Boat Sinking - Drive Position

Michael T

I like to leave my drives in the down position when the boat is moored to take a load off the trim rams and more important the hoses. I put them fully down then just tap the up to take the pressure off the hoses. (If you do this on land you can visually see them "relax"). I was going to add I would relax too if someone took that much pressure off my hose but that might not be appropriate on a family forum, so I won't!

Anyway, there is also another reason to place the drives down while moored. If the drives are left up (and lots of people do this) the extended bellows make a tempting invitation for muskrats and river otters.

Quite a few boats have been sunk over the years, where I boat, by these water critters either gnawing away for fun or looking for a nest. They are the prime suspects in the recent sinking of a 35 foot cruiser in the marina beside mine. I walked by it to have a look and it was a very sad sight. If you want to see a picture you can google Recorder and Times Brockville and scroll down the news leads to see it.

As an added bonus you will first come across a police bulletin asking boaters to look out for a Sea Ray 370 with a sea doo Spark on its lift that was recently stolen.

Not the best week for two local boaters.

so....keep those drives down! :-)

halifax212

I agree MT!   I had failing bellows that only became evident when I anchored at a beach .  I put the drive in trailer position and shortly after the bilge pump started kicking in. I could leave it moored in the down position with no problem. Winter storage is also kept in 3/4 down position as well.  

Willhound

Agree for all the reasons mentioned by @Michael T.
But the last few weeks I've been forced to trim up in the slip. Our water levels are dam controlled and they draw it down every fall to keep the levels in the locks up and also to mitigate flooding in the spring. Without the drives up my drive hits bottom when I step on the swim platform.

Dream_Inn

I agree.  Although I'm not sure why anyone would put their drives up except for reasons Willhound mentioned or the normal bit of trimming while on plane.  I guess those that trailer would put them up as well.

Ian

Ditto. Where we are the level can be dropped by the Canal or Power Authority a couple of feet and with minimal depth left I would pull them up although it's only silt and mud. But after I was told there were musk rats hanging around I keep them down now all the time.

Michael T

If there's just silt do a "New Jersey Dredge" put the drives all the way then put her in reverse and lean on the throttles then slap her into forward and lean some more -  good way to clear a channel out of the marina!

Dream_Inn

Michael T said:

If there's just silt do a "New Jersey Dredge" put the drives all the way then put her in reverse and lean on the throttles then slap her into forward and lean some more -  good way to clear a channel out of the marina!

Just do it right before you plan to change your impellers!

reneechris14

If you have the trim pin out in the farther position in the BIII when trim all the way down the drive is actually pushing on the pin for the rams. So went I lower the drives all the way down just a bump up. Take pressure  off the hoses and the pin. If you listen close on take off tap up you will here the vibration go away.

reneechris14

notice where the pin hits on the drive.

boatman37

I always leave my drive down except when towing of course. My reasson is to relieve stress on the bellows.

As for the SR 370 stolen, it was posted on their forum and they did find it and arrest the perps. They were trying to load it on a trailer and there are pics of the police at the ramp and the truck is in the water up to the windows. The second pic the truck is under water. Not sure what the story is there. The boat owners actually posted the pics on the SR forum. They are scheduling a survey at the direction of the insurance company to be sure no damage was done.

http://www.clubsearay.com/index.php?threads/370-sundancer-stolen.85223/

Michael T

@boatman37 thank you for the link. It's my back yard and you nailed it - awesome!

Spyderweb

Agree with MT on the muskrats.  My 2 year old Bayliner 285 was sunk at a dock while waiting to be pulled for the season several years ago. Water was 17" in the cabin.  Drive was down, but steering wheel was sharply turned.  In the turned position, the bellows are also quite exposed. They decimated the drive bellows, shift bellows and trim sender wires in a matter of a couple of days.

I now always leave the helm straight ahead when docked.

Paul