Underpowered boats

skennelly

Why do manufacturers install engines on boats that make them clearly underpowered?

How do they trial these boats and say...yeah that's acceptable?

I'm sick of having 4 adults and 3 kids on board and the boat being a pig.

Aqua_Aura

Price point I can only assume. Have you looked into the Hill 4x4 props? 

YYZRC

Agreed. And the Hill props are great but one shouldn’t have to spend $2000+ (twin engines) on props to get marginally better performance.

skennelly

What good are new props if the engine can't spin them?

Aqua_Aura

They are more efficient which should help the engine. Might be worth looking into if you haven't. What engine do you have, 5.7 300hp?

YYZRC

I had a 2000 Four Winns 268 Vista with a 5.7 GSi and DP-SM and it hauled a$$. Moving to the 330 was a real disappointment performance wise. I didn’t realize how spoiled I was. 

What do you have in your boat @skennelly ?

I question whether the Rinker hull designs are as good as competitors with respect to performance/planing. 

skennelly

Yes 350 mag mpi.  Its usually just my wife and daughter.  But once in a while I have some friends.  I can't justify new props

Aqua_Aura

Is it all running correctly. New plugs,plug wires, cap and rotor if applicable,good fuel,fuel filter,gear oil,engine oil.....

PickleRick

Was the 2002 270fv afflicted by the low hung swim platform?  Do you have bottom paint?

The weight range of the 270 is near the limits for the single b3 leg as well ad the 5.7. 

My 28ft, much heavier bayliner, also had that same set up as an option.  The b3 was at its limits for a single leg and it took the 5.7 everything she had to cruise on plane.   The drives and engines didn't live long.

Everything will need to be perfect to perform properly. Dont get any more fuel than what you need.  Any soggy wood core adds WEIGHT!.  Go light on the water tank.  Keep the head pumped.

If you don't use it every time you go out take it off the boat.    Stow anyting you can forward.  You'd be amazed at the amount of junk a small fishing boat gathers, your 270 has 50x the storage.

The hill marine props help with stern lift which is what you need but only once you make sure all else is top notch. 

Use trim tabs to get on plane.  Tell kids or anyone on board to go forward and look for rocks while getting on plane. Trim accordingly for best rpm to stay on plane.

The engine needs to be in tip top shape.  As she ages, the engine wears and the hp drops you'll lose power.
 

That boat would benefit from a big block or a nice LS engine.  A 383 like what @J3ff is running also makes it seem like a new boat.

Bayliner, searay, rinker, nearly all mass produced boats sold cheaper packages because that's what buyers wanted.

We have one member on there with twin 4.3s attached to b3s.   I'd have rather gotten 5.7s.and B2s myself. Budget engines but top shelf drives...made no sense.  But when all is running well i bet he has just as much fun as the guy with twin 300hp diesels.

skennelly

@PickleRick - plugs, wires, cap, rotor are 3 years old and since having my daughter we probably put 25 hours if that actually out on the lake....I can't say changing any of those made any difference.  Probably do a compression check to see where the numbers land.  I'd love to ride in another 270 with the same setup to compare.

skennelly

I have learned with this boat.  Don't get a cruiser without any balls in the engine.  When I bought the boat honestly I was new to cruisers and Rinker.  Didn't know 270 came with a 496

Aqua_Aura

We have the 496 in our 280 and it does get up nicely withe ease. I would think your 300hp should be enough although the 5.7 has less torque as well. 

How clean is the bottom? I will tell you that when ours gets covered in growth even with the 496 it's a slug. 

J3ff

I bought the 4x4s for 1100 ish and sold the stock ones on eBay. Took home 750 after fees and shipping... Made it a little better

PickleRick

@J3ff your 383 puts out a good bit of torque comlared to a 350, let alone if it's an original 2002 350. 

The props will help but id want to make sure shes in top top shape before an 1100 prop set. Now if you're going to keep the boat as a forever boat then the 4x4 props are a must. 

