www.iFourWinns.com

So last weekend we went out on a local lake/river and when the depthfinder read about a 1.5 feet I had to raise the drive quit a bit to not churn muck. I think I have an extra foot of depth since the transducer is mounted close th the lowest point of the hull.

The specs for my boat state a draft of 31"(drive down) and 14"(dirve up)

Since I didn't know the area, we were going slow and observing other boat traffic for the way back. Many boats were bigger than mine, so I figured I had to be ok.

On the way back, I stayed on plane the entire time and that worked out much better even though I was concerned I might clip something on the bottom.

If I had needed to come off plane, what's the best way to get back up in relatively shallow water?

What's your cut off point where you raise the drive to where it doesn't extend beneath the bottom of the boat? (Should I even do this?) I start getting worried at 3' and really concerned when I see 2'.

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-Rob.


Current boat: 2011 Yamaha AR210
Previous boat: 1998 Horizon RX 4.3GL SX

I do whatever I must to avoid water that shallow; at those depths a crushed beer can on the bottom would be enough to hit.

If I found myself in water that shallow, I'd cross all my appendages, reduce speed to the absolute minimum to maintain forward progress, and trim up *somewhat*. Given a choice, I wouldn't raise the drive up higher than the keel while in gear as that's very hard on the U-joints.

I keep my shallow water alarm set to either 10' or 20' depending on the lake we're on. Table Rock commonly has depths from 150' up (down?), often starting just 80' from shore; there aren't many parts of that lake where you have to worry much about hitting anything, so I set it at 20' to reduce false alarms.

Kansas lakes on the other hand, are "deep" when they're at 50', and most areas aren't even close to that. They're primarily flooded pastures, complete with the mud and the leftover submerged timber left from when the dams were completed. They're much shallower for a much greater distance from shore, so the chances of hitting something are much higher. So I set the alarm at 10', sometimes less.

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Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

Sorry to state the obvious, but with the VP drives, one should never run greater than 1000 RPM when it's trimmed up as you describe. Also try to keep the wheel straight ahead as much as possible. My dealer shared some horror stories of new owners burning up the outdrive by going full throttle with the drive trimmed up near 'beach' trim. Lots of shallow water by me, so I'm very careful to get deep at the lowest throttle speed possible, then trim all the way down, and then finally give it some throttle.

When you find yourself in water too shallow, try to move as much weight to the front of the boat as possible, rather than raising the outdrive farther than 'beach' trim.

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2007 Horizon 200
4.3L GXi/ SX 225 HP

Thanks Jim - I don't trim up all the way to beach mode, just try to keep it to where I'm not churning muck. Any time I find myself in unknown shallow waters I'm usually crawling along barely above idle speed. I've heard the same about the idle speed and trim being up, which prompted this posting to see what others do.

The lake we were on had a max depth of 40 feet, but does not contain any launches. The bar where a launch existed was sold to make way for a house, so the only way to the lake is to go up the river.

Needless to say, I probably won't frequent that lake due to access and that I have deeper lakes that are closer to homes.

_________________
-Rob.


Current boat: 2011 Yamaha AR210
Previous boat: 1998 Horizon RX 4.3GL SX

robbo3, I have the same problem with extremely shallow water at my home port, so I rely heavily on my depth guage and my Garmin fishfinder. I have a 268Vista with 21"draft w/ drive up and 39" draft w/ the drive down. The 1st time I saw 1.5' on the depth guage, I almost had a heart attack, but it turned out we were O/K. After that experience, I went out to a shallow swimming cove and in about 3' of water with the boat anchored, I actually got out and measured the distance from my 2 transducers to the bottom. (1 is thru the hull and close to the keel line, and the other is a transom mount so there are 2 different measurements). Then my wife read the depth on both the in dash depth guage and the Garmin FF and then we entered the difference between what the reading was and the actual measurement into the units in the "keel offset" mode. This adjusts the reading so that you are seeing your actual depth to the bottom. The other thing I did, was to check the max trim level of my outdrive so that it was still picking up plenty of cooling water in the intakes, and my wife marked the trim guage so we know from the guage the max safe operation.

All that being said, with the drive trimmed up I go slow and try to not make any sharp turns as it puts a strain on the bellows and ujoints.

