100002 It fits between the engine mount and the transom. It is thicker at the top than the bottom and therefore gives the engine more negative trim or "tuck". As far as I am concerned there is no down side for a ski boat. There is still more than enough positive trim available for all circumstances. So, you get more negative for low speed work and still have plenty of positive trim for the high speed stuff. The Dyne has a fairly upright transom at about 14*, so the wedge is quite effective on the 18 and 17.6. I have not tried one on a 20. Some of the more modern designs have more angle built into the transom, so effectively they have the wedge built in. What does this do? The pictures below show my boat at 16 mph when it was an I/O and since conversion to an outboard with a wedge. The difference between a 225 with and without the wedge would not be this great, but you get the idea. jim
I'd actually like to try the wedge. I'm a little nervous about what will be involved in removing my engine because I installed the bolts with 3M 5200 and I'm wondering how much abuse the transom would need to endure in order to get those bolts out....
Mark, 3M 5200 is stubborn stuff. I have heard that heat will get it to release. You could just heat the bolts. If the nuts are on the inside the bolts will have to be removed. If the nuts are on the outside, it will be easy. jim
I guess what I really want to say is that I'm kinda shocked that I have never heard of this before and it sounds to me like no one else has these either. Is their anyone else out there that has one of these installed on your dyne? Anything negitive about these?
I'll apologize in advance. :wave: Your post made me laugh. I guess you never heard of ram extenders or wedges that are thicker at the bottom to add more positive trim for boats that are so seriously out of balance that they need more positive trim. How about hull mounted cooling water pickups with electric water pumps? Or a 260 HP merc that weighs only 367 pounds from the factory, but now out of production? It reminds me of the attitude of some of the Porsche club members toward my highly modified 1959 convertible D. There are parts on my boat that are very unusual and even one of a kind, but not the wedge. But hey, I am a serious believer in "to each his own". jim :good:
Nothing new, been using wedges for 15 years. CMC makes 2 degree wedges that you can stack to really dial in what you want.
Well I have a 78 Hydrodyne with an 06 Mercury 225 Opti. What do I need? This boat is going to be strictly for show skiing.
Slow work or fast work? For fast work the wedge is sort of optional, although it will help prevent pitch up with a big pull. For slow work, it is a big help because it allows the boat to get on plane at a lower speed. The regular 5 degree wedge will give you about a 19 degree transom which should work. jim
on an 18 or a 17.6 it cannot hurt because the boats are short. You can always trim up and adjust the tilt limit pin on the motor if you don't want quite so much tuck. On a 20 footer the amount of bow steer when trimmed all the way in can be dangerous so I don't usually put them on a 20 footer.
Sounds like the 5 degree one is the one I will be buying next week. I'm glad I found this when I did because the guy that is helping build my boat for me has been talking about putting stuff in the nose to weight it down. At this point we already have the gas tank up there so I really don't want to weigh the boat down too much more. Thanks for everyones help!
