www.iFourWinns.com

Hi Guys,

We've had our boat out a few times and other then "modifying" our prop its been smooth sailing.

When we took delivery the dealer told us to never take the trim on the motor in the water up more then first hash on the trim indicator. Problem is where we boat we are constantly finding water in the 1.5-3ft depth range(From transducer, actual depth is more like 4-6ft). I read in the operators manual for the Volvo site that operating range was basically from all the way down to 3/4 of the way up. Then it states "Beach Mode" for shallow water and beaching was even further up.

We're scared to death to blow up our new outdrive so what does everyone else do when they know they'll be dealing with super shallow water?

Also, how does everyone else flush the motor when the boat is in the water? We have the 3.0L Volvo in our H180. We've been using the hose hookup and just noticed in the manual that it states to run the motor while flushing. Does the trim need to be *down* in the water? Wouldn't that defeat the purpose of the freshwater as it'll draw salt water in rather then fresh?

Thanks for any advice as always!

-J

OK, coupla good questions here....

I beech my boat plenty, and I'm a Merc man, but I imagine it's the same regardless. Sometime when you have the boat in the drive, take a look at how little depth difference there is between the lowest and "trimmed" positions... we're talking less than 2 inches! The more you raise the trim, the more the boat wants to turn, due to the orientation of the prop blades turning, as well as the churning around the rear of the hull; thus very difficult to steer, as well as unneccesary stresses on the U-joints. I typically get lined up with my beeching spot, and give it a little go with the trim all down. Once I see it'll stay straight, and I'm not going to abort, I shut the motor off, and run the tilt all up until the bow settles in (keep in mind, our lakes are nothing but mud/silt). At which point I run my bow line to a screw-in stake on the beach. If I'm parking for the night, I will run the trim down until the drive dig's in a bit to hold the boat secure.

As far as flushing, I typically flush as soon as I get home (trailered) from an outing while the motor is still warm. This is done to get out any gunk from the above proceedure, as well as running chlorinted (city) water through my system to help get rid of any Zebra Mollusks that may be around. I flush on the muffs, then drain the system. I don't believe that is the question you are asking though.

_________________
Walt B
"Debt-Charged"
Black '07 H210SS
6.2L Bravo One turning a 21P HIFive
Wakeboard Tower with Perfect Pass Stargazer version
Missouri River; Kansas City, Mo.

I have a 2006 H190, and found that that the indicator illustrations in both the Volvo and Four Winns manuals did not show my trim indicator (which is just divided into 3 equal segments), so I tested it and found:

The bottom third is 0-15 degrees, the next is 15 to 40 degrees, and the top third is 40 to 63 degrees.

The latest Volvo manual lists the full speed operating range from 0 to 5 degrees, beach from 6 to 40, and lift above that. The Volvo manual says that the beach range is for idle speed in shallow water.

FourWinns needs to install indicators that have some significance with regard to the marking or address the ranges in the Four Winns manual.

+1 RWX. I have been confused by my trim gauge since I bought the boat!

I have it all the way down by the gauge for normal running but trim up to the 15 degree mark and sometines a little higher when the water is shallow, but only at idle speed. Above the 40 degree mark only for trailering.

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Alec

2006 Horizon 190
VP 4.3GL/SX, Sunsport