Is it right to tilt up in shallow water?

[lazypp]

We're new to boating with a 2004 Ebbtide 210 Campione deckboat. It has a Volvo Penta 5.0 Gxi/SX, 270 hp with a four bladed aluminum prop. We're heading up to a lake that has a scenic, but shallow, thoroughfare that the family will insist on boating.
My plan is to boat it with the tilt up a fair bit to protect the prop. I recognize the inefficiency of that but I want to avoid a prop strike.
I read some posts about some concerns of motoring with the tilt up with respect to driveshaft linkages, etc. So now I'm a little confused.
My question is....Should I motor up the shallow river with the trim up a fair bit to protect the prop, or should I leave the trim down to a normal operating position, disregarding the prop safety while protecting the drive linkage?
A second trivia question....Is it wrong to start the engine with the boat in the water with the tilt fully up? (such as when I first unload the boat off the trailer) I understand that motoring in that position is impossible, but I'm wondering more about if it can idle and cool appropriately with the tilt up.
My canoe was never this complex.
Thanks a ton!

 

[JoLin]

Re: Is it right to tilt up in shallow water?

The trim feature is there to get you through some skinny water for a limited distance at low speed, and to tilt the drive up for launching and retrieving the boat.

Cruising with the motor tilted up to a large degree is NOT recommended, and will put an inordinate strain on the gimbal bearing and other rotating parts.

You should not run the motor AT ALL with the trim fully up.

You should not 'disregard' the prop in order to save the driveline. Nor should you disregard the driveline in order to save the prop. If you don't have charts, a depthfinder, and a shallow enough draft to go where you want to go, then don't go there. Period.

My .02

 

[sbooy42]

Re: Is it right to tilt up in shallow water?

Not sure of the correct answer but I see plenty of people idling up and down the river (2-3fot) with tilt up to avoid hitting the bottom.. and its a 15min ride from end to other.. Tilt up is only way to get on & off the sand bar ..and the only time I have to raise the outboard, but theres plenty of I/O out there too

But I would not recommend trying to cruise with the tilt up..

 

[JimS123]

Re: Is it right to tilt up in shallow water?

Long ago, with the boat on the trailer, I tilted up just far enough that the prop was above the bottom of the boat. Then, noted the position on the trim gauge.

I routinely run thru 3' water to get to a fishing spot. The channel is probably 200 yards long and I go there on average once a week. I run the motor in this up position at 900 rpm. My Mercruiser owners manual says that if you run above the trim range to keep the rpms below 1000.

26 years and 1250 engine hours later my gimbel beraing and u-joint are original. Just went fishing yesterday....LOL.

 

[orbitz]

Re: Is it right to tilt up in shallow water?

Sometimes I tilt up a little when cruising to get optimum speed, rpm's, is this wrong as well? Mind you I only trim up a little bit from farthest down position.

 

[H20Rat]

Re: Is it right to tilt up in shallow water?

Sometimes I tilt up a little when cruising to get optimum speed, rpm's, is this wrong as well? Mind you I only trim up a little bit from farthest down position.

you don't tilt up when you are doing that. That is trim, tilt is an entirely different function. (so short answer, yes perfectly fine/normal)

 

[JoLin]

Re: Is it right to tilt up in shallow water?

you don't tilt up when you are doing that. That is trim, tilt is an entirely different function. (so short answer, yes perfectly fine/normal)

Ditto.

 

[a70eliminator]

Re: Is it right to tilt up in shallow water?

When I see my transducer echos bounces off 3' you bet my trim is out, not all the way, it's just like jim123 expalined it.

 

[Beefer]

Re: Is it right to tilt up in shallow water?

you don't tilt up when you are doing that. That is trim, tilt is an entirely different function. (so short answer, yes perfectly fine/normal)

For those that don't understand the difference, here's my interpretation of tilt and trim. Trim is a slower up/down movement of the drive/outboard, used to adjust ride quality/control. Also for use to correct/compensate for planing issues, and the like. I know this isn't exact, but trim is in play when the drive/OB is positioned between the lowest point, and about midway up. Tilt is a faster movement of the drive/OB (as stated earlier) for raising it out of the water, whether it's for trailering, or docking (I keep my boat docked, and raise the drive to minimize growth). Tilt is from approximately the midway point to the full up position. You typically can hear an audible difference in the TnT when going from full down to full up (and vise verse) when the function changes from tilt to trim or trim to tilt.
I'm going to guess that the point where JimS123 is talking about, is pretty close to the point where it changes from trim to tilt.

Now, as for the OP, if you don't know the draft of your boat, or how deep you plan on boating in, and don't have a depth finder (at least), then I agree with JoLin that you shouldn't go if you don't feel the trip is worth the cost of a new lower end.

 

[basbalj288]

Re: Is it right to tilt up in shallow water?

Let me ask a question... I have an outboart 1976 with no electric tilt and trim. To adjust the tilt you have to remove a footlong pin. There are 5 positions to put the pin it that all angle the motor a little differently. Does the "don't run full throttle for a long period of time at the highest tilt" which would be the 5th setting for me still apply to outboards????

 

[Beefer]

Re: Is it right to tilt up in shallow water?

Let me ask a question... I have an outboart 1976 with no electric tilt and trim. To adjust the tilt you have to remove a footlong pin. There are 5 positions to put the pin it that all angle the motor a little differently. Does the "don't run full throttle for a long period of time at the highest tilt" which would be the 5th setting for me still apply to outboards????

Yes. Outboard or Inboard/Outboard doesn't matter. The biggest reason for not running it up high is because the cooling water intake will not be able to get the needed water to keep your lower end cooled, you'll toast your impeller in a heartbeat, and then the lower unit won't be far behind.

 

[DBreskin]

Re: Is it right to tilt up in shallow water?

