Inclinometer & Fuel Mileage Improvements

B

Byrdman

New member
WOW... saw this $15 dollar range gagit at West Marine called a Inclinometer... and being on a long range trip of about 300-400 miles solo on my old classic 18 Angler, I thought the boat running flat to the surface would be more comfortable, look better, and get better fuel efficiency. I was kinda blown away at the mileage differance. On a previous similar trip, I "averaged" in similar running/water/weather conditions about 5.5 mpgs on my 18 Angler with the 50 hp suzi, same prop... This mileage was a combination of up/down stream in the Old Hickory Lake portion of the Cumerland River. On a tighter up river run, ( more pronounced current), running true level, I gained just over 1 mpg... I bought the cheap one, and when I clean my truck today and find the receipt, I can give you the model number too..

Has anyone else played with this as to be sure they ARE running level. I also found that what I thought "felt" level, using the trim tabs, was not correct. I found that by 1st leveling the boat sitting still, then just using the tabs for bow level changes produced a nicer ride, free"er" steering... Kinda made me go Hummmmm

Something to be said for a neat little boat that you can just slide your 60 quart cooler(s) from side to side and make such a differance.

Who else has played with one of these??
 
Are you speaking of one of these little thingys....
BoatAddOn_001.jpg

on the front/center of my dashboard.

I find it to be of great use in making the boat ride the straight and narrow so to speak. I am sure it does
help on the mpg on a long haul.

PS: This item can be found in the sail boat isle
at West Marine....How the Byrdman ended up in that isle is beyond me.
 
Mike is TARGET ON!! That is the exact modle I got.

With all our boats being of the flat bottom vintage, fuel prices as they are...and soon to be during the "summer gouge".... it can basically pay for itself in a long day of boating and fueling at the marina docks. Our fuel ran in the $3.29 a gallon range, so about 150 miles of the approximate 350 miles we traveled paid for it.... the 200 miles.... well....just put that money in my cooler so the money was spent on us rednecks instead of the suits running our refineries.
 
Hi, I was with Birdman on this Trip and we talked about this some, I was behind him and his boat was level from side to side.
He was by his self sitting on the Right side and he still keep it level. We fueled up at the same Marinas I could not believe what little Fuel he used. He got better MPG than my Pickup Truck gets, well close to it :thup
 
Your just a little slow down there. I have used these on the last two boats. They help a lot in letting you know if you are off a few degrees.

They come in two different degree graduation. I have the lesser one, The other I would want on sail boat. I think mine only goes to 10 degrees. If you are off more than that you will already know it.

Helm.sized.jpg
 
I've used one for two years. The efficiency of lateral trim is obvious when you level the boat at speed and see the GPS speed go up as much as 0.5 mph. I got mine at Walmart in the RV section (leveling for sweet dreams) ; cheap with a payback in a matter of days. Jay
 
Does it make a difference where the gauge is located? Seems to me that it should be located in the center of the boat to properly measure port or starboard lean.

Thanks,

-Sarge/Carl
 
Does it make a difference where the gauge is located? Seems to me that it should be located in the center of the boat to properly measure port or starboard lean.
Click to expand...

Level is Level....on either side of the boat....considering the beam it 6 to 8 feet I don't believe it will make much difference where you place it as long as you place it in a level position.

Some of your engineering types may want to get out the lasers and call in the Army Corp of Engineers to install yours but me and "Plum Bob" used the common sense method....we eye balled it.
 
Hey, I just noticed something....

The photo of Dave's helm on Anna Leigh doesn't have a wooden helm hub!!

I'm going to assume it is an OLD photograph :lol:

-Sarge/Carl

p.s. - Dave, if you're reading this sorry we didn't meet up again at Lopez Islander...I really do want a hub and for you to inspect my boat!
 
Yep, we always have one on the boat-sail or power. Have one on the Tom Cat 255 and will have one on the CD 25. Haven't done experiments--but I expect that it will make a more difference in smooth water than rough. But for mileage you need to have speed thru the water as well as GPS speed--to account for current accurately.
 
C-Green":18h4zkbg said:
I've used one for two years. The efficiency of lateral trim is obvious when you level the boat at speed and see the GPS speed go up as much as 0.5 mph. I got mine at Walmart in the RV section (leveling for sweet dreams) ; cheap with a payback in a matter of days. Jay
Click to expand...

Cool. Wouldn't have ever guessed this. Now I just have to find it.
I bought a whole bunch of stuff at West the other day...they were having a
'yard sale' so to speak. Selling nice brass hinges and the like for $1.
I bought them all. I only need to use two of them to make money...

Mike
 
Actually, having bought mine at the last minute, I simply held it up to the center of the roof while underway, take a look see, shove a cooler over, put it back up there, take another look see. It worked for the trip. Now if my roof was not flat/level.... I still got close enough to make a differance.

But, I do plan to mount it....but I may be about to do some "dash" work on C-Byrd and no need using the sticky stuff on the old surface.

Byrdman
 
Best way to check the boat is with a long carpenter's level with a board on the floor--or better the gunnels. Level the boat and then mount the inclinometer so it is "level". I also prefer the 5 degree version--you like to adjust the boat to the degree.
 
Carl
Dave, if you're reading this sorry we didn't meet up again at Lopez Islander...I really do want a hub and for you to inspect my boat!
Click to expand...

I will be at the Bellingham event. I can do the inspection then. You can get a hub then also.

And yes, it is an old picture of my helm. I have a nice Rosewood Hub in place this month.
 
OK, I just don't understand this..."speed through water" information seems irrelevant. Maybe I need a thorough explanation. Distance is distance, whether a statute mile or a nautical mile, speed is speed, whether mph or knots, and gallons (or liters) are gallons (or liters) - right? The wind and current may make me go slower at the same RPMs, take longer to cover the distance and burn more fuel - but what I want to know is, how much fuel did I burn to cover a specific absolute distance? For that, isn't the GPS information what (and all) I really need?


thataway":dpgg3yaw said:
But for mileage you need to have speed thru the water as well as GPS speed--to account for current accurately.
Click to expand...
 
Hi Pat,
Speed thru the water takes into the account current (I am leaving set and drift out). In a river, ICW, bay or inlet, the speed across the bottom is measured by the GPS, the speed thru the water is measured by a paddle wheel sensor. If you are going against the current, you are actually traveling a greater distance thru the water and thus will use more fuel for the distance covered over the bottom (GPS). Conversely when you are traveling with the current, you will use less fuel to travel the same distance over the bottom. The current is pushing you, or working against you and thus changing your mileage.

There are instances--like a river--where you may have a current boost of 2 nautical miles an hour for hundreds of miles, and you will appear to get a better mileage than you really would be in calm water. This is why I like fuel flow meters, and total fuel used. They will tell how much you are using for the speed, and how much is used/left--and if you may have to reduce speed to have enough fuel to make your destination. I suspose if you always went down river, it would make no difference, but most of us have to eventually go up river....

When we used to make speed curves for the boats using the tachometer, we would run a measured mile on fixed objects (In Long Beach CA, there are markers on the Federal breakwater). We would always make one run east to west, and then the second run west to east. Then we would average the runs to get the speed at that RPM.

Hope that explains it.

Bob Austin
 
After reading the initial post I bought one of the WM inclinometers. It's obivious difficult to determine what the benefits are to fuel consumption however it's well worth the cost just in the ease of trim settings to get the boat level. In the past I usually had both tabs all the way down. Now the're at significantly different settings and the ride is better.
 
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