Anyone had a Sideshift stern thruster installed?

[captainmaniac]

The F26 bow does not sit deep enough in the water to use the Sideshift bow thruster. I've done all the measurements and it won't work. A tunnel bow thruster could work on an F26, but it would have to be pretty far back to be deep enough which means the thruster would need to be stronger than normal and the water tank would need to be relocated. It's possible to do but expensive and complicated. A stern thruster is the best approach for an F26.

The F26 will back straight in reverse with the wheel turned all the way to starboard. It will also back to port in reverse at any other wheel setting. It will not back to starboard no matter what you do. It's a limitation I take into account when I'm driving my boat.

My understanding was that you needed top of propeller blades to be about 5" below waterline... you don't have that depth on an F26?

[The Dog House]

My understanding was that you needed top of propeller blades to be about 5" below waterline... you don't have that depth on an F26?

Since the engine in the F26 is in the back third of the boat the bow sits pretty high. You can see that the boot stripe is at the waterline at the stern but is quite a bit above the waterline at the bow.



Since the bow is riding high the hull shape starts to curve under which makes installing an external bow thruster problematic. You can kind of see what I'm talking about with the picture of the boat on the trailer.



The Sideshift stern thruster has an 8 inch propeller and must be mounted 5 inches below the surface of the water for a total of 13 inches required. The F26 has 12 inches from the water surface to the bottom of the hull.



Prowlersfish believes being 4 inches below the water surface instead of 5 inches below would be ok and he probably is correct. I just didn't want to spend $5,000 on something that should work. If I'm spending that much money I want to know it will work. If Captain Chill is willing to take a little leap of faith the Sideshift stern thruster will probably work. Are you feeling lucky?

[prowlersfish]

Prowlersfish believes being 4 inches below the water surface instead of 5 inches below would be ok and he probably is correct. I just didn't want to spend $5,000 on something that should work. If I'm spending that much money I want to know it will work. If Captain Chill is willing to take a little leap of faith the Sideshift stern thruster will probably work. Are you feeling lucky?

I feel it would be ok at 4" but that's easy its not my money

[captainmaniac]

That bow does seem to ride high and stern quite low... Not sure if that is typical of the F26, as many pictures I see online tend to show bootstripe pretty much parallel to waterline... In any event, hope Captain Chill is able to find a solution that works for him at a not too ridiculous cost!

[Captain Chill]

Thanks for your input CaptManiac. I've been doing the maneuvering you've explained over the years. As Dog House mentioned though, there simply is no reversing to starboard on these babies.

Dog House, I can't thank you enough for doing all the measurements, research and such. You've saved me a many troubles I would have gotten myself into if I just "went for it" without checking here first. Thanks.

Prowlerfish, I think it's your pontoon thruster idea that is going to take the cake. Not only is it much cheaper, it seems like the best option of them all for me. The 5.0hp houseboat thruster is probably the best choice but $2,000 extra for just a 2.5hp increase is not in my budget. Also, as you mentioned if the introductory power boat bow thruster is rated at 2.5hp for my sized boat, I can't imagine the same 2.5hp motor on the pontoon thruster will give me too much trouble.

Dog House why don't we do this at the same time! I was happy to measure that my swim step is already above the water a good 13-14" so I might not even have to do much else other than install that bad boy right underneath it.

I'm going to give side-shift a call and explain all this to their team tomorrow and see how they feel about it. I'll report back with the scoop. Thanks all.

[prowlersfish]

Yes please keep us poster . While the shallow draft can be a issue on installing a thruster , it also makes it easier to push side ways . It will be interesting to see what the have to say .

[The Dog House]

Glad to help. Please post lots of pictures when you do the install. Maybe I can convince my wife that we can't live without it.

[oldboat1]

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Just for grins, here's some rigging I've used for fishing (also came in handy for docking assistance when the wind wasn't favorable). There is quite a bit of room back there. For the money involved and the uncertainties about fit and function, think I would consider an electric trolling motor in some kind of configuration (obviously much less of a profile than the motor and apparatus I used). If you look closely at the second pic, you can see the waterline mark on the strut.

[Captain Chill]

Just got off the phone with Side-shift. Looks like the pontoon thruster is a no go. Forgot to even look at how long the damn thing was! The unit is 32" and he said the swim platform needs to be about 36" for a clean install. Mine measures a whopping 17"

He did say that having the thruster "a little bit" under the boat is not going to cause any problems with being up on a plane or debris. He said they are very strong and meant to be put through this kind of force.

However, he is sending me an email with some product configurations that are not on the website and that actually check out cheaper than the pontoon thruster in the mid-to-high $2,000 range. I guess it is a stern thruster but with only one propeller which "should be plenty for my size boat."

I'll copy the email here and we can all start again from scratch.

Oldboat1 That configuration looks like a good Plan C. Hopefully I can get one of these proper thrusters to work. If not, we'll be looking at you.

[Captain Chill]

I was mistaken, the product is on their website, it's just under their outboard thruster product line. Looks like a good work around for us 26ers. What do you guys think?

'As mentioned, we have a great stern thruster solution for your shallow draft Trojan 26. Our ST230-OB stern thruster ( https://shop-us.sideshift.com/collectio ... n-thruster ) is designed for mounting on outboard engines, but can also be mounted directly to the transom of any inboard powered boat. We include all the necessary mounting hardware. The thruster can be powered from your existing house starter battery provided it has a minimum of 850CCA. I have attached a drawing of the thruster, ( https://sideshift.com/wp-content/upload ... inal-1.pdf ) and when mounted 4” below your waterline the thruster prop will not extend below the bottom of your boat.

All Sideshift thruster models are a complete kit including mounting hardware, wireless joystick – no wire runs to the helm!, wiring harness, motor controller, fuse with digital voltage indicator, and battery switch.

Boat Show Sale! Save 10% on all thruster kits until February 28

ST230-OB stern thruster:
Price: $2,995.00 $2,695.00

Wireless Remote(controls stern thruster from anywhere on boat or dock)
Price: $150.00 Free

Shipping: $150 per thruster via Fedex.

All thrusters include our standard two year warranty, and are built and shipped from our factory in Ottawa, Canada.

US orders are tax & duty free, and we accept any of the following payment methods: Visa, Master Card, Paypal or wire transfer.

I’d be glad to discuss any questions. Thanks again for your interest in Sideshift!


Best regards

___________________________
Rob Griffin'

[The Dog House]

That should work. It will be 4 inches below the waterline instead of 5 inches, but the Sideshift representative seems to think that would be ok. The only downside is you will be putting two holes through your transom beneath the waterline, but if you seal it well with 5200 sealant it should be fine. Give it a go and let me know how it does.

[prowlersfish]

That looks good . And its nice you don't have to lower it to use it will save some time .and you said it saves $$ Win Win

[oldboat1]

Should give you a huge improvement!

[oldboat1]

I should add that easier docking in a crosswind is potentially dangerous, as well as frustrating — so hope your project is successful.

Last October, I took an unplanned swim while trying to dock and tie up. At 71 and boating alone, that’s not ideal. But boat and boater survived fine, and I made a couple of new acquaintances at the marina!

[prowlersfish]

They are on sale now FWIW

https://shop-us.sideshift.com/collectio ... QCcy9zTs94