Carver Owners Forum

Good Afternoon Carver Family,

I am looking to add a Bow and Stern Thruster on my 396 MY. It is a 2003.

Does anyone recommend where to add the tunnel hole or where to get this information?

Also the wiring and where to install the batteries. There seems to be little room to run wires to the engine compartment then up to the helm..

If anyone can share some insight that would be great!

I have looked at Vetus, Lewmar or Side Shift

Looking forward to your feedback!

Heh there.....I guess the questions for you is what are you considering spending......there is a huge difference in the install costs of these things and the tunnels and wiring are not cheap. Will you attempt this on your own or will parts of it be jobbed out ?

bud37 wrote:Source of the post Heh there.....I guess the questions for you is what are you considering spending......there is a huge difference in the install costs of these things and the tunnels and wiring are not cheap. Will you attempt this on your own or will parts of it be jobbed out ?

Hello, I am in the quoting process. I understand the scope of work with respect to the different scenarios just wanting to see how everyone's experience went and if there are any lessons learned.

A conventional bow thruster will require cutting and installing a tunnel. Unless you know how to fiberglass properly and do it yourself, that part of the job can get pricey unlike a stern thruster install which can be done by the average DIYer.

Contact Imtra https://www.imtra.com/products/sleipner/thrusters/dc-electric-thrusters, they will tell you exactly what you need for the boat you have. It's a pricier option but their Side-Power units are very well made, reliable, and they're a great company to deal with.

Just a thought . . . . we have owned a 2000 396 for four years. We initially thought about a bow thruster because of difficulty in docking. We are on the Allegheny River in the Pittsburgh area and the current and wind can be tricky at times. We have since learned how to use the engines properly and no longer see the need for the bow thruster. Of course, if we had one we would use it but doesn't seem to be worth the $5K-6K to have one installed.

I was able to get new gears for my BP1200 bow thruster a couple years ago. The cost of installing a new Sidepower including labor and the fiberglass work to patch holes in the tunnel and patch up the old holes was 10-15K. The gears from www.Thrusterparts.com cost me $1,900. Still going strong after two years.

I have added a bow and stern thruster to our 506. I had a side power tunnel unit installed in the bow. Because of all the plumbing and equipment in the aft end I originally had a side shift external stern thruster. The side shift used was the most powerful one the side shift made at the time. The side shift thruster was not strong enough for our boat. We returned the side shift unit as it was still under warranty. Had an external side power unit installed on the aft end. This was a major improvement. We had to add 4 new batteries and a charger for them. Total cost was around $13,000.00. Hope this helps! As mentioned above the two engines are definitely able to get you in most spots. It never fails while getting in the slip, a good stiff breeze brings the aft end around, the thrusters can overcome that breeze.