V-Drive water depth.

[Tyler1199]

Hey everyone. We are looking at replacing our I/O Crownline on our lake w/ a Moomba however i am not super familiar with V-Drives. The one thing im concerned about is our house/lift is in a shallower spot ( 2.5-3 ft of water). So we would be idling through sand/Silt small pebbles in the area to get out of our lift. The area is not stumpy or anything. Are these drivers able to handle that regularly? We are wanting to switch to a inboard in order to surf. Thanks!

[Boonejeepin]

Hey everyone. We are looking at replacing our I/O Crownline on our lake w/ a Moomba however i am not super familiar with V-Drives. The one thing im concerned about is our house/lift is in a shallower spot ( 2.5-3 ft of water). So we would be idling through sand/Silt small pebbles in the area to get out of our lift. The area is not stumpy or anything. Are these drivers able to handle that regularly? We are wanting to switch to a inboard in order to surf. Thanks!

Pretty sketchy at those depths. The prop would be damaged by stones/pebbles with any significant contact and the props are not cheap.


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[VA LSV]

Check the draft specs on the Moomba model you are considering. Border line for sure plus sand would shorten the raw water pump impeller life.

[jason1973]

I have my new mondo in about 2-3' of water on our lift. The bottom is silt and muck with small sticks. i don't have an issue. Before this i had a mastercraft with 27" of draft and still had no issues ever contacting the bottom. Just don't come rolling in with full ballasts and when our water is down, i move people to the front of the boat.

I tap and glide, tap and glide tap and glide until on the lift.

[Tylerrnemt]

If you are getting your I/O in and out without issue I can't imagine you wouldn't be able get any inboard/Vdrive in and out even easier. Yes your prop will be slighter closer to the shoreline than with your I/O but I would venture to guess your draft will be about 1/2 as much as a Deep V hulled I/O and your I/O will hang lower in the water even with trim up.

[sandm]

boated with a couple in minnesota several years ago with a tige. they had to idle for 2 or 300 yards to get out to water beyond 2-3ft deep. he just kept it at a slow idle out and back. said he never had any issues with prop or impellers.
the sandbar we used to hang out in at green bay was pretty shallow from 1/4mile in. had to run it pretty slow when coming up as you could see the bottom then deep, then shallow again. I hit bottom a couple times while backing in to park. it was all sand so never an issue.

2-3ft wouldn't bother me after the first time or 2 getting comfortable with the path to take to deeper water.


bigger question for you would be depth of the lake. if less than 15ft surfing will not be ideal. we noticed a huge difference in the wave when we slipped out of the channel on the fox river. going from 20ft to 12-13ft made the wave crap almost instantly.

[bergermaister]

When our rivers get low later in the summer we have to deal with shallow just to get out of the marina or boat launch - or up to the hang out/camp spot. 3ft I'd say you're fine to idle. Less than that I'd probably just hop out and push as long as you don't have a long way to go or any predators in the water...

I've also had all passengers move to the front to help lift the rear - my buddy has even loaded the front ballast in his Bu to help lift the rear for venturing through the shallows.

When you see a big swirl of sand and dirt kick up that's when you shut her down and push.

[TXSurf4]

I think if you start looking at it most of your I/O boats that can surf (meaning they have the forward drive) draft more when in the down position than the 27.5"-28" of the Moomba V-Drives. Given the I/O you can trim up to draft less (18"-20" range) but to get it that shallow you make the drive useless. Also on an I/O your water pickups are down on your lower unit so the odds of picking up sand and particles to circulate through the cooling system is much more likely compared to a V-Drive where the water pickup is on the Hull.

[rdlangston13]

I would say as long as the bottom is soft silt/mud you should be fine. We idle through channels that read 1-2ft on the depth finder of our Mojo on a regular basis. It does stir up a dirt trail behind the boat but I would think if you take the same line every time it will eventually dredge deeper by the prop washing silt away.

I remember in my old LSV one time after pulling it out the last half of each prop blade was shiny like it has just been polished. I guess the mud/sand/silt combo polished it up real good.

[jph3]

I would say as long as the bottom is soft silt/mud you should be fine. We idle through channels that read 1-2ft on the depth finder of our Mojo on a regular basis. It does stir up a dirt trail behind the boat but I would think if you take the same line every time it will eventually dredge deeper by the prop washing silt away.

I remember in my old LSV one time after pulling it out the last half of each prop blade was shiny like it has just been polished. I guess the mud/sand/silt combo polished it up real good.

Youre way braver than I am... I hit 3' in Havasu, saw a dirt trail and about crapped my drawers. I also had a tiny knick in my prop last year that caused me a ton of headaches/weird cavitation... even the prop doc didnt find it round 1. Had to have been the slightest hit to cause it, and it cost me $150 to fix it. Anyway, I would be too nervous navigating in 3, much less 2 or 1!