So who knows boat motors?

[LazyBkpr]

  I attempted to register on three sites to ask this question of the boaters there...   God what a royal PITA to try to register at some forums...  Finally managed it on one forum, and got sent a message it would take one to three days for a MOD to accept and approve my registration...   Never mind....

   SO....   I have been fishing from boats most of my life..   My Pontoon (River Rat) was in dire need of a new motor... I looked at a dozen or so, from 40 HP to 80 HP.... Drove down into MO to look at a 50HP Evinrude a dealer had... and drove home with a brand spanking new Suzuki four stroke 50HP...   





   It is/was (should it be?) my intention to disconnect the trim and tilt, so when, not if, I hit a log it doesnt tear my transom out..  The dealer told me the hydraulics would bypass and the motor would kick up....     
   Knowing something of hydraulics, having worked on hydraulic systems all my life, I have to wonder just how easily the motor will kick up?  To my way of thinking, it will hit a LOT harder than a motor that will kick up freely like all my motors of the past have done....
   Obviously, the goal while running down the rivers is to MISS logs, but inevitably, there will be one that you do not see, or is down under the surface JUST far enough that you dont see the signs its there, and BAM...   motor kicks up, you drop the throttle, and accelerate on the other side/keep right on going... My fear with this motor, is that when I do eventually catch that log, and it WILL happen, no matter how hard I try not to hit anything, that I will be repairing both transom AND lower unit on a brand new motor...
    So who has experience with hitting stuff with a trim/tilt style motor?

[LazyBkpr]

   River Rat, in its prime, fueled up and waiting to hit the river;

   

    This was originally a 24+ foot long pontoon. I cut the pontoons down to 18 feet, and shortened the deck to 14 feet.   Grille for cooking, live well for bait, Bimini top if the sun is hot or if it gets drizzly, two deep cycle batteries, and BRIGHT led lights for running the rivers at night.   The entire primary purpose is to run bank lines.. so the live well is up front, one person checks/baits lines and can then sit on the live well lids while we run to the next line. Cig lighter socket for the spot light, etc.    No need for a base camp anymore.  No more scrambling up muddy banks or trying to sleep on a sand bar...   Planning the first week long event already... just have to get past bee season first!
   And thanks for any insight as to how exactly the trim and tilt bypasses.
   Scott

[iddee]

i don't know about tilt/trim, but I do know about free dangling, which I ""used to"" do. Until I needed to reverse quickly in an emergency.  That was the last time I went out without having the motor locked down.

[LazyBkpr]

I agree, on my 25 I had a bungee attached to each side of the motor so I could back up off the bank after checking a line. Motor would "bounce" against the bungees but it would back up without coming out of the water.. when i did hit a log the bungees would stretch and let the motor go over without tearing the transom out of the boat, or the lower unit off the motor.. the 25 has seen its share of logs, but that system let me run it 14? or so years, and it still runs fine.. going to put it back on the tracker and sell it to help pay for the new zuki.

[iddee]

I didn't have the bungees.If the other boat hadn't reversed, there would have been a wreck. The only log I have hit bent the prop, in reverse. 30 dollars is a lot cheaper than the other man's boat, plus mine.

[LazyBkpr]

Well, Mario, ( ) I dont have a boat that would make you grin as far as speed goes either. I would be amazed if it will do 20.. will have to check it with the GPS next time I go out.

[iddee]

I could outrun Mario with a bicycle. Maybe I'll take you for a real ride one day.      

[Ray4852]

Your boat dealer gave you the right answer. I have power trim on my 115 mercury. It comes in handy when the lake is ruff. I can control my speed and plane with it. It makes no since to disconnect it. 45 years of boating I have only hit one twig in the water. I do a lot of night fishing too. Floating logs can be a problem. I see a lot of them after a heavy rain in the spring. The ones floating on top are easy to see. You cant see the ones floating under the water, so what do you do when you see conditions like this. Slow down and use common sense. No matter how hard you hit one. You could do damage to your boat or lower unit. I have towed people off the lake with a lower unit ripped off. Best advice I can give you. Stay off the river when logs are floating down the river. Its mostly a seasonal problem due to spring conditions caused from heavy rain and wind. If you carry boat insurance. Your insurance should cover the damage. I figure for your motor. A new lower unit would cost about 6 grand for your motor. You could break your transom too. Any river you boat in can be dangerous. Unpredictable water to boat in from changing water depth or floating stuff. 

[Lburou]

Well, Mario, ( ) I dont have a boat that would make you grin as far as speed goes either. I would be amazed if it will do 20.. will have to check it with the GPS next time I go out.

Your mention of 'grinning' jogged a memory for me.  If you don't mind my injecting here, we had a boat that would make you grin when we lived in Alaska.  The guy I bought it from said it would go 50 mph, I souped it up and put a bigger prop on it, it would go at least 50 mph! 

I don't have a picture I can post, but it was a 16.5 X 8 airboat.  It had a 300hp V-8 with an 80 inch prop.  That boat would make you grin!!  It was like driving a race car on the water, with endless turns -it was usually 8 miles down river to fish for salmon.  It would do a 180 degree turn in about 25 feet but it was a bit scary.  It would fly...Once, crossing a beaver dam, I went airborne and landed on a stump.  Didn't feel smart that day, but the balsa between the two layers of aluminum absorbed the impact and we were in our way again soon as my teenage son recommended some remedial operator training. 

Our whole family  grins when we remember that boat.   

[Lburou]

Sorry, was so excited with the memories, it got posted twice. 

[Ray4852]

fast boat. you would blow me away.

