Expensive lesson-boatowners READ

[Thad O.]

so I'm out fishing at Pedro this past Saturday and I fire up the motor to move to the next spot and notice a bit of a vibration in the seat coming from the rear end when I put the boat in gear. First thing that I think is that the prop is broken, cracked, or otherwise damaged. Trim up the motor, inspect the prop, it is perfect. Realizing that something is very wrong, I go ahead and drive the boat back towards the ramp to put it on the trailer. Running it easy to cause as little (more) damage as possible to whatever it is that is wrong. Going across the big bay towards the buoys, the motor is making a VERY BAD metal on metal sound that has me instantly seeing dollar signs. Get inside the buoys, shut er down, and troll over to the service marina just to have it checked out. The mechanic jiggles the prop and tells that there is some play in the prop that should not be there, probably lower end problem. Trailer the boat and the mechanic drops the lower end, takes off the prop while telling me that what it COULD be is...fishing line around the prop that has damaged the lower unit seal and either; drained all my oil, or let water in to mix with my oil (either one being very bad!) SURE ENOUGH as he removes the prop, there it is, about 12 ft of what appears to be a greasy braided, maybe mono, fishing line. So...........he keeps my lower unit to open it up and check for the extent of the damage. I receive a phone call soon after informing me that we're looking at about a THOUSAND $$$ in parts, and 700 $$$ for labor!!!!! OUCH. tells me that a new lower unit for my motor ('02 225 Opti) would run $2400. Either way, OUCH. but what can you do??
Moral of the story (and the mechanics suggestion in the future): CARRY A PROP WRENCH AND REMOVE YOUR PROP AFTER USING YOUR BOAT, CHECK FOR TANGLED FISHING LINE.
this is a simple step, one that could save us a lot of $$$. Probably lots of you guys are already aware and do this regularly, but for those of us that don't, let my expensive lesson teach us something.

[Lugnut]

Thad, Good to see you made it out on Sunday even after getting the bad news. Hopefully I will be making alot more Outings this year. See ya, Lugnut

[Hitman]

This should be added to everyone's routine maintenance. It also serves as training for when you might have to do repairs/swaps on the water or boatramp....taking off the prop is pretty easy but can be intimidating at first glance. Better to practice at home as opposed to on the water.


Hitman

[RichThiel]

hmmmmmmm,

Just had that problem with fishing line about a month or two ago.
Caught it in time I thought. At the time I just replace the front seal. One month or so had past, checked the engine while in the water and I kept seeing oil float'in at a certain angle of the engine.

Two weeks ago I pulled the boat out of the water to go to Berryessa and found that the Lower end had some water in it. Fulled the lower end up with oil, took about 8 oz. Following Monday, I wiped that boat down to Inland Marine. Had that fixed, plus other defects. Lost about 8 days.

I know check about 2-3 trips out for line and oil.

Check your engines

Rich Thiel

[Andy Giannini]

Make a habit of checking your prop when doing tiedown straps.

Check prop for dings, or being loose, look inside hub for line or weeds. Too dark in there? Shine your flashlight inside the hub so you can see past the soot. I know it can get sucked in there real tight, but you might see some line sticking up.

.02 A.G.

(Another thing to look for in there is pieces of piston rings! !!)

[Jeff C.]

So what actually caused the damage, water in your LU? How long do you think that water was in there? I'm wondering if checking my LU fluid twice a year would catch the problem in time.

[Basslab]

Really sorry to hear about your problem as I have been through the exact thing a couple years ago. Here is a little tip that can help prevent it from occuring. Since most of our line wrap problems occur while we are trolling "good" areas where you have many other snags and line hanging off docks or brush. If you are in ample depth, put your prop in gear so that when you hit some line it will cut through it instead of wrapping slowly around your prop. It works and can save a few $$$$

[ChuckP]

Thad, Thanks for the post! I just finished checking my prop and found about 10 yards of braid. No damage that I can see. Very useful reminder.

[vinnybass]

Really sorry to hear about your problem as I have been through the exact thing a couple years ago. Here is a little tip that can help prevent it from occuring. Since most of our line wrap problems occur while we are trolling "good" areas where you have many other snags and line hanging off docks or brush. If you are in ample depth, put your prop in gear so that when you hit some line it will cut through it instead of wrapping slowly around your prop. It works and can save a few $$$$

+1, If you keep your L/U in gear while fishing on the TM you'll lessen the chances of picking up a piece of line & spooling it onto your shaft 'cuz your prop won't be turning.

[Hollywood]

Very True Vinny, Great suggestions to the others. You typed the words before I could!

+1, If you keep your L/U in gear while fishing on the TM you'll lessen the chances of picking up a piece of line & spooling it onto your shaft 'cuz your prop won't be turning.[/quote]

[Hollywood]

Very True Vinny, Great suggestions to the others. You typed the words before I could!

+1, If you keep your L/U in gear while fishing on the TM you'll lessen the chances of picking up a piece of line & spooling it onto your shaft 'cuz your prop won't be turning.[/quote]

[bassindon69]

This happend to me and I posted it about three years ago. I don't fish the delta much any more cause I picked up a TON of brade line there then went to San luis and broke down.. That brade is bad stuff on the prop seal it cuts right in. It should be checked every time out if you fish Clear lake or Delta (brade heaven) any where else at least every other trip. This fix is not cheap on any motor small or big.

Sorry Thad.
I will take ya fishing if ya need a fix

Don.

[Thad O.]

Parts are on order and I should be back out by the long Christmas vacation (I get 10 days off of work in a row!!) Turns out the mechanic says that a "pinion nut" came loose and got tangled up in all the gears and bearings causing major damage. The mechanic also found water in the lower unit as well, most likely from the fishing line, which he stated can also lead to similar problems due to the lack of lubrication.
All in all, an expensive lesson! But all the posts are very good, and very EASY ways that we can keep our outboards out of the shop and our money in our wallets. Thanks for all the good tips. I'll be following them all after this.
And Don, I'll take a swimbait lesson from you anytime bud. just got a new rig to throw em on so I'm ready! tortega@parker.com

[Lugnut]

Sorry Thad, But Don is not allowed to fish with anyone in the club.....unless it's me.......lol

[Triton Mike]

IF you think that is bad try blowing a block!! Try 3 times your price LOL. Been there got the freakin T shirt.

T Mike

[Phil]

THAD-O; SORRY TO HEAR. THIS IS WHY WE STRESS TO EVERYONE, SAVE YOUR LINE IF YOU NEED TO CUT IT OR CHANGE IT AT OR ON THE LAKE, BRING IT TO US, THE OLD JUNK LINE, WE WILL GET RID OF IT FOR YOU HERE AT JIGS TACKLE. JUST TOSS IT IN THE OLD USED LINE BUCKET HERE...

WE ALSO WILL DISPOSE OF YOUR OLD PLASTIC BAITS....

RECYCLE !!!!!


JIGS