FV310 with twin 5.0s -- Can't get on plane with a load

Nick_03FV310

Hi everyone,

Just picked up a 2003 FV310 with twin 5.0s and BravoIIIs. We drove it back an hour and 40 minutes through lake michigan when we took ownership and she hauled very well with 3 passengers and no load. She even handled 2-4' waves like a champ and powered through them.

However..... The last two days have been extremely underwhelming. We've loaded 10 people on the boat (no gear really. just food and drink for the day) and I couldn't get the boat to plane out at all. Not once even with all the heavier males in the front of the cockpit. What should have been a 10 minute ride became a 25...

All I know about the prop situation is they are stainless.

Any thoughts or notes from current/previous owners? If this is something we can fix by changing props I'm all for it... If this is something we are going to have to live with due to the engine size... We may be have a whole other issue.

aero3113

Are you using your drive trim and trim tabs correctly? Before you go full throttle you want your Drive all the way in (down) and your trim tabs down. Once you get up on plane, bring your tabs up then your drive up till you find the sweet spot.

aero3113

Also, welcome to the forum!!

Nick_03FV310

Thanks Aero! Yea I've verified the drives and trim tabs are all the way down. Occasionally you could tell she wanted to plane out but then just didnt have it in her to follow through.

aero3113

It's possible your fuel filters could need to be changed.

Liberty44140

Welcome! 10 is a lot for that boat. I had a 2001, 310 FV, great boat, loved it. With 2-4 adults she got on plane fine with tabs and drives down but with 6-7 adults she really struggled to plane. She did plane, just took a little while with engines at full. Never tried 10 but o wouldn’t have expected to plane unless maybe I put a few in the vbirth. I’d say your only shot to plane easily with 10 will be to invest in some hill marine 4x4 props. 

Black_Diamond

10 people is a big load on 31’. Really about maxed out. Then add food and drinks. 

I will +++ on the Hill Marine 4x4’s. 

pistole

aero3113 said:

Are you using your drive trim and trim tabs correctly? Before you go full throttle you want your Drive all the way in (down) and your trim tabs down. Once you get up on plane, bring your tabs up then your drive up till you find the sweet spot.

hi. I wouldn't put it past me to be making a mistake here but personally when preparing to plane my 330 (twin 5.7 EFIs and B3) , I slowly advance the throttles with the outdrives fully down and trim tabs fully up.

As she builds up speed to where she is just shy of planing (usually close to 3K rpms) , I will push down the trim tabs to get the boat over the "hump" , so to speak. Speed rapidly builds after that without needing any more throttle.

Am I doing it wrong ?

aero3113

You need to have the trim tabs down before you go to take off.

F1100

trim tabs down all the way from the start... slowly throttle up... and make sure your engines are trimmed correctly as well...

throttle up until the boat pops on plane... then slowly pull trim tabs back, and trim the engines as you see fit.. i trim mine so the nose is light but not porposing

I have a 300 with twin 5.7s

Dream_Inn

I used to own a 2002 310, and I'm not sure I would ever try 10 people, unless I was low on fuel and not much supplies.  I used that boat for almost 7 seasons and packed her up for 10 day trip with 4 of us and never had an issue planning.  As others said, make sure tabs and drives are down when taking off.

Nick_03FV310

I guess its a Chicago thing. We load up the boats, cruise from the harbor to the "Playpen" and anchor down and all hangout. I felt like 10 people was easily done as far as cabin space goes. On our 2000 SeaRay 270 with twin 4.3s I could get on plane with 9 people... Just surprised I can't get it done with this boat with v8s. 

FlyingBlind310

i have the same boat/engines but with B2's...not surprised. i've gone out with 8 people and full of coolers/food and struggled to get to plane. tabs down and some patience and she always gets there 

Handymans342

FlyingBlind310 said:

i have the same boat/engines but with B2's...not surprised. i've gone out with 8 people and full of coolers/food and struggled to get to plane. tabs down and some patience and she always gets there 

You need to switch to the 4 blade props

reneechris14

If you can get the weight up in the 1st have of the boat it will plane just fine. Think of it like a see saw and the helm is half way. Big dudes in the bow(front birth) and no one in the back seat. Boat weighs 6500 lbs 4000 of that is in the back quarter. Once on plane your all set.

