3 replies to this topic

[kazie]

I spend most of my time in my sportster cleaning out the water intake grate of eelgrass, plastic bags, and anything else floating in the bay. If it's floating in the bay it will get into my water intake. I spend 45 minutes of every hour on the water cleaning the intake. There is a rumor that the Challanger 180 has a "Water Clearence System", could anyone give me information about it, and could I have it retrofited to my sportster??? Help

[thumper]

thats a lot of time underwater - dont know about the claerance system being fitted to the sportster - this maybe a stupid question but cant you go to another part of the lake?

ell grass is found over hear in shallow water only - is the lake quite shallow?

ive thought about fitting a stainless gauze over thge intake to stop anything going in and presumably that which sticks to the gauze would get pushde off due to the spped of the baot - not sure yet how to fix it - dont want to drill the bottom of the hull for obvious reasons - maybe epoxy esin is the answer?

just a thought

[kazie]

thats a lot of time underwater - dont know about the claerance system being fitted to the sportster - this maybe a stupid question but cant you go to another part of the lake?

ell grass is found over hear in shallow water only - is the lake quite shallow?

ive thought about fitting a stainless gauze over thge intake to stop anything going in and presumably that which sticks to the gauze would get pushde off due to the spped of the baot - not sure yet how to fix it - dont want to drill the bottom of the hull for obvious reasons - maybe epoxy esin is the answer?

just a thought

Unfortunately I,m on the south shore of Long Island, N.Y. in a saltwater bay which is known for floating patches of "eelgrass". As the tides change it uproots large patches of the eelgrass and moves them from channel to channel thru the bays. With my other boat it is easier to clear out the eelgrass by just put it in reverse and blowing the eelgrass from the outdrives. It is a common sight to see boats coming to a stop and then reverse to clear their outdrives. The problem with the sportster is the water intake is so wide with only two grate bars that large patches of eelgrass gets sucked into the tunnel and even using reverse will not dislodge it. I am talking with metal fabrication shop about making a aluminum grate with narrow slots (1/2 inche apart) running lenght wise that will bolt in place of the factory grate without restricting water intake.

[SeaOneEighty]

...thought about fitting a stainless gauze over thge intake to stop anything going in and presumably that which sticks to the gauze would get pushde off...

If you don't have to worry about 'hard' objects like sticks and rocks, consider taking the grate off completely. The grass will then just be blown through. Anything as soft as grass will be chewed up handily. As long as there is not so much that it will actually fill and clog the whole intake, the impeller will munch it and blow it through.

Others have 'sharpened' the outer side of the grate blade so that they more easily cut the grass and then let it pass through.