I WAS looking to possibly buy a Go Devil SD because they are simply built tough, solid steel and damn near indestructible... HOWEVER, I spoke to someone today (that is "in the know") who told me that it is impossible to trim one UP far enough to run the prop half way out of the water in order to just putt; THAT YOU'D STILL HAVE TO PUSH DOWN ON THE TILLER handle, and that the trim is for running the boat at higher speeds and for dropping the motor DOWN 4" - 5" to 'dig in' to get unstuck when needed.

I run my long tail like this (prop halfway out of the water) for bowfishing and was hoping to get away from having to hold the tiller handle down for hours on end.

So tell me: What would be the sense of switching to a GDSD if I can't trim up high enough to get away from pushing down on the tiller handle in order to run the prop half way outta the water?

Any Go Devil owners here that can verify or disprove that? Thanks.

I can trim my motor as high as I want to. I have the 1848 high transom model. It is pretty damn simple to operate

I have a 1648 short transom gd boat and 23 gdsd and can trim wherever I'd like including more than halfway out of the water


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I think someone is full of crap, i can trim up half out of the water. But if for some reason yours cant then you could just make your handle rope thingy to hold motor out of water alittle longer so that it holds the prop about half way out the water..

Does anyone move their trim up and down a lot? I like that idea but don't wanna get out of my sweet spot? Maybe marking the threads or something?

I have not touched my trim since the first day I set it. With a long boat you not have to change much on the trim. I dropped the handle on the side to get out of bad situations a few times. I had to adjust it a good bit with my smaller rig. It really depends on the boat and the angle. You can do whatever you want with the trim with the right size boat. That goes for any surface drive.

GDSD is a balanced engine - idle, mid-throttle, or wide open throttle you push down
on the handle with 5 to 10 lbs of downward force and the prop comes up as much
as you desire.... At 30 mph you might have to use more force going the other way
pulling up to sink the prop deeper - as the lower fins automatically adjust trim at
speed to keep the prop basically 2/3rds in the water and 1/3 out of the water....

But I can assure you - if you see a log or want the prop to "air out" or surface
that just a few pounds of downward force will do just that no matter what type
of mud or vegitation or deep water you might be running or what speed from idle
to mid-throttle to wide open....

Also - if you wanted to just putt putt and not even touch the tiller except to
steer the boat from time to time - the trim knob can be used to set it to run at
any position from deep to prop up almost completely out of the water....

What he may have been trying to tell you about was a trick I personally use with
a rope loop that is longer than the tie down that allows the prop to surface and
keeps the motor basically pointing straight ahead and then as I stand on the front
deck with my pushpole --- I can ease ahead slowly using the pole to steer left or
right --- this is a usefull tactic when easing into an unknown sand flat or looking
for a skinny channel at low tide without running in "Rambo" and risking getting
high centered on a sand bar or oyster reef.... Something you can't do with the LT
that works pretty cool on the GDSD when you are solo just easing along......

One click drive to my house and take mine for a spin. See for yourself.

This is trimed all the way up on mine. Only 1-2" of prop in water at idle speed

quack...I see you have your motor pinned in regards to the handle. I have mine pinned too. I have tried to run with it unpinned and it does fine however I seem to lack the control I like.

I leave mine floating unless I am playing around in the junk. It's easier to maneuver in the junk when it is not floating. I burned 8 gallons of gas in mine yesterday. My arm never got tired and no vibration to worry about. The sun whipped my ass but we had some fun.

I used mine for bowfishing last night and trimed the motor all the way up and used it like you are wanting to. Worked just fine for me. Kept the boat moving at a very slow, but steady speed and even got a few fish. It was alittle difficult to turn in the small river passes though.

Yes they all can.

Short transom. I live a few miles outside Evansville,Indiana.