2002 Bass Cat Sabre Chine Walk

**dieseldan444** · 12-16-2023, 10:35 AM

Hey guys, this is my first post here on Scream and Fly and this Sabre is my first "high performance" bass boat. It's a 2002 Bass Cat Sabre with Dual Consoles and a removable flipping deck, it has a 2002 Mercury XR6 150 with unknown hours. The prop shaft is 4" below the pad and it does NOT have a jack plate. It had a Tempest Plus 24P on it when I bought it and it turned about 5200 RPM at WOT and I struggled to get anything higher 62 MPH without the chine walk getting crazy. I bought a Fury 25P just for giggles and I got it up to almost 64 MPH at 5000 RPM WOT trying to fight through the chine. I know it has more in it if I could trim it up higher at WOT (there is NO rooster tail at WOT). Two 12V Lead Acid batteries for the trolling motor are on the passenger side and the 12V Lead Acid cranking battery is on the driver side. I've read 3.5" below pad is pretty optimal for these boats with the Fury prop and the Tempest Plus can run 3.25". I've read a lot about chine walk and watched a lot of videos and the concept of balancing the boat on the pad all makes sense, but then again, I just don't have the seat time. The issue that I'm having is that at about 58-59 MPH, the chine walk gets really bad. From the videos that I've watched, the frequency of the chine is much slower than what I'm experiencing. This chine is so fast moving left to right that it's almost impossible to control. Is my motor being too deep causing this? Anything else I should check? Thanks for your time.

**David** · 12-16-2023, 10:59 AM

Raising the motor will help. 4 blade props can be easier to drive. Lower pitch props walk less.

Is your steering tight? Dual ride guide or single or hydraulic steering?. Single would be the wrong answer. Do you have a foot throttle? It’s certainly easier with two hands on the wheel.

**JPEROG** · 12-16-2023, 12:22 PM

David gave you good info. Make sure the steering bases are covered and start bringing it up.

Joe

**rock** · 12-16-2023, 01:48 PM

Put the boat in a slow left hand turn and watch what happens. The lefty input counteracts the prop walk which pulls the boat to the right. Take your time, it'll become second nature.

Rock

**XstreamVking** · 12-16-2023, 02:51 PM

You might need to check the bottom for deformities from one side to the other. More hook on one side than the other or rocker somewhere midships.

**Jimboat** · 12-16-2023, 04:51 PM

Originally Posted by dieseldan444

2002 Bass Cat Sabre with Dual Consoles and a removable flipping deck, it has a 2002 Mercury XR6 150 with unknown hours. The prop shaft is 4" below the pad and it does NOT have a jack plate. It had a Tempest Plus 24P on it when I bought it and it turned about 5200 RPM at WOT and I struggled to get anything higher 62 MPH without the chine walk getting crazy. Is my motor being too deep causing this? .

changing engine height might help you. Here's an article on "Chine Walking" and how to cure it, that you might find interesting.

David gives good advice. Foot throttle, wheel trim switches, and hydraulic (or dual cable) steering will take some of the engine wobble out for you. And wear a kill cord.

**Jim Speros** · 12-16-2023, 07:35 PM

My suggestion is put the 24 or find a 23 pitch prop. The 25 will only bog the engine down. Do not change anything. Don't bother changing engine height at this time. Check the steering thoroughly. Wiggle the back engine as you stand next to it on the trailer. If it has good steering and is right the engine will not wiggle. If it wiggles side to side more than a 1/4 inch or so you should address that first. If Steering is not right it will be difficult to learn to drive.

It will take a number of hours. Maybe half a season to learn how to drive it properly. Wear your safety lanyard and respect the boat. Once you have 20 hours or more you should be able to feel and appreciate some changes you may make.

**dieseldan444** · 12-18-2023, 03:31 PM

Originally Posted by David

Raising the motor will help. 4 blade props can be easier to drive. Lower pitch props walk less.

Is your steering tight? Dual ride guide or single or hydraulic steering?. Single would be the wrong answer. Do you have a foot throttle? It’s certainly easier with two hands on the wheel.

I think the steering is tight, but I will have to double check. It has two steering cables. No foot throttle or steering trim switch.

**dieseldan444** · 12-18-2023, 03:31 PM

Originally Posted by rock

Put the boat in a slow left hand turn and watch what happens. The lefty input counteracts the prop walk which pulls the boat to the right. Take your time, it'll become second nature.

Rock

The slow left hand turn does help some, but the chine walk is still pretty bad.

**dieseldan444** · 12-18-2023, 04:29 PM

Originally Posted by Jim Speros

My suggestion is put the 24 or find a 23 pitch prop. The 25 will only bog the engine down. Do not change anything. Don't bother changing engine height at this time. Check the steering thoroughly. Wiggle the back engine as you stand next to it on the trailer. If it has good steering and is right the engine will not wiggle. If it wiggles side to side more than a 1/4 inch or so you should address that first. If Steering is not right it will be difficult to learn to drive.

It will take a number of hours. Maybe half a season to learn how to drive it properly. Wear your safety lanyard and respect the boat. Once you have 20 hours or more you should be able to feel and appreciate some changes you may make.

It wiggles about 3/8". What's the best way to tighten it up? It’s not hydraulic steering but it does have two steering cables.

**Jim Speros** · 12-18-2023, 07:09 PM

The forward cable tilt tube should be adjustable with two big nuts and a lock tab of sorts. The idea is to adjust the cable lash out. Loosen the forward tube nuts and adjust the lash out. Wiggle and adjust until wiggle is gone. Adjust just enough to remove the lash. Too much will make wheel harder to turn. Be sure to lock the tabs again.

Once the steering is tight you may notice some wiggle in the engine mounts themselves. There is a modification you can make in the future but it is labor intensive.

I suggest you wiggle and inspect the engine for steering slop before every use. It only takes a few seconds.

Moving forward there are a number of things to change as mentioned above. A foot pedal is a nice mod. Solid mounts are nice but not absolutely necessary at your general speed.

Learn the boat and get to know how to drive it well enough to enjoy it. There will always be things to do and spend on.

**dieseldan444** · 12-21-2023, 04:32 PM

Originally Posted by Jim Speros

The forward cable tilt tube should be adjustable with two big nuts and a lock tab of sorts. The idea is to adjust the cable lash out. Loosen the forward tube nuts and adjust the lash out. Wiggle and adjust until wiggle is gone. Adjust just enough to remove the lash. Too much will make wheel harder to turn. Be sure to lock the tabs again.

Once the steering is tight you may notice some wiggle in the engine mounts themselves. There is a modification you can make in the future but it is labor intensive.

I suggest you wiggle and inspect the engine for steering slop before every use. It only takes a few seconds.

Moving forward there are a number of things to change as mentioned above. A foot pedal is a nice mod. Solid mounts are nice but not absolutely necessary at your general speed.

Learn the boat and get to know how to drive it well enough to enjoy it. There will always be things to do and spend on.

Thanks, Jim. I appreciate you taking the time to outline all of this. I will adjust the forward steering cable and report back. When you say motor mounts, are you referring to the powerhead or the two horizontal mounts that are near the lower unit? I apologize if my terminology isn't correct, I am trying to learn more about outboards.

**Jim Speros** · 12-21-2023, 04:49 PM

The engine has a pair of upper mounts sandwiched between exhaust plates and a pair of lower mounts near the lower unit behind the plastic covers. They connect the engine to the swivel shaft. They are designed to dampen vibration. The rubber mounted mounts can be replaced with a solid mount.

**Carter Powell** · 12-22-2023, 10:06 PM

Here is something that needs to be done ASAP in my opinion. Put a torque tab on the trailing edge of the skeg on the right hand side ( only place it will fit). As you raise the motor this will help tremendously with the right hand pull of the prop, makes it much easier to stay in a straight line. If you don't have a water pressure gauge get one now! As that motor is raised up you really need to watch your water pressure to keep from burning up a motor. Also, a four blade prop will make a TON of difference in handling and stabilizing the chine walking. Best of luck.

Carter Powell

**Mr. Jones** · 01-02-2024, 11:25 AM

I'm also learning to drive a pad boat. Trim is a big consideration here. More trim = more chine walk. You can try running the boat with zero trim but WOT or close to it and see if it chine walks then. You'll be going a lot slower but it should be stable. Then as you raise the trim it will get less stable.

For me, when I start that side-to-side rock that leads to chine walking at higher speeds, I try to counteract it (ideally, I guess you should anticipate it before it starts to prevent it) and touch the trim down just a smidge. That has kept me out of a full blown walk and lets me raise the trim back up once I feel more comfortable again.