Don't let this happen to you!

Mello-Yello · 08-23-2003, 06:55 AM

I learned a painful lesson this morning. We loaded real heavy on ice this morning. Headed out for tuna carnage, everything looked great! Went to unleash the boat, and here's what we found...

How did this happen you ask?

My seat had somehow rotated around and apparently pressed against my trim/down button. It didn't help that the boat was riding heavy w/ice...

My string of tuff luck continues. I would advise everyone stay at least 100' from me until this passes...

The really [img]graemlins/dork.gif[/img] part of it is...I knew the seat did this, as occasionally I'd be sitting in it, rotate around and bump that switch. It just never dawned on me the potential ramifications.

Guess I'll clean the boat up from yesterday's trip find a beer to cry into. :depressed:

Marty · 08-23-2003, 06:58 AM

Ouch!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Marty

Sea Jypzee · 08-23-2003, 06:58 AM

Ouch, sorry to hear of your problems.

Do you have a battery switch you can shut off when you've got the boat up on the trailer? That way if the seat hit the switch, with no power it shouldn't move. Might save this from happening again at least.

Mello-Yello · 08-23-2003, 07:05 AM

It's actually an easy fix.

"Fold the seat down, stupid!"

I might move the entire seat away from it. This is something I've considered since I bought the boat. It was just an annoyance before, now it's an issue.

I probably should have a block of wood wedged in the pivot point too, so the weight of the motor doesn't rest on the trim shaft when enroute.

Not feeling real brilliant right now.

Birdnest · 08-23-2003, 07:15 AM

M-Y,

That just sucks. My configuration could do the same, thanks for the heads up. I always turn the battery on when I pick her up for a couple of reasons. While on the road I can make sure the automatic switch is working on my bilge pump and I store the boat with OB down, and never thought about turning them back off before towing.

Great post.

Joe

Bait O' Eggs · 08-23-2003, 07:18 AM

Misery loves company - so I will tell you I did nearly the same thing not too long ago [img]graemlins/dork.gif[/img]

Except I have a pump and usually travel with the motor down. What happened when I was traveling with the seat pushing on the power trim for a couple hours I burned out the power trim relay. $50 and a couple hours and I was back up and running. If I had burned out the power trim motor it would have been more like $800.

That convenient power trim switch on the controls can cause some mighty expensive damage.

[ 08-23-2003, 08:19 AM: Message edited by: Bait O' Eggs ]

SouthCoastStu · 08-23-2003, 07:19 AM

Sorry to hear of your mechanical misfortunes, Mellow :depressed: At least your string of bad luck doesn't effect your fish catching ability :grin: .

Birdnest · 08-23-2003, 07:20 AM

M-Y,

Concerning your block of wood solution. Don't you have a little bar that you can swing down into place, lower you motor a touch, and take the weight off the shafts?

Joe

skein · 08-23-2003, 07:56 AM

I drove a jet for so long I'm still getting used to having all that rigging hanging below the transom. I sweat when I launch or take out because I haven't developed a feel for just how far down everything is hanging. I feel for you, man, that is a real bummer, and something that could happen to me. As Birdsnest says, "thanks for the heads-up."

I use a block of wood by the way, and have a little strap that attaches it to the motor just in case it bounces loose. That way I don't have to worry about sending it careening through the windshield of the car behind me.

Please stay south of Bandon until the season ends. Maybe that will keep the Bad-Luck Vortex away from us up here.

Kidding aside, M-Y, that is a real hit and we're sorry for you. Maybe I'll go have a beer for you.

Skein

Orca · 08-23-2003, 07:57 AM

That looks painfull. Watch out for lightning for the next few days.

Mello-Yello · 08-23-2003, 08:23 AM

Birdnest,
Yes, I have the feet that swing down, but that is mainly for propping the motor in full-up position (for maintenance I think). I prefer to travel with my motor maybe 1/3 up. My thinking is it takes a lot of stress off the transom vs. having the lower end leaning way out. I dunno though...my thinking has gotten me into a lot of trouble too.

