Plywood floor underneath HP air floor?

Franko Manini · 30 April 2011, 05:08

Hi folks, new guy here from Canada...

I have a QuickSilver 320 with an air deck. I love everything about it... except....

Once a year I take it fishing and leave it set up for about 10 days straight. I do a lot of sight fishing on lakes, and I stand a lot to see the fish. I find the air floor a touch wobbly, and standing on it all day, while comfy on the feet, gets to my back with all the wiggling.

Another issue I have is this odd welling up of water under the air floor while on plane. It is sort of cyclic, like a wave slowly building udner the boat, then eventually, the boat gets over or past this wave, then another one starts to build. It effects the handling a bit, with the the boat surging slightly as the "wave receeds". I can feel it under my feet and it is such a strange thing to a guy who has always used aluminum hulled boats!

I've double checked that the floor is inflated to the recommended pressure using a menometer, and I've also checked tube and keel inflation, floor position, engine position, trim, and cavitation plate height. All of these are well within specification.

I was thinking of taking a piece of 5/8" marine ply, and cutting it to fit underneath the air floor from the air floor batten near the bow, to the transom. My thinking is that this will provide both additional rigidity and help with this strange "wave riding" effect I experience on plane.

Has anyone tried this? Does anyone have other suggestions?

Thanks,

Franko, the New Guy.

John Kennett · 30 April 2011, 06:33

That sounds like pretty standard behaviour for this type of air floor. I had a 340 and recognise your description of the symptoms!

I'm not sure whether you'd manage to fit a ply floor under the air deck, but provided you don't chafe the tubes with it you're unlikely to do any harm trying.

Any chance of picking up a trashed 320 with a wood or ali floor and using that instead? I think the floor types are interchangeable, but are silly money to buy separately.

rob peters · 30 April 2011, 10:48

I have a suzumar air deck and it does exactly the same. I was trying to think of a similar idea in using a stringer down the middle from transom to bow.. It always seems to bend about 2/3rds of the way down. I am sure if it didn't bend performance would greatly be improved.

Bighag7 · 30 April 2011, 22:07

Yep,
It's an HP floor thing. I have a Zodiac Futura 2 fastroller, 4.2 M and you've just described exactly my experience. I cured it by spending £200 on some Marine Ply, used the HP floor as a template and with a little jiggerry pokerry and some copying of an original hard floor I managed to get it fitted and it works a treat.
And now I've overpowered the boat with a 35hp (rated for 30!) it goes like a rat up a drainpipe, planes brilliantly and turns better than before since the ply floor pushed the speed tube into the water and doesn't give.
If you're not confident about fitting it yourself, buy the wood and get a friendly carpenter to do it.
Hope this helps.

Franko Manini · 02 May 2011, 05:01

Thanks for everyone's input. I think I'm going to give it a go. Most of the time, I am out on small lakes for the day, and it's more of a benefit to have the quick setup and takedown ofthe HP air-floor. But for those occassions when I have the boat inflated and in the water for days on end, it would be a treat to have the additional stability, and dare I assume performance, at the small cost of bussing around a hunk of plywood.

I happen to be a pretty handy guy with a full woodshop at home, so it shouldn't be such a chore to template it out using the existing air floor, cut it out, fair the corners, and roout the edges smooth and round.

I'll put a coat of epoxy on it and it will probably outlive me.

I'll report back when it's all complete.

Cheers,
F

Bighag7 · 02 May 2011, 08:53

Hi Mate,
One last thing, make sure you get pictures or even plans of the original floor as you need to get some slides that run between the sections that keep it in place and they need to be really strong. I got some old aluminium ones from an old floor.
Good luck and let us know how you get on.

lockieboi · 02 May 2011, 21:45

I am in the same boat! (excuse the pun!)

Be interesting to see how you get on, make sure you post some pics.

Thanks for being the test dummy on this!

azzurro · 03 May 2011, 09:13

I have 3 thoughts about this:
- Will the floor stay close to the water surface? Otherwise your boat will be less stable.
- "Sentine effect". You may need to pump out water.
- If so good why is it not offered as optional package?

Good luck, the benefits expected are the worth the risk.