[LazyBkpr]

Your boat dealer gave you the right answer. I have power trim on my 115 mercury. It comes in handy when the lake is ruff. I can control my speed and plane with it. It makes no since to disconnect it. 45 years of boating I have only hit one twig in the water. I do a lot of night fishing too. Floating logs can be a problem. I see a lot of them after a heavy rain in the spring. The ones floating on top are easy to see. You cant see the ones floating under the water, so what do you do when you see conditions like this. Slow down and use common sense. No matter how hard you hit one. You could do damage to your boat or lower unit. I have towed people off the lake with a lower unit ripped off. Best advice I can give you. Stay off the river when logs are floating down the river. Its mostly a seasonal problem due to spring conditions caused from heavy rain and wind. If you carry boat insurance. Your insurance should cover the damage. I figure for your motor. A new lower unit would cost about 6 grand for your motor. You could break your transom too. Any river you boat in can be dangerous. Unpredictable water to boat in from changing water depth or floating stuff.

   I could care less about the floating logs, or those "floating" under the surface, its the ones stuck in the mud and only sticking up far enough to catch the motor, without leaving a sign on the surface of their presence.  I have been running the river since I was 12 with an old John boat and a 1960 6 hp Merc. I have run lakes, and lived in Maine for 17 years and did a lot of ocean fishing with a Glasstron that had an inboard 350 with a Merc outdrive. Lakes and ocean I can generally avoid obstacles, but in the river, it doesnt matter how good you are, you WILL hit something eventually. Which is why I do not run big hp. I want to get up and down the river at a fair speed, without going fast enough to destroy boat or motor..  My 25hp Tracker engine has hit its fair share of snags in the last 14 years, but because it kicks up, it still runs like it did the day I bought it, I would like this zuke to to run just as long. 
   Having no experience with the newer motors or trim and tilt on these newer motors, I don't know what it can and cant do..   I sent a mail to suzuki and the reply was condescending and uninformative, so just trying different routes.

[apisbees]

Scott Have you considers putting in a 2nd transom that is hinged on the top of the first. this would allow the motor to tip if it hits something solid. You could install a solenoid lock pin if you needed to lock the motor down when in reverse.  This would allow you to keep the trim and tilt.
Just an Idea that might work for you

[LazyBkpr]

Scott Have you considers putting in a 2nd transom that is hinged on the top of the first. this would allow the motor to tip if it hits something solid. You could install a solenoid lock pin if you needed to lock the motor down when in reverse.  This would allow you to keep the trim and tilt.
Just an Idea that might work for you

    No I had not considered that. excellent idea!  Is that something that can be purchased or must be home crafted?

[apisbees]

I think it would have to be built. Then Patent it and market it or sell to river boat manufacturing. Just thought of it as a solution when reading your last post

its the ones stuck in the mud and only sticking up far enough to catch the motor

thinking back to Iddees post

I didn't have the bungees.If the other boat hadn't reversed, there would have been a wreck. The only log I have hit bent the prop, in reverse. 30 dollars is a lot cheaper than the other man's boat, plus mine.

With Rays comment

I have power trim on my 115 mercury. It comes in handy when the lake is ruff. I can control my speed and plane with it. It makes no since to disconnect it.

I thought first you could have a manual lock for when reversing then thought why not use a solenoid and have the lock control by the throttle. This would leave the tilt and trim functions in place. You could also incorporate some sort of shock absorber system to allow movement,but stop any bouncing.  As far as design you are on your own.

[Ray4852]

Power trim comes  standard with the bigger motors only. I think from 50 hp up to 300 hp. Small motors from 3 hp up to 40 don’t have it. I think the 40 is optional. Its to hard to raise a motor up or down by hand. These 4 strokes are to heavy to lift by hand. Once you have power trim you will never want to be without. You have total control of your motor in ruff water and running in very shallow water. When you travel in ruff water you tilt the motor up a little and your bow will lift up. run in shallow water you can raise your motor too to give the motor more clearance from hitting the bottom of lake.  if you hit something hard your motor will shut down at a high speed. Low speed you will notice you hit something like Small twigs or soft plastic or thick weeds. Logs are bad. You could have motor damage or have a hole in your boat. Only time I saw logs sticking up out of water was in a reservoir. Most reservoirs control water level during the season. Boaters have to be on the lookout for objects sticking up out of water. Take a boater safety training course. They will teach you everything about boater safety.

[Lburou]

Is a jet drive popular in your area?  That sounds like something to consider. 

[Mikey N.C.]

Lazybkpr, if you trim the motor up just a little bit say 2-3", if it has trim button on the side of the motor use it if not use on remote ( handle control) if you'll look on the right or left side of transom where motor bolts there will be a big hole with a straight slot ( med. screwdriver) turn it counter clockwise motor should come down by it's self( watch your fingers) this is a manual release, you should be able to grab the skag and move motor up and down ,you still have fluid on both sides of cylinder but by passes , your backing out a spool valve, hope this helps.

[LazyBkpr]

I found the bypass you mentioned, thank you!!
   I raised the motor up ato have a look at the way it is connected with a pin that has a couple snap rings.  Pull the snap rings and pin and it reveals a cylinder that threads onto the lift cylinder.  I have a couple pieces of stainless, so I believe I am about to chuck it up into my lathe and reproduce that knuckle/cylinder the pin goes through, thread it to fit the lift cylinder, and cut the top half of it off, and bevel the edges and mount two pieces of spring steel to it...   so I can still use the trim/tilt and reverse, but if I hit something it will unclip itself through the two pieces of spring steel..    Thats the plan at this point I think...   Too many hives need built yet to etch those plans in stone.

[Mikey N.C.]

Not  understanding the reverse situation, less ya have to get out of a situation that  ya got in,  backing is the most dangerous.