I'm cleaning the boat completely out today so I can leave it at the shop (I'm a little paranoid of having it burgled...then again, they'll prolly hit my shop instead...d'OH!)

Am thinking about doing a little bay/lower river silver fishing w/my kicker. Am I flirting with disaster? [img]graemlins/eek13.gif[/img]

Oh, and technically, the Yellow boat still hasn't been skunked, as we never actually got into the water today! :grin:

corrirod · 08-23-2003, 08:54 AM

M-Y, I feel your pain brutha. I'm caught in the northern patch of the bad luck vortex!

In regards to your problem, I wouldn't sweat the skeg as much as the prop. I've been missing 1/2 my skeg for a couple years now and don't even notice it. It looks as though you still have enough meat on yours to add a skeg guard and solve the problem.

Hang in there man, I've got a $500 dinger I'm working on myself and it involves tearing the whole outdrive apart. :depressed: I'll raise a glass for you.

Mello-Yello · 08-23-2003, 09:14 AM

Thanks to everyone for the kind words. It doesn't make everything good again, but it does help.

I'm thinking I can put this repair against either my boat insurance, or auto (need to double-check my deductibe, and whether it would affect my rates)

When I got my boat insurance, my carrier said a real common claim is bottom end damage from hitting stuff...well, I hit the road...so...um, I dunno. We'll see what happens.

Thinking about installing a "wheelie" bar...that'd do it!

Sea Jypzee · 08-23-2003, 09:19 AM

Just tell'em you hit ummm a rock. Ya a rock. The Earth is often referred to as a rock. :grin:

Birdnest · 08-23-2003, 10:36 AM

I need to review my manual concerning trailering it with the OB all the way up and resting on the feet. :shocked:

Does anyone else stay away from trailering with your OB all the way up and resting on the little swing arm feet?

Joe

skein · 08-23-2003, 10:47 AM

Birdnest,

Yes. My manual specifically says not to do it.

Also I refrain from raising my motor up as far as it will go for fear I will run oil into places I don't want it to pool up. I didn't find that in the manual, it's just my own paranoia.

Skein

WP · 08-23-2003, 02:42 PM

Sorry about the damage MY, I have dragged mine from senior moments before but to date no serious damage! My button is also hit by the seat. I use the motor brace to prop the motor up. I was told specifically, when I bought the boat, to trailer with the motor resting on the brace as it saves stress on the hydrolic cylinders on the motor. Maybe I was told wrong! Other opinions? I would be happy to use a wooden block instead. Just never thought it might be a problem!
WP :smile:

sturgn · 08-23-2003, 03:02 PM

When I had my outboard on the Alumiweld I used the Transom Saver, I never had any problems and it takes most of the bounce off of the transom and puts it on the trailer!

Lepper · 08-23-2003, 04:39 PM

Hey MY.. We had a church charterboat trip today out of charlytown.. I was there early and another guy from the group said he was following some guy in with a boat that was dragging his prop!! Sorry it had to be you! that just sucks! But look at the bright side.. it could have been a lot worse! atleast the motor stayed on the boat!.....

dave

[ 08-23-2003, 05:41 PM: Message edited by: Lepper ]

Nofish · 08-23-2003, 04:55 PM

Hey M-Y,
That time you saw us cleaning tuna at Charleston, I had just experienced something very similar to your unfortunate incident that very morning. Fortunately, I had just purchased and installed one of those stainless steel skeg guards and it paid for itself big time. Your insurance should handle it. I hope your are not out of action for too long. Bob

Thumper · 08-23-2003, 05:19 PM

Whoooaaa! Jets are mo' betta.

ANDYCOHO · 08-23-2003, 08:12 PM

Sorry about your pain there M-Y...

A guy I work with talked his best friend into buying a new ski-boat this last year, on his way to the river for the first time, he stoped by Safeway and picked up some soda and snacks and put them in the drivers seat. On the way to the ramp the bag of groceries shifted and pressed his trim tab button down and he lost most of his lower end on Hwy 217...

