Prop higher than bottom of transom?

[Swamp_Bear]

I'm gettin' tired of dinging my prop on underwater branches and stumps, even when the motor's trimmed up to the point it's hard to control the boat.

My dream is to glide through the shallows with nothing but the sound of wood sliding under the plastic hull. Can I mount a kicker on a jack plate so the bottom is higher or level with the bottom of my boat?

[ILLOGICAL GGC]

kickers void the warranty on 210s

[cagrove]

Originally Posted by Swamp_Bear

My dream is to glide through the shallows with nothing but the sound of wood sliding under the plastic hull.

That's why they make push poles and trolling motors!

[Putershark]

Originally Posted by Swamp_Bear

I'm gettin' tired of dinging my prop on underwater branches and stumps, even when the motor's trimmed up to the point it's hard to control the boat.

My dream is to glide through the shallows with nothing but the sound of wood sliding under the plastic hull. Can I mount a kicker on a jack plate so the bottom is higher or level with the bottom of my boat?

And what many seem to forget, is that as you trim the engine up, the force of the prop drives the stern back down making the condition many times even worse.

I guess you could always mount up a 4 bladed prop to give you better bite (and always have equal amounts of blades in the water at all time) and then bring the Outboard up higher another bolt hole

Trolling motors though are the trick for such work and much more quiet than any gasoline burning kicker engine anyway

[Swamp_Bear]

I picked me up a 7 foot wooden paddle that should make a nice push pole for the real shallow stuff, especially for pushing off after we drift into the shoals.

However, a lot of the creeks and canals we want to get through are deeper but with underwater hazards that I don't want my prop to meet. My two month old prop already has chew marks from an underwater fallen tree in the Holiday Island canal. We were crawling with the motor trimmed all the way up, or it would have been much worse.

So a kicker voids the warranty - I'm guessing on structural failure on or anywhere near the transom. They wouldn't refuse to fix a fuel gauge, cracked keel, or a problem with my main outboard because I had a kicker, would they?

[Swamp_Bear]

And what many seem to forget, is that as you trim the engine up, the force of the prop drives the stern back down making the condition many times even worse.

I guess you could always mount up a 4 bladed prop to give you better bite (and always have equal amounts of blades in the water at all time) and then bring the Outboard up higher another bolt hole

Trolling motors though are the trick for such work and much more quiet than any gasoline burning kicker engine anyway

Hey, I didn't see the shark sneaking up while I was typing! From what I've read here in the forums, my only options for trolling motors are:

• Kill or mangle my front bow rail for a front mount
• Pay $$$ for the type that mounts on the main outboard, which I then can't lift
• Install trim tab trolling motors

Not to be a baby, but I don't like those options! I'm intrigued at the notion of the 4 blade prop, but I suspect I'd need a jack plate to be able to run up on plane and still be able to idle through the shallows with my running gear up high above the snags. And jack plates void warranty too...

Ok, I'm going to be a baby after all. Waaaaaaa!!!!!!

[PileDriver]

If you are really serious about getting skinny with your 215, then there is one additional option. You could change your lower unit out to a jet drive. Back home in Montana, we use to use them to cruise over the river rapids. The only draw backs are that they cost some bucks and you have about a 20% decrease in power.

[Putershark]

Back when we had our old 210, that Bow Rail was one of the first things to go and what a differance it made in handling (and fishing for that matter) on the boat, but your choice of course

I would think that a set of your Troll n Tabs is your best option at this point and time though...