Humminbird side scan sonar: how well does it work for river bottoms?

[oskarkat]

I'm interested in buying a si sonar for use in locating lost props from large tugs here in Ky. Some are 10ft diameter. My friend works for the marine company that maintains them so he knows where 4 are within a 1/4 mile of where they were lost. Since they are insured, no one really looks for them. The bottom conditions are zero visibility and muddy. Will a 700 series si give a good view of the items on the bottom? What if there is some mud over them? There are also quite a lot of large logs, lost during the 1800s on the bottom here. I'd be interested in finding a few of those. My Dad was an underwater welder/recovery diver here in the coal boom days and remembers where quite a few bronze props were lost too. I've never seen any si sonar in person in operation, so any advice would be great.

Thanks!

 

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[old man]

oskarkat, Robert Gecy in my opinion is an expert with the hummingbird 997c , I think he could answer ALL of your questions. I have used one and in my opinion they are a great little unit. I don't have as much time as Robert has in using one.

 

[rgecy]

oskarkat,

Welcome to the forum. If the props are covered by mud, you will not be able to see them on any Side Scan unit. You would need a sub-bottom profiler for that.

But, if the props are on the surface you will definitely be able to see them with the Humminbird SI units (or any side scan sonar). The Humminbird units were originally designed for fishermen to locate structure, but as we soon found out, the detail was incredible and a lot of us started using it for wreck hunting.

I use mine in the rivers around here and have great success locating objects like tires, anchors, crab pots, etc. with great detail. You should be able to find a 10' diameter bronze prop no problem.

I would suggest the 997 or 1197 though. The 797 does not offer the High Resolution 800khz and the images are much better. Here are a couple images shot with the 800khz. One is a wreck in 20' of water and the other is a dredge barge in 25' of water in a river.

Good Luck and if you ever have any questions let me know.

Robert Gecy

 

[oskarkat]

Thanks for the quick response. Those images are impressive! I'd seen some at the Humminbird site but they were mostly large wrecks. It's good to know you can see tires and smaller targets. I think my local Walmart carries the 997, I may try it this spring. If I don't like it I can always take advantage of their liberal return policy.

Thanks again!

 

[ping]

Not sure about the top image, but the bottom image was not created using a Humminbird sonar.

I know these things are cheap, but really the proper sidescan systems such as Yellowfin, Starfish sonar give infinitely superior results. Depends on your budget I guess.

P

 

[ScubaDude]

You may want to do more research before you dive in. One of my colleagues has traveled to KY specifically to locate tug wheels. He found em, but the river was up so he left the diving for them to sort out another day.

 

[rgecy]

Not sure about the top image, but the bottom image was not created using a Humminbird sonar.

I know these things are cheap, but really the proper sidescan systems such as Yellowfin, Starfish sonar give infinitely superior results. Depends on your budget I guess.

Ping, sorry to inform you but BOTH images were in fact created using a Humminbird Sonar! The sonar file was played back in the YellowFin software by using a program i created to convert the files to .872 format. The top is from viewer software that I wrote!

Yes, we know you are here to spam us with Starfish sonar!

Robert

 

[oskarkat]

Is there more research I need to do? Are there some legal issues I need to be aware of? I doubt these props are marked, some may be 70+years old. What is the process to salvage something like this legally? Seems like knowing where something is means squat....birds in the hand kida situaton.

 

[sabre15]

Robert, what is the cost on that unit? You can really get it at Wal mart? Where were those ships, what are we looking at, is the square on the right in the orange color frame the dredge?

 

[rgecy]

Sabre, I haven't seen them at Walmart, but Bass Pro Shops carry them. The unit I have is the 997C SI. It retails for around $1700.

The first image is of the "City of Savannah", a 240' steel hulled steamer that sank in 1893.

The second is a dredge barge that I came across last year that kind of shocked me. I was going diving for Megalodon Teeth and was running the side scan. I was looking for ledges and just different bottom structure when I found it right at the entrance to a creek. I call it a creek, but it is 35' deep and 1000' wide. Small compared to the river it runs into.

Anyway, it truned out to be a dredge barge that had been stripped of all its gear, pumps, house, etc. Probably just started rusting and they decided to let it sink. The bow has the slit in it so the dredge head can be lowered and the hole at the back is where helm and engine room was.

Robert

 

[sabre15]

Robert, That is way cool. I want one, there is so much here in Florida, just the rivers alone that I want to see but cannot due to the blackwater. thank you for the input, this will be on my X-mas list!