Bighag7 · 04 May 2011, 13:15

The Hp floor is light and easy to transport, it also means you can use a lower powered engine. The ply floor works brilliantly and provided it is fitted correctly will push the speed tubes in to the water as intended.

stretch · 07 June 2011, 15:09

i did just that on last boat, 12' sib with air floor, but i used a 1/2" MDF board, gave it 2 coats of fiberglass resin! boat was alot more rigid, and change nothing about how it handled!

Marc

azzurro · 07 June 2011, 15:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by stretch

i did just that on last boat, 12' sib with air floor, but i used a 1/2" MDF board, gave it 2 coats of fiberglass resin! boat was alot more rigid, and change nothing about how it handled!

Marc

Brilliant! Waiting for your pics. Even though, an air floor is not the same as a high pressure hull, neither their rigidness requirements are equal. I believe, I mean. Has anyone tried doping the boats with that blue pill?

Jordanis3r · 19 June 2011, 12:12

Just doing the same on my 260 Cadet slatted floor with 18mm ply - will let you know the results!

tom123 · 19 June 2011, 16:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by Franko Manini

Hi folks, new guy here from Canada...

I have a QuickSilver 320 with an air deck. I love everything about it... except....

Once a year I take it fishing and leave it set up for about 10 days straight. I do a lot of sight fishing on lakes, and I stand a lot to see the fish. I find the air floor a touch wobbly, and standing on it all day, while comfy on the feet, gets to my back with all the wiggling.

Another issue I have is this odd welling up of water under the air floor while on plane. It is sort of cyclic, like a wave slowly building udner the boat, then eventually, the boat gets over or past this wave, then another one starts to build. It effects the handling a bit, with the the boat surging slightly as the "wave receeds". I can feel it under my feet and it is such a strange thing to a guy who has always used aluminum hulled boats!

I've double checked that the floor is inflated to the recommended pressure using a menometer, and I've also checked tube and keel inflation, floor position, engine position, trim, and cavitation plate height. All of these are well within specification.

I was thinking of taking a piece of 5/8" marine ply, and cutting it to fit underneath the air floor from the air floor batten near the bow, to the transom. My thinking is that this will provide both additional rigidity and help with this strange "wave riding" effect I experience on plane.

Has anyone tried this? Does anyone have other suggestions?

Thanks,

Franko, the New Guy.

Do you need to do the whole floor in wood?. Why not try two, approx 6 inch wide ,slats under the airdeck, just to keep the speed tubes down.

lineofsight · 29 July 2012, 01:53

Seeing how been about a year, am curious to see how these projects developed and the results achieved. Photos would be great.

Have 340 Airdeck and know of which you speak. Over the winter am interested in having a go at this myself. Cheers.

foxyloxey · 10 September 2012, 20:16

Hi,
I get this with my Bombard Aerotec 380.
At the moment I am in the process of making a fully fibreglassed floor to replace the HP floor. It will fit in the same way the HP floor. I know it will not fit in the car any more but it will easily go on a roof rack.

js232 · 21 July 2020, 13:48

This is an old thread but nobody reported results... I am curious since I have been thinking the same route vs a Zodiac Fastroller 360... I tought about using some rigid pvc foam core.

Any results out there?

electronick · 30 August 2020, 15:44

Hello,

I would like to use again the Zodiac my parents bought in 1994. Its a zodiac Fastroller Futura 3.80.

I reglue the boat completely the past weeks with 2 parts glue. The engine seems OK (new water pump, sparkplug,...). I was almoast ready to test but today, bad surprise, the air floor is dead.

I plan to just cut a piece of plywood (I found 15mm wood). This would let me test the boat quickly and then, if necessary I would think to another more "transportable" option.

Do you have ideas on how to protect the wood edge? i could "rounded it" with a driver and like that the wood will not hurt the PVC anymore, but how to protect wood edge from the water? Any idea?

Thanks in advance!

mlasysteme · 22 March 2021, 08:08

Hello,

I own Futura mark 3 with FR air floor.

Did anybody put the plywood floor on the top of the HP air floor?
I am thinking of putting a piece of plywood at least on the back where can I then securely fix the battery and fuel tank.

electronick · 22 March 2021, 08:39

I think tits also possible to do it on top of the inflatable floor.

As mine was broken, I replaced it. I don't see any issue at the moment. I think it's now stronger than before as I'm able to fix the floor and the back (I don't know this word in English, the "motor plate")

mlasysteme · 22 March 2021, 09:30

How long are you using this configuration? Do you have the whole floor in one piece?