Is there a benefit to running SI on the front? I have Garmin 93SV at the console and considering a 7" for the front since they are on sale during the BPS fishing classic. The one without SI is $150 cheaper and just trying to decide if I NEED it up there. I am mainly a shallow water guy but trying to get better at the deep stuff.

Yes. Stop and think about where you do most of your fishing from. The front !!
Side imaging on full screen or split, on somehow to give you the best advantage of targeting structure/fish
JMO
God Bless

Thank you! That was very helpful!

I use it often on the front!

Unlike 2D Sonar, you must be moving straight and steady for DI and SI to be accurate!

You said your mostly fishing shallow water. Think about what little your seeing with only Sonar or down scan.
A small area.....but with side imaging, it's up to you (at least on the HB units) how far out on each side you want to see with a unit on your bow and trolling motor.
I brought mine into about 50' on each side, it will go out to 250' on each side but the images are harder to make out....much clearer the closer in you bring it.
Just thinking about how far out I or you can cast.... 50' on each side works pretty good
Hope this helps
God Bless

Unless you're moving straight ahead at a decent, constant pace, the SI image is going to be a mess. Standard sonar and DI are all I can see being very useful on the trolling motor. The only exception to that would be the H-Bird 360, but I don't think that's what you're asking about.

This is kind of what I was thinking too.

What I want is the ability to stay on a way point or fish a drop shot straight down. I plan on linking the two and I am quite happy with the 9" that I have at the console so I have to go with Garmin up front too. Lee you make a compelling argument and thank you for the helpful opinion but I don't think I will use the SV that much up front. By the time I go to chunking and winding, I have already side scanned the area while idling with the big motor.

I had a Hummingbird 998 on the bow of my boat and I am a novice side scan user but In my personal opinion sidescan really works the best when moving forward at a slow speed and when the transducer is stationary and not turning back and forth from left to right as when using a foot control trolling motor. I got tired of looking at blurry pictures when using the side scan with the transducer mounted to the bottom of my trolling motor. I now have a humminbird 959 down image only on the bow. This would be true for Lowrance, Garmin, Humminbird and others. Results may vary depending on user competance and familiarity with product.

SI is great for shallow work. With it you can see the edge of weed lines or pads. See under docks. See fish on flats. I have had SI on the bow now for three years and I can't imagine not having it.

You could attach a rod that is parallel to the t/m shaft and mount the S/I transducer on it. It would still distort some but not as bad as on the head of the T/M.

I saw a set up like that on KVD's boat. I think he has the 360 degree transducer mounted to it.

I currently have an 858 DI on my bow and really wish I would have just spent the extra money on the SI for the front. I think it would really help when you are fishing weedlines and deep rocks. You can always throw a marker buoy out to help you locate your area but sometimes it's a pretty large area of rocks and a lot of the time I want to fish the transition which SI would easily show on your graph up front. Just my two cents. The next time I upgrade graphs I will be getting an SI unit up front.

I just turn, my console mounted SI unit around, so I can see it from the front......