fishaman
05-12-2009, 11:48 AM
Looks like it's my turn to report a dumb move and potential damage.
While retrieving a shrimp pot at the shipwreck this Saturday, my outdrive got tangled with my shrimp pot line. The engine was idling in neutral, so there was no line on the prop. The high current, 15 minutes of unsuccessful attempts to free the line with a boathook from a swimstep, and approaching deadline of 3 PM added to frustration, and when finally I untangled after raising my Bravo II in trailer position, I did it without shutting the engine down. Even more, as soon as the line was free, I have proceeded to complete the retrieval with the help of the electric pot puller, and my outdrive was idling raised all the way up for another 15-20 minutes. When I was done, and shifted in gear, I immediately noticed the mistake and lowered it down, so there were no "riding" with the outdrive up.
On the way home, I think I felt a difference in the outdrive vibration, it sounded as if it was still up while it was trimmed all the way down.
I probably need to replace the U-Joints, I was planning to do it anyway. Does anyone know if there may be other damaged parts, like gimbal bearing? There were no visible rips on the outside of the bellows, but I have heard some horror stories about the metal reinforcement wire being ripped out on the inside.
To my mind, this one beats cleaning the freezer with sharp objects...
Will be grateful for any experience with similar damage, especially with Bravo outdrives.
While retrieving a shrimp pot at the shipwreck this Saturday, my outdrive got tangled with my shrimp pot line. The engine was idling in neutral, so there was no line on the prop. The high current, 15 minutes of unsuccessful attempts to free the line with a boathook from a swimstep, and approaching deadline of 3 PM added to frustration, and when finally I untangled after raising my Bravo II in trailer position, I did it without shutting the engine down. Even more, as soon as the line was free, I have proceeded to complete the retrieval with the help of the electric pot puller, and my outdrive was idling raised all the way up for another 15-20 minutes. When I was done, and shifted in gear, I immediately noticed the mistake and lowered it down, so there were no "riding" with the outdrive up.
On the way home, I think I felt a difference in the outdrive vibration, it sounded as if it was still up while it was trimmed all the way down.
I probably need to replace the U-Joints, I was planning to do it anyway. Does anyone know if there may be other damaged parts, like gimbal bearing? There were no visible rips on the outside of the bellows, but I have heard some horror stories about the metal reinforcement wire being ripped out on the inside.
To my mind, this one beats cleaning the freezer with sharp objects...
Will be grateful for any experience with similar damage, especially with Bravo outdrives.