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Avoiding getting stuck......??

R

rost495

Well-known member
Well went for the 3rd time. 500 DD, wood paddle, 72x42 or 44, I can't remember. Much more bottom end than the Warp drive anyway, I was happy.

Then I got to an inch of water and thought I saw a slot with water. I knew there was more water on the other side, all of a sudden, green grass, clover, and black muck.

Boom, I floor it really hard and come hard left. Spun a 180 and that was it. About 50 feet from ANY water or more.

Of course I didn't take a bucket and soap...

Lucky it was sold with 3" PVC and myself and brother in law lifted the front end of the glass hull, Carolyn slid the pipe under, I crawled back on and fired it up, they wiggled it and much to my surprise after a bit it crawled up on that pipe and went, they bailed off to each side safely.

And here is another WOW..... Once I hit water, wow..... I had a tough time avoiding trees, brush etc.... it really got going quick on the water.

Anyway, my question, when this happens again, should I turn slow to make a 180 or hard like I did, all at full throttle of course.

We ran down in some what I call swamp grass, tall green reeds, and again I knew it went skinny but to open water, but again we hit a hump and dry ground, this time, much to my amazement I hit hard right rudder and she came around not quite as hard, but kept moving till we got back to water. I figured the grass would stick me.

Bottom line is the second time I didn't turn as hard. Did that help?

The first time we flat ran out of water period. The second I may have also blew water on the green stuff with my prop wash and it may have helped as I spun around.

Looks like the pitch of the prop is not quite right for dry or I need a potter cam AND different prop. But much happier wiht the old 2 blade than the 6 blade.

Gear reduction is best, but I'm now realizing it may mean a new cage too... so thats long in the future in a year or two.

I'll post a picture or 10 later or on Easter.

Happy Easter to all!

Thanks, Jeff
 
Momentum is the key to not getting stuck, while that sounds obvious there's a bit more to it. when you do a 180 all the forward momentum stops, and re-starting takes a lot of power. That 180 before hitting the dry stuff might blow enough water up to help slicken things up a little...a PVC pipe trail might be as good an answer.
The only way to learn is thru stick & stuck time...doesn't take too long until you've got a decient handle on where/what your boat will go.
I'm not even an amature, but experience tells how much it sucks to be stuck.
 
Rost,
your the friend we all love, but hate to go run dry with.....keep water under your hull no matter what. You can find ways to get the boat to run dry. More $$$$ will get it done. Till then, keep her on H2O....

Our good buddy on the forum Grant keeps a bunch of PVC and a bucket of soap just in case..
 
Hey Rost: I'm still laughing we have all there and done that!!!
We are from South East Lake Okeechobee, here the mud flats run forever. next time up see the mud hit either side if possible. When you do lose your momemtium. Try my favorite, a bottle of BLack Majic tire shine that stuff is so slick, You can't get it off your hands. spray an area in front of the boat. Wiggle, push, pull it to the area where you sprayed the Majic spin her around a time or two and haul butt back to H2O.

Dish washing detergent works great also and its biodegradable!

I've see more guys thrown out on mud than dry ground!
 
Just before, and during.....
DSC02979.jpg

DSC02980.jpg
 
good to see you getting more stuck time in i mean stick time in at least you got out..
when i got my airboat there was'nt this great website and there helpful handbook of been there done that ...mine did'nt come with pvc either if i got stuck hopfully the tide would come in or i would have to walk 1-2 mile get my buddies and 4x4 go back out and tow it back to water..
what kinda rpm's you getting with the wood? alot of 500 caddie's are tq monsters 2-500 rpms are a big diffrence i seen most cad dd's will run dry not always fast but dry..the timing,carb or prop might not be right just a thought...
 
Yeah, i hear ya on pullin, ain't no way to get a vehicle where we went. Plus its illegal.

I'm seriously thinking about if I can figure out how much my rig weighs, weld a receiver on it and a small elec winch, and a LONG tow strap.....

On the RPms, Supposed to hit 2800, won't quite do that when in a bind, not sure if thats normal. I cant' run the wood prop up to top end in water either, way too scared.

Stick time in some shallow water was good, I'm getting braver about how the boat slides around, that will get better until it gets dangerous I guess.

Prop wise, I keep hearing 32-38 or so, and this 42/44 is what I had for 350 bucks extra. I like it a lot more thanthe warp.

The bottom line is Im' not sure how to spend money.... IE dump a new 3 blade into it and see what happens.... Put a new cam in the Caddy first??? Or pull the caddy down and work on it some and put a reduction on it... very confusing as props being 1500 to 2500 or so I don't want to buy one, then find I need a cam for sure, have to get another prop, find that doesnt work, then beef the motor a bit and put a reduction and a new prop again.
Though I may call WW or S and see if they'll let me try a 3 blade and if it wno't run dry like I need, then I might send it back, work on the motor and start all over....

