Boat Hopping in Turns

[nebraskaairboater]

I have an old 78 panther aluminum hull. After installing floor jacks it runs in the water great... until I turn. It turns fine when I'm going slow in deeper water, but if it slides at all in a turn I have to hold on for life and ride the bull. Any Ideas from anyone what would cause it to jump when I put it into a sliding turn. I could be hardly moving but in shallow water and it does the same thing in a turn. Could I have the middle jack too far down or something simple like that? or where these boats not made to slide in a turn?

any info will help.

 

[marshmaster pat]

Lots of older hulls seem to do it (and a few new ones I know of). We call it crow hoppin. Can be very violent and potentially dangerous.

Some of the newer hulls have a step on the side or chime, that is supposed to grab water during a turn to stop the sliding.

I never have heard of a way to stop it unless you just take it slow. So if someone knows of a good cure, I want to know as well.

CAUTION: I have seen pictures of a boat out that took a corner too fast, started crow hoppin and pitched over sideways towards the outside of the turn. Cage & prop ruined, stand damaged. Engine in bad shape, they said it got water inside the motor while running and bent rods.

 

[cntry141iq]

I am familiar with this phenomenon yep intimately familiar. It is my opinion that it is the driver not the boat that causes it. I have been successful in making every boat I have ever had do it. It occurs when attempting a very gentle slide at too high a speed for the water depth and you get just a little too much turn started and dont follow thru. If your used to it ... it can be funny ... but if not... it can be a disater. You can flip the boat and generally more than one time. To get out of it just throttle up and finish the turn or straighten it out whichever you need to do. If you just hop once or twice sorta easy well that is funny if you hop and hop and each one gets more violent then corrective action is required right away because that next hop may grab on somethin and over you go NOT FUNNY ever. So thats my opinion just change your style of drivin. Oh yeah if you have polymer on your boat better make sure the edges are not comin loose that is a definite diaster comin for sure.

 

[Anonymous]

Dan,
The phenomenon that you are experiencing is called "crow hopping."
As Cntry141iq mentioned, experiencing this event can have disastrous results.

The problem is that you are turning your boat too sharp at too high a rate of speed and the chimes are digging into the water as the boat travels through the arch of the turn.

The boat may hop until you complete your turn or the chime may dig into the water and flip the boat.

As mentioned it can be fun for a period of time but the bottom line is if you are "crow hopping" you have lost control of your boat.

This is another good reason for all boat occupants to be wearing PFDs.

The wearing of a PFD when ejected from an airboat during a rollover or coming into contact with a fixed object, such as a tree, stump or post will provide some measure of protection to the rib cage and back. Having the wind knocked out of you sure beats have broken ribs and a punctured lung.

Someone once said the airboats are no more dangerous than any other watercraft when operated in a safe and prudent manner.

Fiberglass hull boats do not crow hop, unless you have an improperly installed polymer bottom covering that catches the water as the boat turns, because of their rounded hull bottoms.

WaterLizard 8)

 

[nebraskaairboater]

I understand that you can make any boat do it if you turn going fast enough. I had my dads bouncing so hard that it broke the radiator one time. My problem is that it doesn't matter how fast or slow I am going it does it. but only when the boat goes into a slide. if you turn in 6 inches or less water you are going to slide or stick the bottom. My question is, could this be caused by deformation of the running surface or a bottom that is not flat. I have floor jacks under the engine that I had to put in to keep the nose up. if i had the middle jack down farther than the outside two would that cause it?

 

[cntry141iq]

well nebraska u got me I am not sure about the jacks I never had any until this new hull and so far have not adjusted them. You might give the guys at ALUMITECH a call. Mike at FLORAL CITY AIRBOATS can probably tell you also. They both are in the manufacturers listed on this site.

I would never want to hop one hard enough to break anything on my boat. One or two hops can be fun but after that you are definetly huntin big trouble and it can come very quickly so u better get it fixed before you wreck.

 

[nebraskaairboater]

When I had my dads boat hopping, I hadn't been driving boats for verry long and I came around the point of an Island at cruise speed and basically made a 180 to go around the end of the island. Instead of straightening out and slowing down I held the turn and put the accelerator to the floor. Learned my lesson on that one. Dad made me pay to get the radiator fixed because he thought I was trying to show off. With my boat, its been that way for a couple of years (since I've had the boat) so I have just learned how to drive it with that problem. I grew up driving boats where the driver sits low inside the boat up front and the passengers sit on the middle box down the center of the boat. Now with my boat set up like boats are in FL and everywhere else I have the feeling that I am going to fall off the boat because i'm 4 feet in the air. I'll just keep playing with the jacks and see if it helps. I can live with it. Was kind of hoping someone would say that those hulls were not designed to slide in a turn.

Thanks,

 

[Anonymous]

Dan,
I believe that you are on the right track, but you just have not gone far enough.
First of all you have an old 78 Panther aluminum hull.
Second, you may have the hull jacks out of adjustment.
Contrary to common belief airboat hulls are NOT flat. They have or should have a slight bevel to them. Over time and yours is a 78 model, the bottom of the hull flattens or becomes concaved. A well constructed aluminum hull boat will have more than one hull jack depending upon its length.
You may have to tighten up that hull jack or add another one until you get a slight roundness from midships aft.
Your boat has a lot of years on it and time takes its toll. By-the-way, while your down there working on the hull, you may want to check the welds along the stringers.

WaterLizard 8)

I have an old 78 panther aluminum hull. After installing floor jacks it runs in the water great... until I turn. It turns fine when I'm going slow in deeper water, but if it slides at all in a turn I have to hold on for life and ride the bull. Any Ideas from anyone what would cause it to jump when I put it into a sliding turn. I could be hardly moving but in shallow water and it does the same thing in a turn. Could I have the middle jack too far down or something simple like that? or where these boats not made to slide in a turn?

any info will help.

 

[nebraskaairboater]

I do have another set of jacks but didn't know where they were supposed to go. I put them under my front passenger seat but don't have them screwed down at all because it don't look right. Where is the second set supposed to go. The set that I am using us under the engine as far back as I could weld it to the engine stand.

 

[Anonymous]

LOOK AT YOUR HULL,MEASURE ABOUT 12 INCHES BACK FROM WHERE YOUR HULL STARTS TO BEND UP AT THE NOSE,THATS A GOOD PLACE FOR A JACK,IF YOUR OTHER SET IS AS FAR BACK AS IT CAN GO ALREADY,YOR THIRD SET SHOULD BE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE OTHER TWO.A JACK SOULDN`T REALY BE THAT FAR BACK.THE OBJECT IS TO CREATE A SLIGHT BEVAL,AS WATERLIZARD SAID,AND IF YOUR PUSHING DOWN AT THE BACK YOUR CREATING A BEVAL IN ONLY ONE SPOT WITCH WILL MAKE A BOAT HOP.NO MATTER HOW LONG A BOAT IS I PLACE THE FRONT JACK IN THE SAME SPOT,AND THE REAR I PUT RIGHT BEHIND THE FRONT LEGS OF THE ENGINE STAND,NEVER NEEDED A THIRD SET,BUT NEVER HAD A 78 HULL.
HOPE THIS HELPS