Burner · 08-24-2003, 04:27 AM

M-Y.....Sorry about your run of bad luck. :depressed: Get a lottery ticket for when it turns around

....your due.

James

[ 08-24-2003, 05:28 AM: Message edited by: Burner ]

Birdnest · 08-24-2003, 05:55 AM

I am going to post this transom saver question on the main board to get few more responses.

Skipper · 08-24-2003, 07:05 AM

M-Y, I feel your pain.
I use and recommend the Transom Saver, so even if the trim/tilt button was depressed, my outboard would still be up where it clears speed bumps and steep driveway ramps. Adjustable aluminum brace that attaches to the trailer and the lower unit.

Cheerio'
Skipper

SKSPAWNER · 08-24-2003, 09:13 AM

I was concerned about this same thing, so I made a transom saver using 2" square tubular steel with a rubber bow bumper (the "Y" shaped ones that you snug your bow up to). It keeps the motor about half way up and is secured to the motor by the downward pressure of the tilt as well as a handy bungee cord. It's cheap and has removed any bounce or dropping of the motor while towing. I also turn off the battery switch when towing. Good luck!

Sunny K

TWB · 08-24-2003, 10:40 AM

M-Y, sorry to see that happen, that really hurts. What a way to ruin your day of fishing.

To answer some of your transom saver questions, There are literaly thousands of bass boats on the highway running 150's and larger hp engines. Every last one of them use transom savers, period. They take the shock of a heavy motor bouncing, off of the transom. A pin connects the saver to the trailer and holds the transom saver in place. Just trim the motor down into the padded "y". You will never have another problem with the motor dropping down or cracking a transom. If the transom of your boat is even with the back of of your trailer, a transom saver will work or you could have a custom one built. They are about $30.00 of the shelf. The block of wood or the bracket might hold your motor up, but the weight of the motor bouncing down the highway is still working on that transom, every bump in the road. I can't figure out why it's been an exclusive thing for bass boats? It seems to me that every boat with an outboard should be equipped with one? Its very cheap insurance.

With that said, something falling on the trim switch is still a problem. Something is probably going to burn out, with that switch depressed for any length of time!!!! As SKSPAWNER said, you really should have a battery disconnect switch.

Good luck with your repairs, your insurance should take care of everything except the deductible.

Oh, by the way, I can relate to this, I drug my outdrive down I-5 from Salem to Portland one time!!!!!

It now has a saver too.

Jerry

[ 08-24-2003, 12:05 PM: Message edited by: TWB ]

Mello-Yello · 08-24-2003, 01:32 PM

A problem I would be facing with the transom bracket is...I'm running an offshore bracket. This places my motor waaaay back from the trailer.

My offshore bracket is beefy, to say the least. My motor doesn't bounce at all, in fact you can't even get it to wiggle when elevated. The connections from my lift are rock solid.

I will likely be fabricating a wooden block nonetheless, to ensure this can't happen again. Another consideration, rather than turn the battery switch off, would be to wire a cut-off switch at the dash to the hotwire feeding my thumbswitch. My remote lift on the motor would still work, but the thumb switch wouldn't unless the cutt-off switch were on. Since I'm running trim tabs, I rarely utilize my thumbswitch anywayz. As I do with all my critical switches, I'd wire a 'dummy light' too, so I'd know when the thumbswitch is activated. This would prevent burning up a relay or hyd. pump should this scenario play out again.

For sure I'll have a block installed, the thumbswitch will likely come later. For the most part, I just need to remember..."fold your seat down, dummy!"

SPAZZ · 08-25-2003, 12:54 PM

Ouch!!! Just rember things can always be worse.

Pilar · 08-25-2003, 01:17 PM

I'll interrupt this commiseration festival to remind you of a device called a battery disconnect switch. It is very useful for putting out electrical fires, preventing battery rundown and now a new use .... keeping the trim switch from lowering the motor.

