These questions will help you determine whether a Bow Thruster or a Stern Thruster will best suit your needs.
A green circle = Stern Thruster A red circle = Bow Thruster
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Q: Would you prefer cutting huge holes in your hull below the waterline, or drilling a few small holes in the transom above the waterline? |
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Q: Would you rather save money and install Thrusters while your boat is in the water, or "haul out" and add those and yard expenses to your costs? |
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Q: Would you prefer hiring an expert shipwright or fiberglass person to cut a huge hole into your hull, or use a wrench and bolt a few lines together? |
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Think Of These For Actual Operation:
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Q: You've arrived at a marina and found your assigned slip, and you want to make a 90° degree turn to enter it. Does the boat care which end the thruster in on? |
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Q: When using your thruster to propel your boat sideways for docking, which end is easier for your crew to get off? |
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Q: Which thruster gives you more control and maneuverability when backing up? |
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Q: When parallel docked with a boat in front and behind you, which end is always the best to push safely out and away from the dock? |
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Most Commonly Asked Questions:
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Q: When cruising, does a Stern Thruster stick down below the bottom of the hull where it's vulnerable or can cause drag? |
| ANS: No. A Stern Thruster is installed with its prop just above the bottom of the hull where it's protected and there's no drag. |
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Q: Can installing a STI Stern Thruster ever cause my hull to leak? |
| ANS: No, because there are no holes below the waterline. |
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Q: If I somehow damage my Stern Thruster do I have to haul my boat out to fix it? |
| ANS: No. Although damaging a Stern Thruster would be very difficult to do because they are so protected, your boat doesn't have to be hauled and you can easily continue on with your cruise or work. |
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Q: What is the minimum size boat you make thrusters for? |
| ANS: 19 foot. We have an entire line of stern thrusters for boats 19 to 28 feet. |
A Stern Thruster can do everything a Bow Thruster can, but it does it much less expensively. The end result is like mounting a large outboard sideways on the stern of your boat and running it in forward or reverse thus pushing the boat to port or starboard with just a flick of a switch.
As we said at the beginning, we have both Stern and Bow Thrusters, so it isn't that important to us which one you  choose. Over the years we have had boats with Bow Thrusters and boats with Stern Thrusters; we've sold a lot of each. But if we had to choose one or the other for our own use, the Stern Thruster would win every time.
Our Bow Thrusters are great, but our Stern Thrusters are so easy to install, 85% of our sales are installed by the boats owner. Installation can be made while docked in your slip. If you need help or want us to install one for you, we'll be happy to.
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