My boat hit the sand/small rock accidently

[Minnesocold]

Hi guys,

Today I was at Prior Lake with my boat. When I was running slow, my boat accidently hit the sand/small rock(1-4 inches rocks), and I shut the engine off right away. After my boat moved away from that shallow area, I was able to start the engine just fine but the propeller doesn't spin. Plus while the engine still running, I also shifted to forward/reverse but the propeller just doesn't spin. Any ideas what was happened on my motor ? Thanks.

[boatfixer]

Can you tell us what year and horsepower? Depending on what engine you have, it could be a shear pin, spun prop hub, broken pinion gear or drive shaft, etc...

[marine_man]

Sounds like a problem in the lower unit - either a complete failure or a loose connection to the shift rod.

Before I would take it in, I would pull the hood off and verify that when you shift the motor on the controls that the connection that the shift cable connects to works.

I'd also recruit someone to run the shifter while you rotate the prop by hand... can you hear anything, or does it engage?

marine_man

[jeffreyd]

I hope your suggestion marine man is to do that with the motor off!.. Could end up having a new nick name if it engages while the engine is on. Nubs or two fingers does not sound that good to me.

[marine_man]

Sorry... to be absolutely clear, do the last test with the motor off....

marine_man

[Minnesocold]

boatfixer,

it's 25hp evinrude 74'.

marine_man,

I will give it a try

[Northlander]

Hopefully you just spun a hub.

[Jackpine Rob]

Sounds like a shear pin. Remove the cotter key and pull the prop off.You probably have 2 or 3 pieces of shear pin that will fall out. You simply slip the shear pin into the hole in the prop shaft, carefully replace the prop and secure with the cotter pin. Sometimes a piece of the pin is stuck in the shaft, but I've never had a problem tapping that part out.

That was around the era slip-clutches started showing up, but I recall changing out the shear pins on OMC through about 1976.

With a shear pin motor, you should always have a couple of spares and an extra cotter pin taped to the handle of the motor.

[marine_man]

On that size motor, yes, it most certainly (and likely) is a shear pin.

Good Luck!

marine_man

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

Lucky break if it's just a shear pin. That is what they are made to do.

Should always carry spares

[jeffreyd]

sorry marine man could not resist the comment/joke about doing it with the motor off. You and i both know of folks that would consider doing it while running and end up with the tips of a couple digits flying off.

[marine_man]

But then how would they type their response?

marine_man

[Minnesocold]

thanks all

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

But then how would they type their response?

marine_man

With the new prosthetic ones they get from the court settlement

[jeffreyd]

well with modern technology and no digits, one could use speech writing i guess.

[broken_line]

its most likely a spun hub because that year of jhonsons have a splined shaft so the shear pin would do nothing but hold it on..

[Phred52]

Wish-I-were and Marine man, Ya, maybe so, but their comments would be cut short, none the less Phred52

[marine_man]

its most likely a spun hub because that year of jhonsons have a splined shaft so the shear pin would do nothing but hold it on..

My exploded views show a shear pin - regardless, check for a spun hub or a sheared shear pin.

marine_man

[Minnesocold]

I've found out that my shear pin was broken. I bought a new one (copper), replaced it and it was broken again after couple hours of testing on the lake, this time I did not hit any rocks or weeds. I think I'm going to buy a stainless steel this time instead. Thanks a lot for your helps.

[leech~~]

I think they are Brass, and putting a harder one in may just cause more damage issues else where in the lower unit? You may want to check that twice with the Mfg.

[Jackpine Rob]

Not all shear pins are created equal. You definitely want those suckers to break when they need to - but breaking just because it is under normal load is not good.... If you were to hit a rock or something without a functioning shear pin, you'll probably snap the shaft or something equally awful.

Just a little "emergency tip" for you. If you don't have an extra shear pin and are stuck miles from home/landing, rearrange the pieces of the busted shear pin (the center section is different length than the two ends) and put them back in carefully. It does work - at least for a while.

[boatfixer]

Make sure there is no slack when you re-install the nut on the end of the shaft.