Jump to content

Pivoting an outboard


p6rob

Featured Posts

Short version - Last weekend, a new owner of a plastic boat got the stern rope wrapped around the prop and had to get their hands in the water to untangle it.

I know I've seen boats with the outboard tilted out of the water but couldn't figure out how to pivot this little Honda. There was a big black lever that I thought might have unlocked something but it didn't, thinking about it, it might have been the choke but it seemed too big for that. There was a spring loaded pin that looked like it would adjust the rake by using alternative holes but that proved too difficult to remove with the boat in the water.

Obviously it's of no help now but for future reference, is there a standard way to pivot outboards so the prop is out the water.

 

Long version:

We had a fantastic trip leaving Birmingham, heading for The Black Boy right up until the cursed Knowle Locks.

All locks in our favour, even lock 9 on the Farmers Bridge Flight was easier than normal to open and close. No weed hatch visits, only two other boats moving, both were met at locks, so gates were left open for us.

Things changed when we got about to Knowle, Debbie was steering, while I was inside warming up. I came out and she asked what I thought the prat in the GRP boat in front was doing. Apparently they'd pulled to the side, jumped off, got back on board, darted in front, slowed down to the point she almost rear ended them, then sped up again, were weaving all over the place, etc. I said, "perhaps they're new or had engine problems".

Anyway, they sped off, we carried on at a steady pace.

By the time we arrived at Knowle top lock, they had just shut the top gate and were winding the bottom paddles. A fisher on the waterpoint landing asked "Can't you both share the lock?" I said "Yes but a plastic boat might not want to share with a metal one in case it hits and sinks them".

Debbie went and talked to the lock wheeler and they were indeed new to boating and hadn't realised they could share locks. They waited in the next lock for us to catch up and share the rest of the flight.

As Debbie steered out of the first lock, she apparently lost steering control, so struggled getting into the lock. As she drifted towards the weir/old narrow lock, I had to push the boat towards the lock and pull her into the lock. At this point, a lock wheeler for the Girl Guides boat, which was waiting in the next lock down to come up started asking which side we would be going, then asked me to speak on her phone, to their skipper.

Debbie left the lock, steered into the next lock without touching the sides, or Girl Guides boat, the Guides boat started going up and the plastic boat started coming down. Something however went wrong with the plastic boat and it too started drifting towards the weir. As mentioned above, it's rope had got badly tangled and it took us an hour to untangle it during which time it started peeing down. - This just confirms my dislike of Knowle locks.

 

We got to the Black Boy and the lads on the plastic boat bought us a drink to say thanks for helping. After buying the boat from somewhere around Fradley, they were heading for Evesham. So if you see a little boat hemming and hawing it's way along, say hello.

 

Rob

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

on a honda, its a lever on the starboard side next to the mounting bracket, one way to unlock, back to lock. It was like that on my ancient H10 and on the recent H20. afaik the 4.5 hp honda had a similar mounting bracket and tilt lock arrangement. Or just get a pair of elephant vet gloves, I can reach the prop on my 20hp without lifting the engine. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Jim Riley said:

on a honda, its a lever on the starboard side next to the mounting bracket, one way to unlock, back to lock. It was like that on my ancient H10 and on the recent H20. afaik the 4.5 hp honda had a similar mounting bracket and tilt lock arrangement. Or just get a pair of elephant vet gloves, I can reach the prop on my 20hp without lifting the engine. 

Usually engaging forward gear at the control engine not running obviously unlatches the tilt & allows tilting

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, X Alan W said:

Usually engaging forward gear at the control engine not running obviously unlatches the tilt & allows tilting

Usually? Not on the engines I've had. Evidence? I read it when you said it earlier. Repeating it won't make the OP's outboard work like that if it doesn't. It could confuse him.

I can see that its a handy system, but we don't know what engine the OP has. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

58 minutes ago, Jim Riley said:

Usually? Not on the engines I've had. Evidence? I read it when you said it earlier. Repeating it won't make the OP's outboard work like that if it doesn't. It could confuse him.

I can see that its a handy system, but we don't know what engine the OP has. 

It is not designed as such, but it does work.

 

Thee design is such that if you are in forward gear and the skeg hits 'bottom' the locking mechanism is overridden and allows the engine to tilt up - it needs quite a 'knock' to lift it and not something you can do when sat in the boat.

 

There is normally a small 'handle' (bent piece of metal) that releases the tilt lock and allows you to lift the engine - each manufacturer has a slightly different system, but it will be there somewhere.

Once tilted you drop down the 'tilt lock' (see picture) to stop the engine falling back down.

 

The system is sometimes called 'trailer-tilt', or 'trailer-lock' as the engine needs to be tilted and locked 'up' for trailering.

 

Image result for outboard engine tilt lock

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Alan de Enfield said:

It is not designed as such, but it does work.

 

Thee design is such that if you are in forward gear and the skeg hits 'bottom' the locking mechanism is overridden and allows the engine to tilt up - it needs quite a 'knock' to lift it and not something you can do when sat in the boat.

 

There is normally a small 'handle' (bent piece of metal) that releases the tilt lock and allows you to lift the engine - each manufacturer has a slightly different system, but it will be there somewhere.

Once tilted you drop down the 'tilt lock' (see picture) to stop the engine falling back down.

 

The system is sometimes called 'trailer-tilt', or 'trailer-lock' as the engine needs to be tilted and locked 'up' for trailering.

 

Image result for outboard engine tilt lock

Yes, I know, but again, not all are the same, Hondas, that I've had are similar but different, with tilt lock lever at the starboard side of the transom clamp and 2 stepped notches so the engine can be lifted halfway for shallow running of fully for maintenance etc. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, PaulJ said:

 Alan dE has explained it beautifully for you..

 

 

No he hasn't, I didn't need it explaining to me, it's the op that doesn't know. I'm pointing out that different makes have different systems, there isn't just one "usual" system. 

The only thing usual is the analworld system, all piling in with alternative facts to confuse the poor OP. The OP needs to google "tilt lock for xxx outboard". Of course if he does that literally he will get outboard porn. 

Eco fans work btw, smartgauge don't, and Cassettes Rule OK. 

  • Greenie 1
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Once the engine (outboard or z drive or whatever) is tilted just be careful when you work on it. Treat it like a tipper lorry - ie don't rely on the tip mechanism to hold it up if you want to work underneath. OK to gain access to remove detritus from prop but otherwise - hands are too precious to lose.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 12/09/2018 at 11:43, cuthound said:

When a steel boat shares locks with a grp one, the rule is "steel in first and out last", as this minimises the chances of the steel boat hitting the grp one when underway and damaging it.

Yes, that's how we rolled, after we'd caught them up.

 

Thanks for the replies and entertainment.

It's not my boat and doubt I'll see it again but I suspect the lever we tried, without success, was the tilt lever. It was certainly on the starboard side near the transom clamp. Perhaps the rope being wound round from the port side was preventing it tilting.

There was very little room around the engine to stand never mind work on it and the extended rudder made it difficult to reach from the tow path. Either way, we eventually freed it and the owner and his mate are probably getting close to Evesham by now.

 

Rob

  • Greenie 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.