being towed back in

[Nolaner]

Re: being towed back in

Finally joined the club? I think I was born a member, when I was a teenager my parents got an old beater boat with a 65hp on it that had definitely seen better days. We'd go out and tube/ski whatever until I wouldn't start any more, then either swim it back or wait until we saw some neighbors (if we knew they were out) and catch a tow with them.

Before anyone gives me a hard time, our lake is a tiny inland lake in MI and we'd do it on weekdays when the only other boats, if there were any, were fishermen or canoers, so swimming the boat in wasn't getting in anyone's way.

 

[Micahhaase]

Re: being towed back in

Hell I joined that club back when I was in the Navy. Me and a buddy of mine off the sub went out to a lake in maine, that we had been to several times before. We was in my 1990 bass tracker with a 150 black max. We set out started fishing and about 30 minutes tried to crank the motor over. The ignition didnt even click, so i pulled up the back covers and water was over the batteries! Needless to say i was a yelling fool and luckily someone was coming by and pulled me to the dock which luckily was only about 1/3 mile away. Got the boat on the trailer by cranking it on and after all the water drained out of the boat a good 30-45 minutes worth i found the problem the livewell hose had fallen off and the water was just spewing in. If I hadnt got towed in that quick probably would have deep sixed it out there.

 

[skargo]

Re: being towed back in

Couldn't imagine pull starting a v8. Back when my dad had a '90 Bayliner with a 90hp 3 cyl force engine it had the emergency pull start cord. We tried it out once (when the engine was actually running). The engine won, couldn't even get one full rotation out of it.

How does that work, pull starting an engine that is already running?

 

[cheryl199]

Re: being towed back in

Well I'm only a half member. Out on the lake we were riding having a good time when my son (age 2 at the time and now 16) was on my fathers lap as he was driving and the boat just stopped working. Out of gas? No lots of that. Take the cover off can't see anything wrong. Try pulling and thats not working at all. Well another boat asked if we need a tow? Well as we are being towed in got to thinking, could he have pulled the safety? Yep he did. Well we didn't want to look like a fool so we told them just for the hell of it tried it again and it worked:redface: Did try to pay the guy for his trouble and also tried to save face.

 

[cjac2879]

Re: being towed back in

Joined it my first time out in my first boat last yr.. Dirty carbs led to flooding, led to a tow..

Thought we fixed it, next time out, got 3 miles out, problem came back.. Biggest problem that day was we went on a quiet day so we wouldnt look like fools when it didnt work.... Bad part was it took 2 hrs or paddling before someone came across us to tow us back.

 

[H20Rat]

Re: being towed back in

pull starting... here is a little trick that might save your bacon, it has helped me at least once! So lets say you have a dead battery, it tried to start the motor once and now does nothing... Take the cowl off the motor and turn the flywheel over BACKWARDS by hand until it is firmly against compression. Try the key again, it probably will start!

By setting the engine up so the starter can get a run against the compression stroke, it will take a lot less current and will let you start an engine on an otherwise 'dead' battery. This works best on 1-3 cylinder motors. Still works some on inline 4's. On bigger motors it might help a little bit. (yes, you can even spin over a v8 350 with a socket wrench, best not to turn a 4 stroke over backwards, just go through a compression stroke and then stop.)

 

[mxfever]

Re: being towed back in

I joined the club earlier this year on our pontoon. Went to leave our fishing spot and the engine fired but died right away. All it would do was crank. Luckily a friendly boater was out on his porch drinking his morning coffee and heard our desperate cranking sessions. He came out and pulled us back to our dock on the other side of the lake. Turned out to be a power pack. About mid summer the family was at the sand bar and my boy that's 16 months old was playing with the controls. Tried to start to leave and it would just crank. I was bent because the new power pack had only been on for a couple of weeks and we had the same symptoms. Turns out when my boy was playing he somehow wiggled the ignition kill wire loose on the switch. He is no longer allowed to play with the controls and I keep a 40lbs thrust trolling motor on the pontoon for a back up. Getting stranded with 16 month old twins sucks!

 

[Beaver38034]

Re: being towed back in

Bought a boat last Saturday and towed that sucker in twice on Sunday. Screw it, figured that I would get all the negative stuff out on first trip. POS Mercury 3000 Classic to blame!!! STRONG motor + bad controls=dead in water...

 

[kellmike626]

Re: being towed back in

I've been towed in twice. Once was because I ran out of gas :redface:
The other time my motor wouldn't start for the longest time, so a boater nearby towed me in. Luckily, that boat is gone, and I have a better running one that pretty much starts on a dime.

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: being towed back in

You should have brought The Governator with you - he would have ripped the engine out of the hull, swum to shore with it, carried it to a shop to be fixed and then brought it back!



???

 

[antique fisherman]

Re: being towed back in

I carried my boat to the lake a couple of months ago ( first time in the water this year). The impeller separated into many pieces and the engine ran hot enough to shut down. I was alone paddling a 16ft tri-hull bow rider when two fishemen saw me and towed me in (about 3/4 mile ). They even helped me get it on my trailer (Don't say that all good boaters are gone).
I replaced the impeller and the motor seemed to be OK. It was pumping like crazy.
I carried it out the following week, alone again. I ran it about 1/2 hour in the cove and decided that it was OK. Then I went about three miles up the main channel when all of a sudden I lost about 2/3 of the power. I had to nurse it back to the landing at 3 miles per hour.
When I checked , I had a blown head gasket (had 148 comp. on one cylinder and zero on the other. I replaced the gasket and now have 148 and 150 on the other cylinder. I plan to take it out again next week. Please wish me luck -- I don't want to be towed again.
1966 50hp Chrysler