At what depth do you guys that run this boat say, I need to head back out so I won't end up stuck? I start to get a little concerned at 2 feet? Am I too conservative?
At what depth do you guys that run this boat say, I need to head back out so I won't end up stuck? I start to get a little concerned at 2 feet? Am I too conservative?
17 Ranger Z520c Black Out Edition
Yamaha 250 SHO
1.6’ idling if your running you better not shut down in 2’ or you’ll be stuck I always try to shut down
in 3’ if I can but trim motor up any less than that
Depends on how hard the bottom is, and how accurately your depth finder is set. If you don’t have “offset” set for adjustment on your depth finder, what reads as 2 feet is actually more than 3 feet, because the transducer is well below the water line when idling. If you are running on plane in 2 feet, you’re a brave [or foolish] man, unless the bottom is very, very soft. Slightly off-topic, probably my favorite thing about hydraulic jack plates [which I had on a Z520] was that you can raise the motor vertically when idling through very skinny water. Not having to over-trim in the skinny stuff keeps the rear of the boat from pushing down so much, and gains you a few vital inches of clearance. We fish a reservoir in which, to get up the river into deeper water, I regularly must go through a silted area [with stumps] that shows as little as 1.2 feet on my Lowrance units. With no offset, in a Z520, I figured there was close to 2.5 feet of water there, and I never did more than stir up a little silt [so long as I missed the stumps].
John Clark — Findlay, Ohio
If your transducer is mounted in the bilge or flush on the transom with no keel offset,then it is reading the depth under the pad,and that is what matters in skinny water.
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