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'04 FW 268Vista "Andiamo"

We recently cliped a rock at 30mph on plane and the depth finder said 14 or 18' then 10 then 2.5ft just as it went wham....cranked over hard to starbord and shifted to neutral and thmbed the trim up by the time i had done all that it said 14 feet again.... so I just bought a Humminbird 575 with below and side views to help with obsticles but for the most part I stay away form anything less than 5'. I have my alarm set to 5' and we ahve been investigating the lake more carefully....

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Guns kill people like spoons make people fat.
2007 Horizon 190 Gxi
97 Pathfinder SE 4x4
73 International Scout II

Once the water warms up, I am going to do what Giaccamo did and hop in the water and measure everyting. Not sure if my depth gauge has to offset you mention, but it will at least give me the measurement to offset it in my head.

Dave- hope everything was ok after clipping the rock, exactly what I want to avoid.

_________________
-Rob.


Current boat: 2011 Yamaha AR210
Previous boat: 1998 Horizon RX 4.3GL SX

Why not? Just be sure to have a 'worst case' load on the boat - full tank of gas and 5 folks or so sitting in the cockpit area. That'll approximate the no wake trim angle props fear most.

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2007 Horizon 200
4.3L GXi/ SX 225 HP

[quote
Dave- hope everything was ok after clipping the rock, exactly what I want to avoid.[/quote]

Skeg took a rubbing but nothing a little weld and file cant fix in about an hour or so....

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Guns kill people like spoons make people fat.
2007 Horizon 190 Gxi
97 Pathfinder SE 4x4
73 International Scout II

Beyond the obvious issues of wrecking the u-joints in the outdrive running them too fast when raised, don't forget about the problems caused by sucking bottom material up into the engine. Mud and sand are brutal on the impeller. Which generally won't fail right then and there. Noooooo, it'll crap out on you two weeks later when you've got guests aboard in a hurry to get home, ahead of bad weather, to a busy boat ramp, in the dark, etc. It's always a great idea to carry a spare impeller along and verify you've got the right tools on hard to swap it out.

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-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista

The voice of experience?

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SOLD! 2006 30th Anniversary Vista 278
"Conch'd Out!"

http://vista278.com

Heh, not in the CURRENT boat! But even in the 348 it ate an impeller. Sunday morning (all shops closed) the genset ate an impeller just as it was starting to brew my coffee. So now there's a spare impeller... along with some instant coffee. I already had spare engine impellers but the coffee pot only runs off AC from shore or the genset. Just HOW prepared one needs to be never ceases to surprise me...

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-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista

I purchased the SELOC manual for my engine/drive, so I have the step-by-step on how to do some of the more basic repairs.

Any suggestions on what tools to have on hand from those of you with experience? I have a basic small toolkit with some sockets, screwdrivers and pliers.

Do you periodically check the impeller? A new one was put in prior to me purchasing the boat this season.

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-Rob.


Current boat: 2011 Yamaha AR210
Previous boat: 1998 Horizon RX 4.3GL SX

All I can say is find the impeller, look at how the housing is attached and make sure you've got the tools necessary to replace it. A talk with your dealer service department might help too.

Since the impeller housing usually has a seal (gasket, o-ring, etc) it's not something you'd generally remove to inspect it. Generally, it works until it fails. You may see some increase in operating temperature as it starts to fail. Your only warning would be noticing the engine running hotter than usual. This could also be caused by your sea strainers getting clogged and impeding water flow.

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-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista

As for tools, I've found it handy to keep a medium-sized toolbox with typical small job tools on hand. I store mine in the cabin under the sink in the head. Needlenose pliers, diagonal cutters, visegrips, small hammer, assorted screwdrivers (aka pry bars), a fold-up allen wrench set and a telescoping examination mirror (to see WHERE that screw/earring just fell behind...) and matching magnet. Toss in a few tie wraps, some appropriate fuses and electrical tape.

I've then also put various socket and box wrenches, along with tools for more serious work in a plastic "ammo box" style container (with o-ring seal) that I store in the engine compartment, between the engine stringers.

Both toolboxes have cheapie Harbor Freight tools in them, so WHEN they rust (or go overboard) it won't be any great financial loss. You could spend a lot or money on fancy stainless 'marine' tools but those fall overboard just as fast as cheap ones.

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-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista