Ron Olson

My Feedback: (1)

OK, let's say that both boats have th high-speed needles set at the same spot, say 3-1/2 turns out.
What you have to take into consideration is that the SW 36 has a larger prop than the T-bolt. This alone will make a difference as the engine will have more of a load on it from the larger prop and slow it down. Now, throw in all of the other factors, weight, amount of drag of the hull in the water, the Cat getting lift from when it gets fast enough to use its aerodynamic's and this is just touching the suface of all of the reasons why one can be faster than the other.

Thundercat 31

one more think let's say i leave the stock prop on . how can i adjust the stuct to make it faster ???

wave waker

Ron,
i tried to put washer on the starboard engine mount and grind and drill the portside mount for clearance to push a little to portside, here's the after..

i'm alsoposting the .32 dynamite compression in PSI just for a reference if any body needs this info. this right out of the box and i'm goin to post also once i'm done break-in.

Thundercat31,
i know how u feel, try to consider ur dad is more experienced boater so he knows well about his boat, this cat31 is very new and everybody is trying to figure out the proper set-up for this boat and we will get it in pretty soon just hang on there...with your strut adjustment check the two bolts loosen it that way u can move this up and down. i moved mine lower by 5mm with stock prop and i'm not contented the result still tweakin it..yup with ur prop q's, the cat31 stock is prather 215 and somebody said sw36 is prather230 and my own opinion since i got a prather225 tested 230 is way big, so stay playin around with 215,220,and 225, i do no the equivalent of these in octura prop.

Ron,
why don't u get one cat31 and tell us what exactly to do, how about that?

Kg4ceo,
i got it from diversion hobby ebay, somebody posted the link here, got it same price but free shippin',with lots of freebies such as plug wrech, fuel refill bottle, glow igniter with charger, 12 AA batt can't remember the rest if there 's left to remember.

kendz35

Looking for some help. I was breaking my thundercat in the other day. Only went through about 2 tanks of gas. Everything seems to be working fine at the time. Came back a day later and i couldnt get the damn thing to start. Im wondering if i blew the glow plug. im not quit sure but if anyone else has experienced this type a problem i would appreciate there insite.

Thundercat 31

i was having with my glow plug too . i would always blow it after every run. but i found out y . just take the gas line and disconect it from the carburater after u stop your boat . it could also be the setting fro your hight speed needle.

FE_Chris

My Feedback: (2)

I typed most of this last night, but as I am sure most of you know, the servers were down. My heat cycle breakin runs are for 4 mins each.

Breakin run 1 - Great, engine started a bit rough, but it was only 65 degrees out, and in the shade.....and we all know nitro engines don't like to start cold.

Breakin run 2 - Fine. Started easier, everything working fine.

Breakin run 3 - Stalled. 15 Ft out in the lake. Good thing we have a paddle boat, so I went and got it. No big deal.

Breakin run 4 - The engine was running pig rich and spitting oil out the back but running fine, I decided to test the range of the spektrum. I was about 350Ft out or so and it went into the fail safe mode because it lost signal from the Tx [&o] Soooooooooooo out comes with paddle boat again!!! Only this time, the wind was blowing and it took the boat out about 450-500ft.....GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR So I started to paddle out. I got the boat and started to turn around and head back to the beach and the chain came off the paddle drive on the boat!!!!! "!!!!!!!!^%$$^*******&^%$#$%^!!!!!!!" So I had to work the paddle wheel by hand all the way back. 20 mins for a 4 minute trip.

Well thats breakin for the first tank of fuel!!!! I use wild cat eliminator 20% nitro / 18% oil. All in all it went fine. And I have the paddle boat fixed. lol The boat stepped up great. it turns on a dime and best of all.....No alignment issues like I had with my SW36. My SW36 was not as bad as the one guys on this post, but bad enough that it leaked like a siv and filled my boat with water.

As far as the SW36 being faster than a Cat31, I doubt it. the SW's prop was a 230 or a 235, I had a 235 on mine from the factory and it just did not hit the high RPM it should have. It was fun and the boat did 25-30MPH, but thats about it.

As far as your dads boat being faster in an all out staright, maybe. It depends on how yours is tuned and his, where are your trim tabs are set at, do both engines have the same compression? Sounds to me like your cat needs that HSN leaned out a bit more Ya see, on my SW36, the prop was so loaded, it only leaned out to s certain point, which was not far and that was it. I could lean it a full 1/3 turn leaner than where I ran the boat most of the time and it would not go any faster. I ran it rich to keep a good engine good. Had I gotten a smaller more sutible prop, I might have been able to lean it more without damaging the engine and get more speed. just my 2 cents.

But I like it, it's a nice cat for the money and the alignment fix is easy. I have one of these servo's (http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXCTS2&P=ML) to install, I hope it improves the steering.

