How do you protect transducer when beaching

I have a Humminbird Helix mounted to the Flex pod os on a Radar 135 and I was curious what people do when beaching/launching their Kayaks. Should I just pull the flex pod out of the water and then put it in and latch it after I'm out in the water?

How far down below the scupper hole does it sit on the Radar? My thinking is that it should be protected in the scupper recess if landing on a beach. If it particularly rocky, you always have the option of pulling the pod.

Sit your boat in your yard on the ground without the pod installed. Install the pod gently. Does it hit the ground before being fulling installed or is it within the recessed scupper?

You could also just sit it on a couple of saw horses and look under there too. If it's not recessed I would pull the pod.

Interested to see what others might recommend.

If your Helix has Side Image your Tducer will need to be below your hull and will be exposed to damage when beaching, loadin/unloading. I highly recommend removing it or at least raising it during these times.
If it's not a Side Image unit you may be able to mount it high enough to protect it.

It does have side imaging.

In my Reload, I just grab the bow handle and pick it up high enough the transducer doesn't touch and drag the yak to where I want. When beaching I get out before the water gets so shallow the transducer will hit then I ease it down the the ground and pull the pod. When launching I drag it far enough into the water so when I sit down it doesn't get mashed in the mud/dirt/sand/concrete/etc...

After destroying 2 transducers (I am a slow learner) I would raise the pod if I were you.

The first transducer destroyed was not because of the beaching my kayak but rather putting it on the trailer. The second transducer destroyed was because of dragging the kayakon the boat ramps while getting ready to put the kayak on the trailer or taking it off.

I now have a Predator MK with the console system so I will be raising the consoles so that my transducers will not drag.

i have a Hobie PA14 with a Lowrance 7 TI totalscan transducer. the transducer sits low enough under that its exposed and gets scratched all the time. They are made to get scratched. transducers are alot tougher than what most people think. if i was worried about it i wouldnt have mounted the way i do and i unload at boat ramps and slide it in the water and beach it all the time.

I should clarify about the transducers. The problems I had was not the transducer itself but rather the wires coming out of the transducer.

On one of the transducers wire it was binding at one spot and wore a hole through the protective rubber so that I lost the temperature readings but the rest of the transducer worked fine.

The other transducer was mounted a different way but the transducer wire protective rubber ended up pulling out of the transducer itself.

Both transducers were for a Helix 5 SI mounted on a Predator 13 kayak.