Bottom line is its a blast regardless, and hoping I don't get stuck where we have to work HARD to get it out. And the wife just loves riding! We'll be making a TX ride at some point, probably not next weekend to Dallas, and the Red River is a LONG ways from here, but hopefully we can do one somewhat closer.... gotta budget fuel money for truck and boat, going to CO and probably NM for elk this fall so thats a big chunk.

Can't wait to get to Matagorda and play!


Jeff
 
With that 500 you need to put reduction on it if you want to run dry. And even then it will stick a time or two. From what I have read,you have to much pitch in your wood prop for your motor. Wood props turn 3000 rpm WOT. If your only turning 2600-2800 your not getting the snap to get unstuck. Go dig deep into the pocket and get that Gearbox and Carbon Fiber blade ,and you'll be a happy camper.
 
Since I'm learning....

The caddy 500 has an edelbrock intake, 750 carb, and beyond that I know nothing of it.
IF going to a reduction its another 2000-2500 or so.
I know I need the right prop and I'm budgeted for that, but not the reduction.

The next opinion is if I go reduction what do I need to do, if anything to the motor before reduction?

Thanks, Jeff
 
Jeff

Call potter and weigh your opinions with him

from i read about him on this site, He wont steer you wrong

and he clams that DD caddy's will run dry

all boats will get stuck just some more than others

I'm sure he could help you to get your to be one of the others
 
Man it dont matter what you have you will get stuck one thing to look for when you are running the hill is things that can break the bottom loose ant hills high brush uneven sufaces and black magic will work also . Hey what did you hit with the front of your boat a fence post ??? Also how does your hull act like on the hill is it flexing real bad or is it still real stiff???
 
Read everything you can about Caddy powered boats, THEN start eliminating/improving on your boat. Talking with fellow Caddy owners will help even more than reading other peoples post, however the post offer you questions to ask.
I don't believe there is anyone on this board that would deliberatly steer you wrong, and if they did someone else would throw the bull-schitt flag.

Perhaps someone nearby could loan/swap your prop for a diffrent one to try on for size?
Angle of the engine?
Center of balance?
Engine timing, carburation, fuel delivery, comppression,...LOTS of factors. :?
 
If you'll notice in the first pic, there is water, and I was running and just ran out of water all of a sudden FWIW, it was hard to tell what was ahead at some speed.... I may well have screwed myself by going hard rudder, maybe I'd have been ok to make a wide sweeping turn...

But I got to see how PVC can work.....

Front of the boat was like that.

How does it do dry? Dunno, if it vibrates or is stiff.. It won't run dry that I can tell.

I will get hold of Potter too! And WW or S for prop issues.

As to the boat, radiatorin the back under the motor, fuel tank, appx 30 gallons is my guess, under the front of the motor. 2 batteries in the bow.

I APPRECIATE all the input. I'm gonna try to find out about the level of the motor, find my old timing gun and check the timing if I can remember how, and borrow a compression tester... compression, just an initial test or should I spin it up and let it sit for leak down?

This sight has been MORE than helpful, it really reminds me of a hunting sight I hang around(there are a bunch of sights that are full of azzholes....) and of my competition shooting days when folks bent over backwards to help, and if in the end you ended up good or better than them, they were all happy.

Thanks, jeff
 
You always do head work before you put a gear box on a stock caddy, that is unless you want to float a valve or worse. If you put the right after market (Potter) parts on your DD Caddy if will run dry just fine. I would suggest a composite prop but there are a ton of caddy's that run the nasty stuff all day long if set up right. Would a gear box and composite make a huge difference, yeah but you can still do it with the right after market parts on a DD.

Wide sweeping turns in that situation help if possible that way you hold some momentum.


Rost, whats the length on your boat? If it is under 16' I think you will be surprised what some potter parts designed for DD application would do to your rig. Remember they all get stuck, and if they haven't yet they will.
 
15foot, 7 inch hoffman glass.

I'll contact potter!

As to running dry and getting stuck, I'm kind of at a loss, if you'll look in the photobucket link, there are a bunch of shots of us going down a small canal, if you'll look at the top of the bank edges, thats where I need to get when the canal is 200 yards of dry dirt or mud, I have to get up on top, go down the grass edge and then fall down off the top into the canal where it has water.

Right now, I don't think the boat will run 50 feet dry period, on flat land, much less climb up and down any.

Potter it is.

Thanks, Jeff
 
Hey Rost, Is that a US Army Marksmanship unit T-shirt you are wearing in your photos?

That 500 Caddy will make plenty of power, you just need to make some upgrades. Don't get discouraged. Get her set up right and a little more stick time. you will get where you need to go.
 
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