Let me ask a question... I have an outboart 1976 with no electric tilt and trim. To adjust the tilt you have to remove a footlong pin. There are 5 positions to put the pin it that all angle the motor a little differently. Does the "don't run full throttle for a long period of time at the highest tilt" which would be the 5th setting for me still apply to outboards????

It doesn't apply to outboards.

Stern drives have a driveshaft and u-joints between the motor and propeller. Trimming up the lower unit increases the angle between the front half of the driveshaft and the rear half (which are separated, and joined, by the u-joints). Increased angle on the shaft also increases stress on the u-joints and gimbal bearing. The increased stress can lead to premature wear and potential catastrophic failure.

An outboard does not have a gimbal bearing or u-joints. There's a straight driveshaft going from the motor head to the lower unit. When you trim the motor, the whole motor moves without any effect on the driveshaft.

You should be OK at the 5th setting as long as the water pickup can still pull water into the cooling system.

 

[JimS123]

Re: Is it right to tilt up in shallow water?

Let me ask a question... I have an outboart 1976 with no electric tilt and trim. To adjust the tilt you have to remove a footlong pin. There are 5 positions to put the pin it that all angle the motor a little differently. Does the "don't run full throttle for a long period of time at the highest tilt" which would be the 5th setting for me still apply to outboards????

No.

edit.....oops sorry, I should have read to the bottom..already answered.

 

[Beefer]

Re: Is it right to tilt up in shallow water?

It doesn't apply to outboards.

Stern drives have a driveshaft and u-joints between the motor and propeller. Trimming up the lower unit increases the angle between the front half of the driveshaft and the rear half (which are separated, and joined, by the u-joints). Increased angle on the shaft also increases stress on the u-joints and gimbal bearing. The increased stress can lead to premature wear and potential catastrophic failure.

An outboard does not have a gimbal bearing or u-joints. There's a straight driveshaft going from the motor head to the lower unit. When you trim the motor, the whole motor moves without any effect on the driveshaft.

You should be OK at the 5th setting as long as the water pickup can still pull water into the cooling system.

No.

edit.....oops sorry, I should have read to the bottom..already answered.

So are you guys saying it would be ok for him to run his outboard at the highest setting? I would think his highest setting is going to be for trailering, etc., and not for running, as that the lower end will be way up on that setting. My point is that running with the lower unit up, can inhibit the pull of water into the cooling system...

 

[JimS123]

Re: Is it right to tilt up in shallow water?

So are you guys saying it would be ok for him to run his outboard at the highest setting? I would think his highest setting is going to be for trailering, etc., and not for running, as that the lower end will be way up on that setting. My point is that running with the lower unit up, can inhibit the pull of water into the cooling system...

The highest tilt pin position is still within the "trim" range of an I/O. The boat will probably porpoise badly and he won't like the ride, so he'll probably want to put it back down again. But, to answer the original question again, it will do no damage to the engine.

The highest setting is also probably not high enough for trailering. Some OB motors have a trailer lever, but that's not it. Its also probably not high enough to traverse in 3' of water, so its not applicable there either.

 

[QC]

Re: Is it right to tilt up in shallow water?

As long as the Outboard is getting cooling water you can trim/tilt as high as you want and hammer her home as hard as you want. This is an I/O question though so let's give the OP a break and stay on topic . . .

FWIW Trim and Tilt are entirely the same "function" it is only height that is different. Trim limit is designed to save U-joints and the gimbal itself.

Volvo says you can run in tilt up to 1000 RPM

 

[tdrudd87]

Re: Is it right to tilt up in shallow water?

Yep, the pin positions are "trim", for continuous operation.

There is also typically a latch that lets you manually ratchet the motor considerably higher, "tilt" for extreme shallow water or trailering.

Terry

 

[Beefer]

Re: Is it right to tilt up in shallow water?

I concede to the knowledge of those with knowledge of the outboards.

 

[Mark42]

Re: Is it right to tilt up in shallow water?

Let me ask a question... I have an outboart 1976 with no electric tilt and trim. To adjust the tilt you have to remove a footlong pin. There are 5 positions to put the pin it that all angle the motor a little differently. Does the "don't run full throttle for a long period of time at the highest tilt" which would be the 5th setting for me still apply to outboards????

Sounds like you are running an old Force outboard. Yes, you can put the pin in the 5th hole and run WOT if you want to. It will not raise the lower unit enough to lose water cooling.

 

[Philster]

Re: Is it right to tilt up in shallow water?

We're new to boating with a 2004 Ebbtide 210 Campione deckboat. It has a Volvo Penta 5.0 Gxi/SX, 270 hp with a four bladed aluminum prop. We're heading up to a lake that has a scenic, but shallow, thoroughfare that the family will insist on boating.
My plan is to boat it with the tilt up a fair bit to protect the prop. I recognize the inefficiency of that but I want to avoid a prop strike.
I read some posts about some concerns of motoring with the tilt up with respect to driveshaft linkages, etc. So now I'm a little confused.
My question is....Should I motor up the shallow river with the trim up a fair bit to protect the prop, or should I leave the trim down to a normal operating position, disregarding the prop safety while protecting the drive linkage?
A second trivia question....Is it wrong to start the engine with the boat in the water with the tilt fully up? (such as when I first unload the boat off the trailer) I understand that motoring in that position is impossible, but I'm wondering more about if it can idle and cool appropriately with the tilt up.
My canoe was never this complex.
Thanks a ton!

You can run the engine, start it, cruise, putter around and do whatever is needed when you use the trim button/control/whatever.

You should have a separate control for trailering, which raises the outdrive well above the normal operating range. You are NOT to run the engine when the outdrive is raised up via this control. When you come off the trailer,you need to get the drive down into the operating range.