I/O on Pontoon whats the water level needed

maiden boater · #1 September 24th, 2009, 01:41 PM

I'm new to boating and my husband and I are considering buying a 2008 South Bay 922 pontoon boat which has a Volvo 220 I/O engine. We will have this boat on a lake which has low water levels in late summer. What depth of water is required to keep the prop from bottoming out? I assume it's below the "toons" by some distance. Please help...

esobofh · #2 September 24th, 2009, 01:52 PM

Can't say i've ever heard of a pontoon boat with an I/O - searching for this model of boat only produces ones with outboards installed, and for this triple-tube model, the draft with an outboard can be from 12-16 inches.

Not sure if that would apply to an i/o powered one, but if you have at least a foot of water, i'm sure you could manoeuver with the leg tilted up..

EGlideRider · #3 September 24th, 2009, 02:50 PM

I would say an absolute minimum of 18 inches and then only for infrequent and slow maneuvering. Any time you get below about 36 inches, you'll be sucking sand and/or mud into the engine's cooling system.

IMHO, you'll find little difference in minimum depths for an I/O compared to an OB.

Snowfish · #4 September 25th, 2009, 05:11 PM

Install an inexpensive Depth Finder/Fish Locator. My Pontoon and BowRider both have Hummin Bird Cuda's. About $70.00. at Fleet Farm, Gander Mountain, etc. (my fishing boat has Locators in front and back, but that's a different story)

I measure from the transducer to the bottom of the Prop Skeg. If I'm getting close to reading 2ft, I'm ready to trim up if I'm at idle speed. Kind of a crap shoot at WOT. Sometimes I'll keep the hammer down and hope there's more that 2ft of water ahead. Or chop the throttle and cut my losses which probably already has happened.

Depth Finds can keep you from playing Rototiller.