12 hp Gale Buccaneer tiller no power when in gear

gillzilla85

Recruit
Joined
Jun 26, 2011
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2
I have a Gale Buccaneer 12 hp outboard motor tiller on a small fishing boat that has a problem getting up to speed. in idle the throttle has to be wide open for it to run though the motor doesn't sound like its reving high enough. When I put it in gear I can turn the throttle a little bit more but the boat goes very slow, again the motor doesn't sound like its running fast enough. I can feel the motor wanting to grip the water and go every now and then (like a hiccup) but it doesn't go past a slow walk. I checked the prop and the shear pin is intact. Don't know what to do. I have already checked the spark on the spark plugs and cleaned the carb. Now what? could my fuel/oil ratio be off? could it be stuck in idle somehow?
 

Daddypleo

Seaman
Joined
Jun 26, 2011
Messages
70
Re: 12 hp Gale Buccaneer tiller no power when in gear

I had this same problem with mine when I bought it. I found out that it was running too rich so I turned the knob on the front all the way down to lean as far as it would go then opened it back up 1 1/2 turns. It ran better from there.
 

F_R

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Jul 7, 2006
Messages
28,195
Re: 12 hp Gale Buccaneer tiller no power when in gear

That question gets asked almost every day, and the answer is still it most likely is running on one cylinder. When the other one kicks in, you get that short burst.

Remove and ground one spark plug wire, and see how it runs then. Then do the same with the other one. Chances are it won't run at all with one grounded---that is the good one. If that is what happens, you need to pull the flywheel to see what's wrong in there. Cracked coils are a high probablity. You need a 3-bolt puller to get the flywheel off and a torque wrench to put it back on at 40-45 foot pounds torque. Do not ignore.

BTW, beginning high speed knob is 3/4 turn open. Adjust from there after you get it running, on a boat, on the lake (on both cylinders).
 

gillzilla85

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Jun 26, 2011
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Re: 12 hp Gale Buccaneer tiller no power when in gear

Thanks for all the responses guys. Im gonna try all u guys said and post back! What knob did you turn the top or the bottom and in what direction?
 

Bamaman1

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
May 15, 2011
Messages
1,895
Re: 12 hp Gale Buccaneer tiller no power when in gear

Wow. To think that it's causing problems after only 55 years in service.

That's great. I'm just glad there are people on here that can point you in the right direction.
 

F_R

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Jul 7, 2006
Messages
28,195
Re: 12 hp Gale Buccaneer tiller no power when in gear

Thanks for all the responses guys. Im gonna try all u guys said and post back! What knob did you turn the top or the bottom and in what direction?

The top one is idle mixture, the bottom is high speed mixture. It isn't rocket science. They are close enough to get it running, so now all you have to do is set them where it runs the best at high speed first, then idle. Generally, you would turn it to the right till it starts to falter, then turn it back to the left till it recovers (Unless it is already too far to the right). Once you have found the sweet spots, forget they are there.
 
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