Cut off the power and no worries. Right?

Cheap at $35 for a 2 battery switch.

Sorry about your grief M-Y. Too many things go on with the electrical rig on an ocean going boat. Switches short out, wires fry and other things happen. This disconnect switch will protect you from most of them.

tailchaser · 08-25-2003, 01:40 PM

I think it's a South Coast curse M-Y. Dave had it first, getting the windshields broken out of the boat on a sneaker wave and passed it to me. :shocked: I then managed to go down to the rogue, put in at the wrong spot, get the truck stuck trying to get out, going upriver in the boat anyhow and having the spotlight go out on the section I've never been before

. Then navigate the river in pitch darkness because I can't anchor because my anchor lights aren't working and finally getting to where I was going about 2:30 in the morning to find someone sitting where I wanted to be hours earlier. :blush: That wasn't the end though, my anchoring buddy freaked on the current and instead of giving the anchor a good jerk to drop the prongs he decided to pull it towards the boat. Needless to say we found the neighboring boats side anchor (which isn't legal at night for this reason) and managed to run into his boat while he was sound asleep. [img]graemlins/stupid.gif[/img] So now it's upon you my friend, but a good costly moment seems to pass it on to someone new. Just don't touch my boat here soon!

tc

Zippy · 08-25-2003, 02:51 PM

Mellow Yellow, The Battery switch is a great idea for all Ocean boats as it will also allow for a second battery to be on board in case you ever have problems with the first. Pilar and Sea Jipsey are correct on this. And yes,Zippy has the switch and two batteries,both with the Mfg. recommended cold cranking amps.I had an old salt who helped me buy her, advise me of this as we were outfitting her. Hope it doesn't run into alot of money for you to repair.Been there myself...

Mello-Yello · 08-25-2003, 04:17 PM

Commiseration festival...haha...I had to look that one up. Where do you retain these kinds of words????

Thanks for the input John, and you are right. However, I have a battery disconnect already. (dual battery setup, etc, etc.) The deal is, I have a remote trim switch at the motor as well. While cutting all power to the boat would certainly have prevented this from happening, it seems like overkill (I may feel differently if the boat weren't near new). I just can't see myself climbing into the boat so that I can climb back out and run the remote trim/lift.

All I really need to do is put the back of my stupid seat down when enroute (I know, it's not the seat that's stupid). I'll be throwing in a block of some sort too, just for peace of mind.

Bottom line...looks like around $2k to fix. I pay 1/8th of that as deductible.

Lesson learned... [img]graemlins/dork.gif[/img]

Pilar · 08-25-2003, 05:14 PM

Mello Yello, climbing back into the boat is a pain in the tail. But, I never worry about what might go wrong with wiring soaked with salt water and the switch is located where I can reach it without climbing aboard. My batteries stay fully charged and I never have to say "I'm sorry ...".

It is now just a matter of routine to shut down all power when the boat is on the trailer.

Mello-Yello · 08-25-2003, 06:05 PM

Unfortunately, my switch is under the fishbox on the inside of the transom, right between both batteries, and yes, directly above the fuel cell and adjacent to the fuel/water separator. This doesn't seem like the best location should I have a wiring fire in this general area. :shocked:

(I didn't do it! It was installed like this at the boatshop...)

Maybe this winter I'll consider moving it to a better location. I do like the concept of shutting all power down when not in use. I just know myself well enough to know that there ain't no way I'm getting on all fours to turn this switch every time I use the boat.

M-Y

Lepper · 08-25-2003, 06:27 PM

Hey Mello, Saw you in town today with the boat.. Tried to wave.. but we were flying by you in the ambulance with the lights and siren going...