Also, a leak down test is much better than a compression test.   To tdc, center stroke and then bdc on each cyliner if you want to get ocd about it.

laureniac1

Hill Marine props help/solve some of the issue. Yes it’s costly but I can assure you it’s like driving a new boat. I was amazed that a prop could make that big of a difference. I have a 2005 270 with the same engine as you 

skennelly

@laureniac1 - what was your experience with a loaded boat pre prop and post prop change

YYZRC

The Hill props cut my time to plane in half and seem to have reduced cavitation on take off. For sure they lift the stern as well. But saying that they are an expensive change and I wouldn’t have done it if I wasn’t bordering on desperate. 

laureniac1

Prior to hill marine props trim tabs down and boat was a dog getting on plane. Now it pops out of water like a new boat. The props don’t add speed but get you up and out of water much faster. Look through the forum search hill marine there are many people that had made the switch. I feel like a salesman for them lol. I was desperate and frustrated just like you . 

Black_Diamond

3 years on cap/rotor is a long time regardless of hours. You will get corrosion. 

Go out lightly loaded on a nice water day and get your WOT rpm. Compare to the engine specs. I’ll bet you are over propped. Once you have those numbers you will be able to address that problem. 

My 342 was way over propped at 24P. 22P helped, finally 20P w/Hill Marine 4x4 and huge performance difference. 

Dream_Inn

Yes, Hill Marine cut my on plane time in half as well.  Really well worth it for me.  I was also tired of going thru new hubs (actually props, cause rehub didn't last).

PickleRick

I feel like all of you guys get a hill marine rebate for every sale 😆

Their customer service and tech savvy is pretty well documented across many forums.

You get a few negative posts but some people put nice new props on engines that are not running properly then want to blame the prop supplier because it didnt do what they expected it to do. 

skennelly

@Black_Diamond - Agreed.  I'm going to get a new cap / rotor.  When running just the admiral and daughter it runs pretty strong.  No issue's whatsoever.  Just a little bit of load and it's a pig.

I'm pretty sure I have 24P on it.

skennelly

Any reason not to buy this?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/322074057892

J3ff

I wish I got a piece of the pie from hill! Although they are a great company to deal with.  One thing that everyone seems to not realize is that for some reason these props lift the rear, so getting over that hump of not plane/plane is just not as big as it used to be.... it makes it such a better experience! 

Black_Diamond

Looks like Merc parts. Good price if so. 

Get that WOT rpm after the cap/rotor install. There are a few 270’s near me, all the 350 engine. Most with tenders on the back too and talking to them run fine even loaded up. 

aero3113

If that’s a Merc cap and rotor set, very good deal.

reneechris14

Cap looks like brass tips in the cap, very good price, think I will buy 2.

YYZRC

I am also in on this. Not OEM but great price and brass guts. 

randy56

@laureniac1 is telling the truth, when I changed my props, (bought from AL) Then I thought I'll keep this boat. It was a pig before that. Yes I'd change the cap its' cheep. And maintenance anyway. 
It's the reason I found this forum, looking everywhere to solve the 1 mile to get on plane problem. Bite the bullet, get some 4 blade props. I pulled water skier's after that. But never would even attempt it with stock props. 
Boat dealers' order boat's to there specs,  

reneechris14

I think boat dealers or manufacturers put a package together to make numbers looks good ie. Top speed, fuel efficient. Just like the beam and LOA measurements are not true. But back to a prop, changing gears can make a world of difference. 

Michael T

@skennelly.....it is all price point. I may have mentioned it before there is a very well known huge former Rinker dealership that used to bring in EC360s with 350 Mags - which IMO is just criminal. As I always say ....get the most HP your boat will accept as I never heard anyone say I have too many HP. Gas certainly was noticeable though with my EC360's twin 502 magnums which cost $900.00+ to fill-up. I budgeted $25,000.00 per season for fuel alone and often over shot that. BUT as has been said if you can't afford the costs don't boat! :-)