Running in trailer position?

[lazarskip]

I'm new to boating and have what may be a stupid question.

We bought a 1985 Celebrity V225 with a Mercruiser 260 and what might be an Alpha outdrive (i just found that the sticker had been scraped off). Love the boat and want to restore it but we have a problem.

There is a shoal 80 - 120' from our seawall where the depth is between 2 1/2 and 3 ft. With the outdrive fully elevated, draft is about 3 ft. In the trailer mode, outdrive is higher (I haven't yet measured it).

Question - When in trailer mode, if the outdrive is raised clear of my shoal, can I safely run this vintage outdrive/engine @ low rpm to back out of and to enter my lift? Will running the engine cause the outdrive to lower to its normal lift position?

 

[cpubud]

Re: Running in trailer position?

in trailer mode the prop will be just below water level if completely under water. real hard on the bellows to run in this position. I would not reccomend it.

 

[yacacn]

Re: Running in trailer position?

Running in trailer mode is generally not recommended, also hard on the universal shaft coming out of the engine into the outdrive. My 1994 Wellcraft with a 4.3 V6 and Alpha drive said it was okay to run in trailer mode for short periods of time at no more than 1200 rpm.

If you do run it in trailer mode, make sure its quick and you are idling.

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Running in trailer position?

As was said, running at extreme tilt will ruin the u-joints. Is it possible to increase the depth of the water on the shoal? You probably don't need more than a foot. Can you get to kids to shovel it out?

 

[JimS123]

Re: Running in trailer position?

This was just asked the other day:

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=426157

Read your owner's manual. Been doing it for years. Not ALL the way up, but only up far enough that the prop clears the bottom of the boat.

 

[lazarskip]

Re: Running in trailer position?

As was said, running at extreme tilt will ruin the u-joints. Is it possible to increase the depth of the water on the shoal? You probably don't need more than a foot. Can you get to kids to shovel it out?

Not easily. I've already done a lot myself, using a conoe as 'wheelbarrow'. Where we are located (Oneida Lake, central NY), after you grab all the large cobbles, the remainder are almost cemented together by the lake bottom silt. That and you need gloves too (zebra mussels here).

 

[lazarskip]

Re: Running in trailer position?

This was just asked the other day:

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=426157

Read your owner's manual. Been doing it for years. Not ALL the way up, but only up far enough that the prop clears the bottom of the boat.

I wish we had an owners manual. I don't know which of the previous owners lost it or whose dog ate it and, at 1985 vintage, it predates a lot of internet information. Celebrity is no longer in business.

 

[QC]

Re: Running in trailer position?

What Jim said, both Merc and Volvo "allow" it. Merc says either 1000 or 1200 RPM max, don't recall on Volvo.

It is no harder on the bellows than tilted up on the trailer. The bellows does not "know" if you are running or not. U-joints as mentioned are the main concern. Think about turning the drive fully to one side. How do the U-joints "know" that it isn't fully tilted? Similar angles right?

As Jim also mentions, at a certain point you are just dragging the bullet and skeg, not the prop . . .

 

[Philster]

Re: Running in trailer position?

Ah... the manual allows you to run it up in trailer position to a certain RPM mentioned, but the manual doesn't allow you to make any mistakes. Pretty easy to forget where the drive is at. Happens.

You can do whatever you want, just know the risks.

 

[pmillar]

Re: Running in trailer position?

How expensive and/or difficult are the u-joints to replace? Maybe treat it nicely with low rpm and increase your maintenance interval. Bear in mind that my u-joint experience is based on a shaft drive moto guzzi

 

[JimS123]

Re: Running in trailer position?

I wish we had an owners manual. I don't know which of the previous owners lost it or whose dog ate it and, at 1985 vintage, it predates a lot of internet information. Celebrity is no longer in business.

Most boats don't come with an owners manual, and those that do are not worth the paper they are printed on.

However,....most Mercruiser equipped boats DO come with an engine manual. That's what I was referring to. I'm sure you could buy one from Mercury Marine, or maybe even download one off the net, or get a reproduction from Ebay.

 

[JimS123]

Re: Running in trailer position?

Ah... the manual allows you to run it up in trailer position to a certain RPM mentioned, but the manual doesn't allow you to make any mistakes. Pretty easy to forget where the drive is at. Happens.

You can do whatever you want, just know the risks.

Good point! As they say, some people can screw up anything.

So, maybe you could itemize some of the common mistakes.

 

[QC]

Re: Running in trailer position?

1) dragging the skeg up the ramp because you were afraid to use the trailer button

2) Ripping prop apart on rocks because you were afraid to use the trailer button

3) Banging hull off rocky beach because you were afraid to use the trailer button

4) Making your wife get seriously wet and then she breaks your head because you were afraid to use the trailer button

5) Yelling at wife for using the trailer button and then she breaks your head

6) Maybe needing U-joints in 15 years instead of 16 years because you chose to use the trailer button.

There's my list.

 

[JimS123]

Re: Running in trailer position?

1) dragging the skeg up the ramp because you were afraid to use the trailer button

2) Ripping prop apart on rocks because you were afraid to use the trailer button

3) Banging hull off rocky beach because you were afraid to use the trailer button

4) Making your wife get seriously wet and then she breaks your head because you were afraid to use the trailer button

5) Yelling at wife for using the trailer button and then she breaks your head

6) Maybe needing U-joints in 15 years instead of 16 years because you chose to use the trailer button.

There's my list.

Excellent list of why you should use the trailer button. I couldn't have said it better. I must have misunderstood. I thought the other poster was trying to say why you shouldn't use it.

 

[QC]

Re: Running in trailer position?

Yeah Philster and I have a couple of running debates, you just got in the middle of it

 

[kemo111]

Re: Running in trailer position?

When i was a younger man I worked for a seawall company and you can deepen a shoal with a rented water pump. We used a Honda you throw the strainer on the suction side into the water up stream and use the pump to blow out the bottom. Large rock can be sunk by jamming the wash tube all around the rock as the dirt washes out under it it will sink. I would not suggest it in you needed to deepen by 5 feet but i bet you could knock out 2 foot in a good day depending on the bottom material. You might have to do it once a year as the silt settles but might be worth a shot. Much faster then a shovel we used to wash 8 foot of 8"x8"x16' posts into the ground under water fairly fast just by jamming the wash tube into the ground around the post.

 

[RickJ6956]

Re: Running in trailer position?

For 20 years I trailered a 20-foot Four Winns. We put in at ramps all over New York state, and some of them had just enough water to float the boat. The '86 Mercruiser was in trailer position every time I launched or approached the launch. I replaced the bellows once and the U-joints about 10 years in.

The key, as others have said, is to not run high RPMs. I always ran it only at idle in trailer position. You don't have a lot of control or speed at idle, but it eventually gets you into deeper water.