V Drive Operating Depth

Hi,

I was wondering what operating depth you need for a v drive. Currently have a I/O in a shallow lake. What is the min amount of water for idling (sp?)? What is the min amount of water need to bring a boat to plane?

ummm I would say 4 feet for idling, maybe 2-3 for on plane, but that is just way too risky for me to actully do. To get a wakeboard wake, you want to be in atleast 10 feet of water, for the wake, and for the rider to to hit bottom when they fall hard.

-HLN

Our X1 can idle in about 3 ft. Some of the lakes around here are pretty shallow, and when on plane you can distinctly tell when its not safe to jump when the wake loses half of its height...

All the boat mfg. show the "draft" of all their boat models. Like hyper said, deeper water will give you a much better wake and more safety for the rider.
Your I/O with the trim all the way down will require more water depth than any v-drive. You should be safer with the v-drive. (plus now you can wakesurf!)

Here's one spec for you..........

2003-2007 MC X-star draft 28 inches.

I have a similar problem with the lake we ride on. Our dock is on a shallow channel and we only have about 32 inches of depth. I wanted to get a v-drive but most of them have a 30 inche draft. We ended up going with a direct drive which only draws about 24 inches.

To be safe I would want at least 36 inches of depth for a v-drive. Oh and manufacturers should have the draft info on their web page.

Most vdrives and ddrives draft similar depths. Many share the same hull as their direct drive counterpart so it's the same.

My SSV drafts 24 inches as well.

I would like to thank everyone! Great answers!

One question I still have is with regards to draft.

Is this number considering the boats bare weight? or max capacity?