www.iFourWinns.com

Hi to all,

I have just purchased my very first boat.
1993 245 vista.
My wife and I love it.
I might as well start by asking my first question lol
I have the 260 hp 5.8 with trim tabs and a good stainless prop.
The boat takes what seems like forever to get up on plane and then goes awesome.
Is this normal for these boats or can I get it up faster.There is no room to put a longer span trim tab on it.
Thanks

I guess I should have read further before opening my mouth as I am not the only one with this problem.
But I sure think these are sexy boats and I love how it looks with the factory radar arch.
My wife laughs at me and reminds me that I originally was going to buy a sundance lol

Welcome to our little group! Make sure your outdrive is trimmed all of the way down when starting out. If not, you'll dig forever and take a long time to get on plane. Also look at how you have your gear stowed. Move some to the bow if you can for better weight distribution on the boat.

Welcome!

btw, you are required to post pix of your boat on this forum....

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2001 Horizon 260 - 7.4 Volvo GSI DP

Hi. I have the same boat a 93 vista 245 and have the same problem. It probably takes a good 3-4 minutes to get up on plane. I have the same engine also a 5.8 260. My trim is all the way down, trim tabs set, tried putting all gear up front and nothing. Not sure which prop on have there, have to wait till the end of the season. Hopefully someone here can help us out with this issue. At WOT my boat tops off at about 30mph max.

A Sundancer? Bluagh.

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Former owner of:
1996 Four Winns Horizon 200 5.8L VP
2006 Four Winns Horizon 260 8.1L VP
2007 Sea Ray 290 Sundancer

Current boat
2004 Sea Ray 290 Sun Sport Twin 350 Mags

Alright...i was out on the lake for the day and figured it out. If I slowly ease into my throttle, which I was doing to take it easy, it takes forever to get on plane. If I go from a dead stop and crank it up to at least half throttle I can plane out easily. I was kinda treating the boat like a car, slowly, very slowly giving it gas but found out that doesnt work. Hope this helps.

Thanks for all the advice.
I am late responding as I have been up at the lake doing a cut polish and wax.
I cannot get the darned wife out of it lol

You guys with the planing problems, with single props, may just need to swap to a lower pitch prop. Having this much trouble (as I've been following in all of the threads that mention this) is not the way it should be. Regardless of your top end speed & RPM, if you cannot plane in 30 seconds (or less, preferably), you have too much pitch for the given combo of hull, weight and HP (torque, actually).

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Gordon Arnold
New Hampshire

2003 268 Vista ..................................................................Prior: 97 245 Sundowner

How do you know which prop to buy?
Being new I am not sure, I have a 4 blade 15" 18 pitch stainless

For the 5.8 / 260Hp (Ford 351), the original prop is a 15 x 17 3-blade.

Sooo ...... your 18" pitch is higher than original. Plus, the 4-blade will slip less than the 3-blade ..... in effect, acting as if it had more pitch while you're trying to plane. Also, keep in mind that your engine may not be producing all of it's original HP ... and your boat may be getting heavier as it ages (and collects on-board "stuff").

Therefore, you may want to try a 3-blade 15x17 .... or a 4-blade 15x16, perhaps.

I would be less concerned about WOT (Wide Open Throttle) RPM as the fact that your issues getting up on plane take all of the enjoyment out of the whole experience.

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Gordon Arnold
New Hampshire

2003 268 Vista ..................................................................Prior: 97 245 Sundowner

Thanks for the advice.
One thing I did not mention is that I have an OMC leg that was rebuilt recently and has the new 2009 heavy duty gears. Previous owner says the gearing is different now almost like hwy gears in a car.I am not sure what the gearing is though.
The motor is a 2004 and shouldn't be too far off although it has aprox. 200 hours on it.
Any way to decide which prop rather than buy 2?

If the gearing in the outdrive is higher than the original gearing, this would make it seem like the prop has even more pitch than it does (compared to the original set-up). In this case, I would look at a prop with even less pitch than the original prop.

The original prop (with the gearing used in the original drive) was 17-pitch. if the new gearing is higher, it's like being in overdrive. So, you would need a lower pitch prop. The best way to do this (if you can not try a couple different props) is to find out what the actual gearing is, as well as the gearing for the original drive. We can then calculate the % difference and estimate a prop pitch.

Shot of the above points, I may try a 15-pitch. this thought is pulled together keeping in mind the potential higher gearing plus your notes on how long it takes to get the thing up and out of the water.

OR

You could install a supercharger and keep the same prop!

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Gordon Arnold
New Hampshire

2003 268 Vista ..................................................................Prior: 97 245 Sundowner

Thanks for the help
Which prop is better, a 3 blade or 4 blade?
I will probably purchase a new one although since I am not 100% sure on the prop it will not be a stainless steel one.

If it was me ... and I could not get the original vs new gearing for the outdrive .... in consideration of the way it is currently performing, I would think about a 15 pitch with 4-blades.

You're still taking a chance on getting it right, but with all that you've noted, I'd try this.

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Gordon Arnold
New Hampshire

2003 268 Vista ..................................................................Prior: 97 245 Sundowner

Thanks for the great advice.
I will try a 15 pitch 4 blade