My 40mph TriToon build

[Woody]

Im back at it. .....

Sweet ! Keep us posted.

[JonCBrand]

I think while I have the boat down to do some welding I will also had 1" angle aluminum to the inside top edge of the tubes to attach under skinning. I have a mass of cables and hoses from the helm to the back that are under the deck and since I have U-tubes there is no where to run them on top of the tube.

[Bamaman]

You might want to visit some new boat dealerships to see how different manufacturers have mounted their lifting strakes. I understand quite a lot of testing has been done by the manufacturers to "perfect" their setups.

[GXPWeasel]

I was going to say something similar there Bamaman. I would be curius as to how exactlly you are going to know where to mount the strakes exactly. I would think this would differ greatly on weight of toon as well as the distribution of weight, and diameter, etc. The list goes on, and there may be many variables, unless I am not understanding the dynamics correcly.

[JonCBrand]

I have looked at quite a few boats at the local marina. I guess im just going to fly by the seat of my pants on this one. The drawing shows how I plan to have these strakes situated on the tubes. My theory is that with the strakes angles slightly down they will increase the planing surface of the bottom of the tubes. My boat currently will run with at least the front 6 feet of the tubes out of the water, so I with the strakes mounted about 4-6" above the bottom edge of the tube they should be out of the water when on plane. The boat also sits a little lower in the back which I would think will help the strakes climb through the water up to the top at lower speeds. The only downside I can see is if have the front of the boat farther in the water than the rear, causing the strakes to pull the boat down into the water in front. I dont see this being an issue with my seating arrangement.

This pic shows a rough idea of how I would like to mount them. I plan to have the leading edge of the strakes tapered intoward the tube over a 8-10" lenght. The rears will be cut flush with the end of the tubes.

I also have a plan for the strakes to store a favorite addition on my boat. Which is a 16' 2" stainless tube on the front deck, mounted in bearings and spins, just for flags

[JonCBrand]

Here is pic of the "Flag Pole" There is a 3" aluminum tube through the center of the center toon in the middle of the forward deck. A bearing sits at the bottom of the tube another at the top to allow it to spin. I have since cut down the length to make it more manageable. My intent is to make some sort of a cap or pin lock system to hold the pole inside one of the strakes so it is out of the way but accessible from behind the boat in the water.

[Mrtoler]

I'm glad your back, I was fowling your build closely because I'm wanting the 3rd log and big motor on mine but then I seen you run the for sale add I said to myself..well that stinks, but now your back . I can't wait to see what the strakes do for ya hopefully you get the peformance your wanting.

[JonCBrand]

Brought the boat to the shop today. Started on rebuilding the steering cylinder, I was putting this off late last season thinking it would be a big job. 20 min in and its almost done.

With weather so warm up here in WI I may not get my strakes done till next winter, we will see how the weather goes the next week or so.
The pier goes in on the 24th so I may get a head start on boating season.