They going put a new lower unit on to fix the skag? or just attempt to rebuild the one that is there?
d

Mello-Yello · 08-25-2003, 07:31 PM

Haha! I saw you! Well, I saw someone in an ambulance blow by me waving. Wasn't sure if it was a friendly wave, or a "Don't you know how to get outta the way?" wave... :blush:

It's like this. An entire new lower end costs about $20 more than pulling the guts outta mine and installing them in a new housing (labor). Insurance tends to only want to fix what's broken, so they'll likely request only the housing. My repair guy (you know who I'm talking about) is leaning towards the new unit. The less time they spend removing guts, the sooner they can get on to the next poor soul who's dry-docked.

The prop will likely exceed $400! Yikes!

And by the way...My first two-page post!!!

Lepper · 08-25-2003, 09:23 PM

It was a nice hey I know you wave!! If you was in the way you would have known it.. I'm kinda heavy on the air horns when people are in the way :grin:

Insurance can be a hassle. I think I would lean towards the new lower end might be worth it to pick up the extra $. That a stainless prop on there? I know when I had to get a new prop last year (ya I hit a stupid log!!) mine cost me a 180$ Hey did they happen to give you the ol " it's going to be a while before we can get to it" speech?
d

[ 08-25-2003, 10:25 PM: Message edited by: Lepper ]

Mello-Yello · 08-25-2003, 09:59 PM

No, actually it was more like...'we'll fit you in as soon as the parts arrive'.

You're not the first person to ask me this, and the other guy has the same boat as you (2' shorter though). He must just favor Woodridge....

I would'nt be surprised if it isn't back together before the weekend.

Wait a minute. This weekend I'm hunting...oh well, I'll tell him that AFTER the boat is fixed.....ya never know, they might close the woods and I can make one more tuna run!

Old Coot · 08-26-2003, 08:07 AM

Maybe you Coos area guys should consider getting together and sacrificing a goat during the next full moon or something? Hang braids of garlic in your boats? Call Ghostbusters? Somebody has seriously irritated the fish gods.

Seriously, you have my sympathy. I hope the bad luck cloud moves away from you. Preferably south.

Pilar · 08-26-2003, 09:47 AM

Mello - Yello, what happens to the old lower unit?

Consider keeping it if possible. Might come in handy if you need any of the parts that are not supposed to wear out and will later be unavailable. Just leave it full of oil and stash it somewhere.

Another thought ... Aluminum props flex and that is why many boaters like the SS props. The down side is SS props do not flex and any shock from a propstrike is transmitted to the propshaft, bearings and seals. This can cause considerable damage, not to mention the $400 for a new prop.

Aluminum props are like a fuse for your outdrive. If you 'blow the fuse' by rocks, logs or whatever, big deal, $70 fixes it at the prop shop and your outdrive is protected. You skip the $1500 lower unit rebuild.

I would Never consider an SS prop on any boat, the loss of power due to prop flex is insignificant. Just a thought ......

Mello-Yello · 08-26-2003, 12:25 PM

Hey John,
I've already requested possession of all 'discarded' parts. Right now it's "we'll see what we can do".

Since insurance is handling this, they replace what is broken, so.....new SS prop. I will consider pricing an aluminum when the $$ is there though. I mean, wouldn't everyone love to have an aluminum prop with a SS prop as a backup?

As per the SS prop...I launched at a local ramp this spring, shortly after it had been dredged out. What I didn't know, thanks to the murkiness of the Coquille River, is they only dredged as far as they could reach, and there was a shoal about 30 from the ramp, maybe 2' beneath the surface. I plowed through this in reverse, kicking up tons of mud, sticks, all kinds of junk. My estimate would be I tilled through at least 1 1/2 feet of junk. Had I had an aluminum prop, I'm sure it would have wasted it. The SS prop only showed some light abrasion. I've clanked more than a few pretty big sticks too...and the prop was undamaged. So, I suppose there are some trade-offs. There is no way I'm gonna settle for anything less than original from the Insurance though.

M-Y

nerta · 08-28-2003, 04:26 PM

ouch! I hate it when that happens. I have learned to turn off the battery switch when leaving the boat. It cost me a little money and lots of furstration, but now off goes the switch.