35 Fountain Help
 

My buddy just bought a new 2002 35 Fountain Twin Step Lightning from a Fountain dealer with 575's, XR's with 1.50 gears and 34 props from Merc, X dimension = 18 inches

Trying to get this boat on plane is an exact science, tuck the drives all the way in, put the tabs all the way down, the engines must be brought up to a certain rpm and then at the right moment returned to a lessor rpm and wait patiently while the boat gets going on plane. If at any time you miss any of the above procedures the props will just spin out and you have to start over.

The above procedure was taught to him by the dealer and believe me any other way does not work. I 've tried. The normal way of just easing the boat onto plane will just blowout the props every time. You will never race anyone out of the hole in this boat

I believe the problem is in the props but I told him I would take this to OSO tech board and see what everyone else has to say.

Thanks for the help

I guess they are Bravo 1, 4 blade props? Maybe when available try the new 5 blade. Might get a better bite.

I have to feather my 30' Sonic to get on plane as well. If the nose comes down too fast the props break loose. Sometimes it helps to start trimming the drives up as the nose is almost down, then it is not so bad.

Sorry not a fix for the problem, but maybe something to try.

Sorry, yes they are 4 blade Bravo's

Have the prop's been labed or thined? That sound simular to my labed Mirage vs my stock prop. -----------------> try another set of props even if they are not the same size or pitch or make, sounds like it cannot get any worse. Rag's

I understand the props have been slightly reworked by Fountain, but not labbed. They are essentially stock

Try non labbed and if that doesn't work try some 30's non labbed or second choice labbed just to see if it goes away I bet it will ,,you may have to then change gears and run a smaller prop



Ijust went through this with a buddies 35 twin step and whipples

Put a set of 30 pitch hydro 5 blades on or go to a labbed 34 that has been thinned and alot of cup rolled into them. I have been through this problem

Gatorone

Please check your PM

I have a friend with the EXACT same boat and power, and problem.

It took him a couple of weeks to get the hang of getting the boat on plane. Sometimes he would blow it out three to four times before he got it on plane. It got where we would let him go first so we did not have to turn around and wait on him!

You are right on with your description of how to do it.

He tucks the drives in ALL the way, Tabs down ALL the way. Eases the throttles forward very slowly. You have to let the boat start moving a little and when in gets around two thousand RPM you have to raise the drives and tabs together as you continue to raise the RPM's

I thought it was a real PAIN IN THE ASS, but if you ride with him now he gets on plane without you even noticing what is going on.

Another friend that has a 38 Fountain with 575's was having a little trouble when he had a lot of people and fuel and changed to 5-Blades and he LOVES them.

He is suppose to let my other buddie try them on the 35 and see if it works. I will let you know when this happens.

Personally, I would give up a few top end MPH for a boat that planes better. It cannot be good for the drives either.

Hey gator how about getting two of your jackass buddies to get into the v bearth like daytona? that worked. just kidding. hot water get ahold of gaterone he has done more with this setup than anybody in the u.s. and it damn sure works!!

getting your Fountain on top
 

I guess everyone has their own methods and driving styles. Rod Dash @ Performance Marine in Oshkosh kind of changed my driving style a little. That is with regard to getting on plane.
He delivered my boat to me with a new set of motors and drove me around a little just kind of showing me the way the motors performed. I picked this up from him.

Most any boat wants to stick the nose up a bit when trying to get on plane. In my boat, if I leave the tabs ( 280S ) up, drives tucked, let the nose just start to come up ( not to the the sky ) and the stern & props get a bit lower in the water, I find that I can roll the power on much harder and accelerate much better. When the stern lowers, the props bite better and I can really hook up well. My drives are high also. I found that having some cup added makes a huge difference in bite with the higher drive mounting. I use a pair of Bravo 1 28 pitch, labbed and with cup added by Dennis Cavanaugh @ Merc. I used to always do tabs down full, drives tucked full, ease the sticks forward and ease on to plane. Just like the book says. No more. I can accelerate pretty much as hard as I want in this style. That is, compared to planing the other way where I blew the props out easily.

Just a thought. It works for me.

I have been sending all of these replies to my buddy. He is grateful to all of you for the responses. He did speak to Gatorone and got some good info from him.

He has taken the boat back to the dealer for a week of testing different props. I will update everyone as to the outcome

Thanks again

Hot Water/35 fountain I have a 2001 ts 35 and have ran it year 1 with 500efi year 2 with whipples I ran 30p bravo 1 as well as 30p bravo 1 lab finished (yes these props are available)with non-supercharged now have hydramotives 31p 5 blades. the key is coming on plane. I also had a non twin step 35 and they are very different. Get boat moving drives tucked planes 1/2 to 2/3 down accelerate steadily to about 3000 - 3200 rpm when the boat (pops up) come off throttles about 300 rpm and trim in small increments while losing tabs. This takes a little touch but works and I belive will let your drives live longer because you cannot pull a holeshot. How fast are you?

The shop put a set of labbed 32 four blade Merc props on the boat, and the boat now shoots right out of the hole. He did lose some on the top end. He is going to do some fine tuning in the prop dept. later, but for now he 's happy :D

Put 31 5 blade heirings on, it will go faster on top end and will plane much easier!

You need 3 pitches less to equal the Bravo One 4-blade non labbed, if you want equal to 32 labbed, then you would want about 4 smaller.

These work really, really well. Expensive, but worth the money. I have there 36 pitch 5 blades on my boat and love them!

Dustin

I have 4 blade 24 Hydro's on my 42 Sonic.........they suck ! Difficult to get on plane and will blow out unless feathering the throttle and playing with the tabs... Were on the boat when I bought it.

If its rough out, and full fuel & passengers, have lots and lots of fun trying to get on plane ! Requires lots of finness......a real pain in the ass. They are for sale, basically brand new non labbed, no diffuser ring, solid hub R&L 15x24's.

Going to Bravo 4 Blades..... Just my impute from personal experience with the Hydro's.