Dock line fouling Bravo 3 drives


rclementtx

rclementtx

Member
I'm casting about looking for experience on the board on my latest SNAFU. I won't bore you with how this happened, but today I fouled my port Bravo 3 props with a 3/8" twisted (vs. braided) mooring line. First off, everything here happened at idle speed as I was moving my boat down 3 slips at my marina after a bad storm here damaged my 14,000 pound lift.

When I first noticed the problem, my Port engine stalled at idle as I was approaching the new slip. I was able to shift to neutral with no problem without realizing that I had a line in my props. I restarted the engine, put it in reverse again and got an immediate stall again but this time the shifter wouldn't push forward out of reverse. And no amount of modest pressure would move it.

I have a diver lined up to come clear the props but is there a chance that I've wiped my cone clutch since I can't move the shifter at all?

Any suggestions / input from anyone who's done the same thing would be most welcome.
 
I mean it's always a chanve.... but remember the props if stuck in gear have to be turned manually sometimes to get back in neutral so once you have the lines cleared you might have to spin the props by hand and put the shifter in neutral.

I used to raise my drives and do it from within the boat versus having to have a diver

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Thanks TooFast ... I've had other resource suggest the same thing (manually spin ... perhaps force with a solid kick?) the props while working the shifter. My problem is that I can't reach my props even in trailer up position thanks to my extended swim platform that means the drives are tucked way back. And right now the water at the marina is in the 40s. Feels a bit of a shock for my 70 year old body to slip down the swim platform ladder!
 
The Bravo drives need a bit of shaft movement in order to shift, which it does not have right now. I think once the line is cleared from the props, the shifting will be fine.
 
I agree with what has been said already. The props may have to be removed but once the line is cleared you should be OK.

Last summer a friend with a brand new 370 SS picked up an old crab pot traversing shallow water entering a marina (locals called them ghost pots) and had the same situation with the drive locked in forward. After two hours of cutting and snipping the pot away and removing the props (luckily he had prop wrenches onboard) everything was fine.
 
Many thanks everyone. All of you that reacted pretty much said the same thing. Plus my mechanic that rebuilt my stbd drive after I had a warranty failure in the cone clutch mimics your advice. Hoping prop removal isn't in the cards since I don't own the wrenches. Now all I have to do is wait for a day where the winds are less than 30MHP on the lake to try my recovery efforts. Will advise on status in a week or so.
 
Normally if the shifter is stuck in gear when motor dies, key is left OFF, then its easy enough to jump across the slave solenoid. When jumping across the slave the shifter is being pushed toward neutral. When the start engages the shifter moves to neutral and all is good.

As others mentioned, with the line holding the props this may require the line and/or props be removed so the prop shaft can turn enough to move. Engaging the starter with the line on may damage something. The rear nut is 1 1/2 and both nuts can be removed with a pipe wrench and 2x4 if regular tools are not available
 
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UPDATE ... weather was calm enough that I was able to get the boat back onto my lift today to find the port drive/prop-set nicely entangled with the offending mooring line. The good thing is that the line never separated and never entangled threads between the two props or the forward prop/drive housing. Once cut free, the props were spinnable by hand and I was able to shift the shifter into neutral. A test run in the lake verified that all seems to be back to normal.

I've now learned that with Bravo 3 drives, if the engine gets shut down (or stalls) while in gear, it may take a little external encouragement on the props to get the shifter back into neutral.

My thanks for all that contributed to this relatively painless recovery.
 
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