How shallow can you go?

[chris24]

I think he would, LMAO. I don't think I could keep up though.
Man, that mangrove run was something else.

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I want to do the mangrove run again next year. I think I talked my wife into going one more time!

 

[swatski]

I want to do the mangrove run again next year. I think I talked my wife into going one more time!

I'm in, if I go. And let's try to find the guy who knows the secret pass. That would be fun.

 

[Rivernut]

You can't be half on plane with a jet boat in the shallows. You might plug up the passageways with bottom stuff, but the more immediate threat is the damage you're doing to your impeller and wear ring. I either run on plane doing at least 30 mph or use the electric trolling motor if it's a short distance. Here is my "tutorial" for running ankle deep water:

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

With a larger Yamaha like the 24 footers if it is deep enough to traverse using a trolling motor it is more than deep enough to travel on plane since they draw twice as much water going slow off plane.

 

[txav8r]

Some of the long time members may remember back to the old forum about the guy who was cruising along at his lake and decided to "explore" a cove area traveling on plane. Don't remember why but he came off plane and was in a few inches of water. Long story short... boat got stuck in the mud and there was a bunch of following pages of the lengths he went to get the boat out (I believe after a couple weeks of it just sitting in the lake!)

For anyone new, and you have popcorn and time, this is a good read!

http://yamahajetboaters.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=24666&hilit=8+inches+of+water

That was Tx_DJ that ran his boat a mile north of navigable water on Lake Lavon in north Texas years ago. He disappeared from the forum not to be mentioned, shortly after the recover. A key thing I remember, is that he thought he was seeing treetops and decided to turn around...THEY WERE BUSHES! The thread entertained us for weeks. But we sure hurt for the guy.

I am not adventurous about possible damage. Sometimes you have to do what you have to do, and expect to pay the piper however. Even on Lake Powell, I would see a color change in the water and avoid it...and it was hard to not cringe, when you were seeing depths of 450' and then see 50'... and that scared the crap out of me, especially when I didn't expect it. I ran up some channels for miles and watched as the depth dropped. But in most, they became too narrow for good judgement way before the depth started to concern me. I saw many places too narrow for the boat and still 70-80' deep! That lake is an amazing place. Sorry, I digressed. I just don't like the idea of damage, even possible damage. Thats why I just never beached the boat either, except once on Powell. I did that so I could climb a rock, and it was on sand...but while I was loosely nosed onto a sand shelf, the stern was still in 286' of water!!!

 

[swatski]

Here is what I've learned over my years of boating w/fiberglass (o/b and now jet) boats:

Re: Hull integrity/impeller/propeller/lower unit/wear ring damage issues

Avoid contact w/rocks. Any kind, any size, any type of hard bottom, any type of gravel. Bad things can happen on contact, especially when going fast, or starting a jet boat over a gravel bottom. Ouch!
I'm not worried about mud, silt/clay as long as I can pass through without getting stuck.


Re: Cooling system (open/raw water) issues

Again, I'm not worried about mud, silt/clay as long as I can pass through without getting stuck. Once back in a deep pool, run her hard to flush the system. Never had a problem. Tons of problems with debris such as tree needles and crap, algae, clogging the cooling system, can be a nightmare.

And I AM worried about salt. It is insane how quickly things go to $hit in salt water if not flushed properly. I'll take silt any day (as compared to salt). Not saying it would be a good idea to run a boat through mud and leave it without flushing, LOL.



Regarding beaching a boat -- I try not to beach (unless I have to). The only places I would want to beach would be sandy, and sand will scratch and dull gelcoat, even if you are just sitting there. Not the end of the world, but no fun restoring gelcoat.
Use two anchors to get close enough and be able to step off the wonderful Yamaha transom in most places. Don't know about Lake Powell, LOL.

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[txav8r]

Lots of spots that you can anchor deep and use the shore spike to secure the transom in ankle deep water! But river channels are deep! Like that one I showed above. 286' deep, directly under the boat. I don't carry 796' of rode for 3 to 1 scope for that anchorage! And that is very shallow for lost of Powell. Lots of sand beaches you can use however.

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

Just remember this thread https://jetboaters.net/threads/sank-my-boat.7567/

 

[RiverRat]

You can't be half on plane with a jet boat in the shallows. You might plug up the passageways with bottom stuff, but the more immediate threat is the damage you're doing to your impeller and wear ring. I either run on plane doing at least 30 mph or use the electric trolling motor if it's a short distance. Here is my "tutorial" for running ankle deep water:

@Rivernut welcome aboard! I think that boat of yours needs its own thread started so we can learn more about it.

 

[swatski]

Just remember this thread https://jetboaters.net/threads/sank-my-boat.7567/

That is what I'm talking about.
Gives me heebie-jeebies every time I look at that thread!