FlyingBlind310

Handymans342 said:

FlyingBlind310 said:

i have the same boat/engines but with B2's...not surprised. i've gone out with 8 people and full of coolers/food and struggled to get to plane. tabs down and some patience and she always gets there 

You need to switch to the 4 blade props

Besides getting to plane quicker what are the other benefits? i am actually thinking of moving to a 340/342 so not sure the investment is in the cards. 

Handymans342

Well you will need them if you get a 342 and Bravo 2s

LaRea

When people say throttle up slowly, it means go from 1000 RPM to wide-open throttle over a period of 3-5 seconds.  Don't just slam the throttle, but there's no need to drag it out over 20 seconds.  

Bayrunner

I have the same boat but 2004 and with 8 adults got up on plane but took about Cruise speed was around 28MPH.  

Handymans342

@FlyingBlind310 where are you located?

Nick_03FV310

Appreciate the insight from you all! We currently have dual 3 blade props on each drive. If I researched correctly, switching to a 4 blade prop would be about $2k for both drives? That's a lot of money for a maybe it will help haha.

Going to replace the fuel filters this weekend as I just found out the P/O changed them last spring and she sat in cold storage over the winter. I also heard something about these having two different fuel filters? One fuel/water separator filter and then another inline? Anyone care to verify or supply part numbers or do I need to get down there and open her up first? (again its a late model 2003 FV310)

Black_Diamond

2003 likely only has a fuel filter and the water/fuel seperator filter (looks like an oil filter). 

A “yacht certified” boat does not have a stated person capacity. USCG will tell you 1 person per 3’ of boat as a general guideline. Even on my 342 10 is a lot of people/weight plus all the goodies.  

I will say the 4 blades were well worth the money for me. 

Nick_03FV310

I have no idea the pitch. Unfortunately I didn't get any idea of the props before she went in the water (new buy for us). I think they are OEM and so does my surveyor based by his inspection and re-looking at the pictures of them. He didnt get serial numbers nor do/did I expect him to.

Black_Diamond

B-III props have the pitch number cast into the prop hub. Will be like 24P. Easy to see on the prop hubs

Nick_03FV310

Maybe I can talk one of the attendees to jump in next weekend. Water's a little to chilly for me right now

Willhound

Nick_03FV310 said:

I have no idea the pitch. Unfortunately I didn't get any idea of the props before she went in the water (new buy for us). I think they are OEM and so does my surveyor based by his inspection and re-looking at the pictures of them. He didnt get serial numbers nor do/did I expect him to.

If they are original BIII stainless props the part number and pitch are stamped right on the side of the hub of the prop. A decent surveyor certainly should have noted this as well as the serial numbers for the hull, transmission and drive assembly. All easily readable while doing the dry land hull inspection and moisture testing.

FlyingBlind310

Handymans342 said:

@FlyingBlind310 where are you located?

Long Island...Seaford, NY

Ian

reneechris14 said:

If you can get the weight up in the 1st have of the boat it will plane just fine. Think of it like a see saw and the helm is half way. Big dudes in the bow(front birth) and no one in the back seat. Boat weighs 6500 lbs 4000 of that is in the back quarter. Once on plane your all set.

More like 12500 dry. Thats what the spec sheet for y 2003 310 says.

Nick_03FV310

Well.. I replaced all four fuel filters/water separators yesterday. Didn't find any separation of water/fuel in my bucket, but I also lost a decent amount spinning off the separators.
Also put a can of seafoam in each gas tank as a prevent maintenance. We only get 89 octane here at most of the harbors which stinks... I use 93 in all my cars and am a performance enthusiast with automobiles. 

Once I got all done, I let the engine compartment air out for about 20 minutes of the fuel smell, with blowers on, and did some cleaning down there. 

Fired her up, no issues or leaks. Will be testing her out tomorrow and Sunday as its looking to be about 90* here in Chicago both days. Engines purr nicely... So after this, I may just look into the 4x4 HillMarines to help with performance. time will tell. 

skennelly

@Nick_03FV310 - Which harbor are you in?

Nick_03FV310

Hey @skennelly -- We're currently in Belmont on F dock