[Putershark]

I would also like to know if your local user base even has any real flats around to ground on? Not many places are like the Inglis area of Florida south to the Keys where you can be a mile offshore and even ground (on the bottom) your boat. That is kind of hard to do in many areas unless it is a hazard to navigation that was already sunk there.

In sections of Tampa bay alone, one can almost walk all the way across, so we have to balance failure rates with local conditions, local knowledge, and fishing styles... Let us also add the variable that Triumph does not make a true flats boat, so how many such failures would your average Triumph only dealer even see?

In my area and the type of fishing I do, it is a constant threat and "I" would much rather grind up, thump, break, bend, peel paint off of any prop long before thumping a custom lower unit designed to run in water levels even with the bottom of the prop hub and still feed water to the engine... That is why I have a Triumph 190 hull also, for Gel coat and I (like my Ex) don't get along very well together! Ha-Ha…

Now I do have a buddy of mine in our office that just had his Suzuki lower unit rebuilt (he thought the engine locked up) for the "second time" from thumping the bottom.

Care to guess what kind of prop he had? Aluminum with no spun hub and that prop is still in use (and hear you thought I was going to say Stainless Steel )

Care to guess what kind of prop he is looking at getting? Composite...

Now was it the first thump or the second one that trashed (again) even more gears in the lower unit? Who really knows, but there was one constant during the entire ordeal and that was.... His checkbook got thumped 2 times (ouch) to fix it.

Oyster beds and Coral Heads are also "just slightly" harder than Sand and Mud bottom and more along the lines of slamming your boat at 30 knots into the foundation of your house. So you have to balance your local threats, fishing style, and local water knowledge with what you can or “should” run pending of course, the current balance in your checking account…

Now I would love to have one of those nasty looking 5 bladed SS puppies (might still get one yet ) and more than likely would pick up 5 knots of top end speed, but that is a real gamble in my area and that 5 knots of top end speed (I don't even run wide open, not at 3 bucks a gallon) is not a real priority right now.

So yes, I am very interested in hearing the failure rates from other areas of the Nation and then ask yourself if you in "your" area are willing to take that risk for I am not... If you are always in deeper water and fish offshore by all means, get one! Matter of fact, Stainless would be all that I would run so I can get away from the nasty afternoon storms! Knee deep water or less well.... it is / could be your checkbook that gets the final thump if you are not real careful


Tight Lines!
Dave