Should you lift the prop up?

[mrcash2u]

I have a question this is my first boat and what i was wondering is when i'm anchored for several hours cause i'm fishing should i lift the prop up? i have a 74 glastron starflite aq130c with a 270 stern drive...just curious if it matters? plus one more question if anyone knows...will it hurt anything if i have the boat in neutrual while the motor is running to lift the outdrive up the reason i ask is cause the outdrive laggs when i lift the out drive up without the motor running. any help would be great thanks everyone....

 

[Stachi]

Re: Should you lift the prop up?

There is no reason to trim the prop up. Keep it in the water in case you need to quick start and move.

 

[KD4UPL]

Re: Should you lift the prop up?

If you are anchored in shallow water or near rocks where you might drift into something I would raise the outdrive. If you're in deep water where you won't hit anything just leave it down. Or raise it, heck, it won't matter either way. Idling the engine in neutral won't hurt anything. When you say the outdrive lags, I assume you mean it runs slow. This may indicate that you're battery is weak or there is a bad connection between it and the trim pump.

 

[mrcash2u]

Re: Should you lift the prop up?

the trim pump is pretty old i have a new battery so maybe getting time to rebuild it or buy a new one...thanks

 

[tschmidty]

Re: Should you lift the prop up?

Yeah sounds like poor voltage from the battery which is why you need to run it to lift the drive. If you have a new battery, the voltage should be close enough even with the motor off. I actually think you probably have a bad ground on the battery where it is bolted to the engine block or a bad connection on the positive side. I would disconnect both of those cables and clean the whole connection with a wire brush to see if it helps the voltage to the trim pump with the motor off. You could also check by using a volt meter and measuring the voltage drop at various places if you have one.

No harm leaving it down at all, in fact a better idea unless you are worried about hitting bottom.

But it really isn't great to lift the prop too far with the motor running in neutral. You are putting a lot of stress on the ujoints when you do that, they need to move a lot more when the drive is trimmed up (part of the reason for trim limiters).

 

[grego]

Re: Should you lift the prop up?

good calls on the battery problems. the best reason to either lift or leave outdrive down while fishing is "windage". sometimes it is better to have it down to help trolling against the wind, at other times it may be better to raise it.

 

[mrcash2u]

Re: Should you lift the prop up?

when i lower the out drive it goes down fine and fast...raising it it laggs and seems to struggle on the way up. does that sound like a ground or you think my trim motor might be going bad?