 

[Rivernut]

Not so, the angle in the video is the difference. It is forcing the transom down, not level.
My bow mount hand op trolling motor can be run up near the surface and level. And with 36 volts and 101 pounds of thrust it planes a bit too, drawing less water. A 6 degree hull helps too!

With a larger Yamaha like the 24 footers if it is deep enough to traverse using a trolling motor it is more than deep enough to travel on plane since they draw twice as much water going slow off plane.

With a larger Yamaha like the 24 footers if it is deep enough to traverse using a trolling motor it is more than deep enough to travel on plane since they draw twice as much water going slow off plane.

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

So what does your boat have to do with a 24 foot Yamaha drawing more water at idle than on plane what I said is absolutely true. they do regardless of what you think your boat does, it totally irrelevant to a Yamaha.

 

[swatski]

You can't be half on plane with a jet boat in the shallows. You might plug up the passageways with bottom stuff, but the more immediate threat is the damage you're doing to your impeller and wear ring. I either run on plane doing at least 30 mph or use the electric trolling motor if it's a short distance. Here is my "tutorial" for running ankle deep water:

@Rivernut Welcome!!! - I just realized this is your forum entry! Awesome boat. Do tell us about it, for sure. Is it aluminum hull?

I could not run a Yamaha the way you run, you can see what can happen with FRP hulls in one of the posts above, not pretty.

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[owenrjones]

Ordered a 255XD September of last year, I'm building a house on a channel that is soft sand/silt depths go between 20" and 46" - thoughts on running it in this environment? It's about 300-500' of these depths until open water/lake.

 

[buckbuck]

That boat is heavier than mine. I would be concerned about 20" of water. If you choose to go that shallow I suggest you do not throttle above idle and leave the buckets wide open. Never go to reverse or even neutral.
No concern with 46" of water.

 

[Beachbummer]

My experience also is that the boat draws much less on plane than at idle. The fear is if you get stuck while on plane, you will be hard down when you stop , as you will draw much more than when on plane. (Don't ask me how I know, but many stopped to help and pull by hand while standing on the mud, we eventually got it free, but we had to pull a good 30-40 yards before it was floating again on its own) No harm no foul!

 

[buckbuck]

@Beachbummer has a good point. If you can get on plane before going into that shallow area you won't have a problem.

 

[biffdotorg]

I saw this conversation on one of the Facebook groups, I do believe you brought it up there as well.

I swear, all of the comments of "you should never run your boat in that depth" are the same guys that were singing the praises of how shallow they could drive their boat in compared to an outboard or I/O boat when someone asked why they went with a jet. What's the point of bragging about how shallow you can drive your boat, but don't have the guts to do it.

Here's my take after watching Will's video on how much is taken in at roughly 2' of water. If your bottom is primarily sand/silt, go for it. At idle you may be sucking a steady stream of light sand through your pump. Will you damage it, minimally, will it over time possibly. Would I worry about it, heck no! If it were small rocks, gravel, or a clam bed, you bet I would. As those things can ding up the impeller, jam in the intake etc. The sand will wear the edges of the impeller and surface of the pump sleeve, and over time cause cavitation. Over a very long time.

So long story longer, we gambled on our forever lake home January of 2020. We bought it with ice on the lake, as it was built on a private bay, with a channel going out to the main lake. We had no idea what to expect, but knew pontoons were going through it on a regular basis. We know what we draft and what I am comfortable with at idle speed and on plane.

Come to find, the channel is maybe 75yrds long, 15' wide and 2ft deep (at it's shallowest point). Soft bottom with some known big rocks, but very easy to avoid. So in other words, while I went through in the spring during low water weeks, I watched and tested. We even walked the channel to find obstacles and test depth as we didn't trust the Simrad.

By week three, I was rocking that channel at 40 on plane. It was very safe, and on plane the hull was safe. And quite honestly, I think by running our twin 1.8's through there, it may have even blown the channel out a bit. Our neighbors are not filing complains with the DNR, that's for sure. They appreciate the clearing. As at that speed, I'm not picking anything up. It's when doing it at idle, that the jet creates that vortex of sand.

In your case, you may not have the option of going through on plane. And technically, I'm illegal as well, by law, it's a no wake zone. But a well known channel like we have, I have no issues. But you won't find me running unknown water at those depths. I'm the first guy to jump off the bow and walk our boat into the party cove for sure. I like the shape of my hull and the lack of cavitation in my jet pumps.

Good luck,

 

[HangOutdoors]

Does sucking up all that sand and silt and vegetation impact the cooling system at all?

 

[Beachbummer]

Does sucking up all that sand and silt and vegetation impact the cooling system at all?

Only if it stays in the way blocking the flow. If it passes through without blocking or sanding anything, no harm.