Sterndrive in shallow water... Can it be trimmed all the way up?

[acdc96]

I love sterndrive boats with mercruisers powering them. I don't mind outboards either. I just have outboards because of my dock at low tide. I know on my 21 ft celebrity I can't put the drive far enough up to clear the bottom. I am looking into boats to replace my 14ft Jon boat, it's way to small for me and where I go. I was going to get a LoneStar runabout but it turned up that had a big tear in the alumnium. So I'm back looking. I found a couple glastron convoys for sale. Ones an outboard and ones a sterndrive. Same year and same model just different propulsion. Can the glastron with the sterndrive be kept at a mud slip? 1988 Glastron X16 16ft bow rider with Mercruiser 140 alpha one 1987 Glastron Z16 16ft bow rider with 70hp Evinrude

 

[smokeonthewater]

I have been running mercruisers at full tilt (well just low enough to keep the prop in the water) in SHALLOW water for decades... No issues ever... use caution.. LISTEN ... if you are steering pay attention to the sound... as the clicking of the ujoints starts to become knocking reduce rpm, steering angle and or tilt angle...

 

[tpenfield]

Not full tilt, but I have run bravos at about 80% of the tilt range. Idle speed only. So, you could probably get away with running an alpha in the tilt range. Just tilt it enough to clear the bottom .

 

[Watermann]

Moving along at idle speed isn't a problem. Guys that power load their boats tilted is what causes the damage.

 

[acdc96]

Thanks for the info. Now I want to know about the mud slip. That's more of a important factor to me then shallow water. The boat can only move when it has enough water under it to float. I know about the damage that occurs to the gimbal bearing when running at full tilt up.

 

[oldjeep]

Maybe describe what a "mud slip" is?

 

[acdc96]

A "mud slip" is a dock/boat slip that when at low tide (in a tidal area) their is no water at the dock. The boat would sit on the mud for a couple hours until the tide comes in. In my area, theirs a 6-8ft tide height. So at high tide it's 6-8 ft deep at my dock. At low tide the boat is on the mud or bottom. I will post a pic of the dock at high and low tide.

 

[acdc96]

Here's the photos of my dock at high and low tide. It shows the definition of mud slip. http://s39.photobucket.com/user/fahque96/library/Dock

 

[oldjeep]

I think you would be better off sticking with an outboard.

 

[Triangleboater]

Yeah, I would want an outboard I could take all the way out of the water or mud. Basically something that didn't touch the mud when the boat is sitting on the bottom.

 

[JimS123]

You need a boat lift. No way MY boat would sit in the mud.

 

[H20Rat]

1988 Glastron X16 16ft bow rider with Mercruiser 140 alpha one 1987 Glastron Z16 16ft bow rider with 70hp Evinrude

Something else to consider... When you are talking about a 16' boat, the I/O takes up a huge percentage of your people space. In a larger boat, it isn't as much of an issue as the percentage is lower, but in a 16'... That is outboard only territory.

 

[acdc96]

Honestly, the new boat I'm looking for I doesn't need to hold a lot of people. 4 people max. Plus it's a bow rider. No boat lift, too much money. I would love a jet drive boat, not like a seadoo or anything like that. But like one of those white water river boats that can go in inches of water. But I don't have the money for one. My budget is only $2000 so I'm limited on what I can get.

 

[OrangeTJ]

I'd think outboard as well. Not that you're actually pursuing it, but I don't think you'd actually want a jet boat if it's going to land on the mud and sit there until the tide comes in. You'd end up with all that gunk up inside your jet pump and over time it would wear on things and cause cavitation.

 

[Watermann]

After seeing this pic, I would say no to a stern drive and a jet intake which is on the bottom of the boat for a no, OB is the only way to go with that mud slip.

 

[JoshOnt]

'Mud Slip' what you have there is something that I would not even let my rotted boat sit on.

 

[smokeonthewater]

MAYBE what you need to do is build your own "boat lift" Just a set of pilings with crossmembers and bunks.... at high tide the boa would float above the bunks inside the pilings and at low tide it would settle on the bunks a foot above the mud... OR a similar system between two floating docks that had structure which would settle on the bottom supporting the boat again above the mud.

 

[JimS123]

No boat lift, too much money.

My "boathouse" came first and it cost about as much as my boat. But then again, I haven't needed to buy a new boat in 31 years. Money well spent.

 

[hungupthespikes]

You can use a cradle.

http://www.canadaphotos.info/images/600/bay-of-fundy-877.jpg

 

[theBrownskull]

Outboard is what I would stick with.