JPriami

My Feedback: (21)

What does it seem to be weak in the corners? Do you have to make wide turns because the servo wont pull the rudder in enough at full throttle stresses?
I like the HS645MG servo from hitec to use for steering my cars,trucks,buggies & boats.

wave waker

anybody having problem of engine flooding or carb? i have to start it with fuel line pulled then insert as soon as rpm getting high and engine will run only when HSV is completely close to 1/2 turn,,very weird, they replaced it already with new one but same problem though...also if fuel line is left connected it will flood immediately.

FE_Chris

My Feedback: (2)

Well, for starters, the Futaba servo I linked to is WAY faster than the stock servo. So it will turn faster. Now the next thing is the power. The faster the boat goes the harder it is going to be for the stock servo to move the rudder at top speed.....So with a stronger and faster servo, I can handle the boat better.

The boat steers fine now, But I think once I get it going the way I want it to, i'll throw this bad boy in it and see what the diff is.

I hate those Hitec servos. I strip the gears out of them ALOT. I have 3 and have got many gear packages. I will not buy low-end hitec things anymore. They seem to be sub par. Not trying ot knock your things, but I really have had bad luck with the 645 servo line. This futaba servo I am using was for the throttle/brake on my Mayhem Pro buggy. I'm selling the buggy so I no longer need it.

I am really excited to get this thing broke in and to push it some in the corners. The SW36 cornered great IMO and I am expecting nothing less from the TC31.

JPriami

My Feedback: (21)

That’s interesting I have never had a problem with any of mine or my friends HS-645MG servos they run a 1st, 2nd & 3rd metal gears & good torque for a 32 dollar servo. But futaba makes some good stuff too so I can’t argue with you on that. Keep us posted on how it all works out or if it’s something that the stock servo needs to be defiantly replaced for better handling.

lineman1221

got the o.s. 32 today!!! i have 2 questions. the engine came with a different drive system. it has dog bone end or the diff end of a buggy universal joint. at first i thought that it would work better but the flex shaft wont fit without drilling the back side of the yoke. does anyone know if it would be a good idea to modefy the yoke and use the set screw to hold the flex shaft or just swap the stock system over. i also bought a shockwave 36 to see if it would work better in one hull or the other.
question number 2. i also bought a o.s. rg m but the mounting holes are further apart than the 32 does anyone know if there are any manufacturers that offer an engine mount for this engine or do i have to fabricate one my self.
i wont have any time to play till the weekend so i wont have any info about the two mills till then[]

thanks guys have fun playing

FE_Chris

My Feedback: (2)

I looked at towers pic and I bet that "collet" comes off some how to reveal the threaded shaft. Look at it, RTFM or call O.S. and see what they say about it. Good luck, let us know what happens. It would be a shame if that O.S. .32 would'nt fit our boats. What about this .46 engine.

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXBY94&P=0

I wonder how it starts, or if we could even get it to work.

JPriami

My Feedback: (21)

O.S. .46 VX-M Marine
Looks like you'd have to have an electric starter that you turn the prop with to get the engine to turn over & start.

sima

What opinions or experiences do you guys have on carbon fiber props? Ron, you can jump in anytime! LOL!

330T

you would need a fly wheel belt starter.. the cost of the belt is $15, starter is $20 and you will need a small 12v battery

JPriami

My Feedback: (21)

[link=http://www.cmdracing.com/updated/mac45.htm]MAC .45 Marine engine[/link]
I'd like to try that engine

urbansub90

UPDATE: ok guys i got an update on the tc31, first off this boat thing is cool , thats coming from a die hard land luber, anyway we ran the boats(sw36, and tc31, together we ran about 2 gal of fuel. only one mishap had to happen sooner or later I FLIPPED THE TC31!!! it was cool all fast and stuff just like the races hehe. anyhow we were runnin right on eachothers tails all around the lake we did this for about 20 mins. then we started really pushing each other and i was behind my buddies sw and went too far out on a fast sweeper and got crossed up in his wake and it caught air and landed on its lid!! oh uh we already wathched the sw go under like the titanic ounce so i knew it was goin to happen to mine!!there goes that spektrum and servos. i am pleased to say that was not the case it flipped and stayed on its lid for 25 mins while we fished it out. it never sank i put no flotation in the boat yet!! got it to shore and the only thing i can think of y it diidnt sink was my blue goo sealing of the radio box because there wasnt even any condensation in the box so i did a functions test on the radio all good then checked engine and fuel ok primed and got water out after 20 mins back on the water i have got to say i am very pleased with this boat i love it i am now a die hard boat guy!!....
ok now for the technical side : what i noticed was if i dropped the strut 1/8-1/4 in. it had good speed BUT when i angled the prop up it was nite and day it flew . the only thing a bystander noticed was it would get up on plane for a few feet and then it would settle the hull down into the water so the last 6" of the hull was in the water. the guy who was there gave me a tip about putting wieght into the rear of the boat to help keep the boat on plane would this correct the problem? im happy w/ the performance now so i really dont care but sooner or later well get the need for speed like w/ everything else!LOL so all in all great times and sunday we will be rippin it up on an even bigger lake so we shall see. oh one more thing when i started playin w/ strut hieght i noticed when i was done that the flexshaft was wearing into the stuff tube liner so ive got to modify the engine mount for adjustment, but this hobby is all about mods so i aint skeered later all

sima

You sound like you had a ball today! that is what it`s all about, LOL! Now that i spent the evening carefully installing flotation in the boat, i just feel like yanking-it out! LOL!

Thundercat 31

1.yo urbansub what boat was faster the cat or the shock?
2. wouldn't it be cool if some one had a video of both these boats in the water at once.
3. who's gonna have the nicest painted cat first???

urbansub90

cat 31
they were both about even in the straights but the cat carried much more speed trhough the turns . SIMA- all in all it was a blast and cant wait till sunday but i am planning to put some flotaion in anyhow for those just incase moments, LOL

JPriami

My Feedback: (21)

Got my Thundercat 31 today finally after ordering last weekend. Yesterday I got my bade balancer, Octura M447 & Prather 220 props. So last night I sharpened, balanced & polished those props to have them ready for the boat when it came. So this morning it arrived. I looked it over and checked everything and was relived to see it was all in good shape & everything seemed to be in good order. So I and a friend went to where we run our boats to break it in. Besides having trouble with it wanting to flood easy it went pretty good. I made note to myself to take the fuel line off everytime I bring it in & do some work on it. Because if you hold it in any position other than level it wants to flood out. So by removing the line and plugging it when I bring it in & just hooking it back up right before I being started it seems to work fine. After break in I started leaning it out and leaning the LSN to get some more throttle response. Then moved on to trying out the new props & trying out prop depths. I found that the Prather 220 that I had seemed to work the best over all. The Octura M447 was a little too much for the engine. But I was getting some crazy fast speed with the M447 when I could get the engine to spin up to higher RPM’s. The only way I could do that was to raise the prop all the way up on the strut and turn the rudder hard and start to gun it. This would cause some slight cavitaton and the engines RPMS would come up then as they were I would straighten out the rudder slowly and it would be shooting across the water like a rocket. But then eventually in a turn the RPM’s would drop back down and she would be going slow. But the Prather 220 prop worked out pretty good. No cavitaton, good RPM’s & nice speed. I’d say the boat is doing about 35mph with that prop. I didn’t take my GPS today but I’ll bring it next time and see. All and all I am happy with the boat. Though I don’t much care for the starting system. I like pull starters for things that size. The electric starter is nice but it becomes more of a pain almost sometimes. Like if the engines flooded & you have to hold the boat upside down with one hand and fumble around with the starter in the other. Not to mention batteries and charging something else. Plus if that battery goes dead and you are not in a position to get another one or charge it your are not playing with your boat anymore. Well thanks to everyone who has been posting here while I was deciding on getting one then waiting for it to ship out. Reading all your post help me expect what I was getting into with the boat & things to look for.

Just

sima

Did you compare those 2 props with the stock 215? Just curious. I got all my parts today(225 prop) but the flex cable is back order, i was pretty bummed out. I started to do the prop sharpening slowly today, i still have a stock one coming down and i think i will also order a 220, that way i will be able to compare the 3 recommended props(from prather) for this type of set-up. I will have the radar in hand, well, somebody else will. I installed flotation all over and also a Spektrum system. I can barely wait to get a flex shaft.Horizon is supposed to send me one and i have two Prather 8020 on order also.

wave waker

Guys, good to hear ur happy with cat31 in total, so do i....actually just got back from runnin' the boat clock in 29-31mph getting faster than my last time and confident that more room to improve..using 225 prop and still 4-5 tanks so far...my observation the cat31 run better when there is ripple wave compare to glasslike, got pretty quick acceleration and set to plane...

Nitross, got same problem with u regarding flooding but i found it out,, it's the LSN that causes it, the factory set up is 3.5 turn, i closed it and set it somewhere 1.5-2 turns and the flooding stops, no problem with starting.

lineman1221

i had the same problem with the flooding and i too had to turn the LSN to about 1 1/2 turns from closed. after i did that the engine has been fine and i have had no problems with the boat. if you guys remove the plug and use the starter to turn the engine, make sure that you hold a rag over the head to catch the fuel that blows out. i found out the hard way that the boats clear coat and nitro do not like each other. also, make sure to wipe any used fuelthat comes out of the exhaust pipe as that will ruin the paint also

FE_Chris

My Feedback: (2)

Your guy's boats must have a paint virus or something cause I have not had any problems with the paint coming off or bubbling where fuel has been. That sucks.

Thanks for the advice on the flooding. I'll have to make sure I take crae of that FAT LSN soon. I was wondering why the carb was just SPITTING fuel out whenever I would start it up.