Engine in gear while towing ?
I followed a 5m+ stacer down the freeway yesterday and it must have had about a 3" pitch prop it was spinning that fast.
(I had a double-take as it looked like it was running)
It got me thinking, and I'm bored as shit in this crap weather at home so I thought I'd throw it out there to see what others think.
I've always knocked the engine into gear when towing, mainly just out of preference to stop the prop spinning its tits off.
I've yarned about it over the years with a number of people, some are against it just in case something hits it while travelling
- fair point, but chances are if anything hits in that area when towing there'll be a fair few other things to worry about.
Others go for the in-gear option to prevent unecessary wear. (I figured any load on bearings / gears would be bugger all so there'd be no heat to be cooled by water, so probably also dubious merit for this reason).
Probably neither are an issue if the leg is well rasied out of the wind behind the transom, but I try and tow with the leg lowered a bit to reduce transom strain (maybe I should get a transom saver thingy)
squidder
Posts: 457
Date Joined: 03/09/10
Personally
I keep mine in gear whilst travelling in case any grit gets in the small opening between the prop and housing.
I also tape all the openings and cover up when travelling on dirt tracks.
black gen
Posts: 762
Date Joined: 13/04/11
just buy an outboard cover
just buy an outboard cover and solve all your problems
Ebbie
Posts: 5
Date Joined: 14/08/11
Just an observation
I work in an industry where I monitor bearings on industrial machines. During transport it is recommended to tie down the shaft to prevent brinneling of the bearings. Locking it in gear is not enough to prevent the movement in the bearings which wear the rollers into the raceways therefore tying the prop so there is no movement in the shaft is recommended.
Alternatively, and my preference, is to leave the prop free to move so that there is no stationary movement of the rollers on the raceways and thus no brinneling. This method is also used when transporting large machines by means of an small electric motor to keep the shaft turning while the truck hits every pothole along the way.
Just my thoughts.
Dizzy
Posts: 753
Date Joined: 21/02/11
Good point mate - I don't
Good point mate - I don't know why I didn't think of that myself.
Long ago when I was studying and needed some income I drove & loaded trucks for a mining company's Perth depot - and there were actually a few big pre-assembled plant items that they trucked up with small gensets hooked up to electric motors so the big shafts would slowly rotate for the long haul north.
Same principle.
I just chucked the question out there in a moment of boredom with no intent to change my ways, but I might just duct tape the prop / casing join from now on..... or get a cover as blackgen suggested :)