Idiots with boats

[Denny]

That is how I looked and felt when my Mercruiser shift and throttle assembly jammed up on me. I needed 2 hands to pull it out of forward, and when I did, it jumped into reverse with excessive throttle, and then I had to hit it with the heel of my hand to get it out of reverse, when I did, then it would jump back into forward again with excessive throttle again. After about 3-4 times if this, I managed to get it next to the dock without landing on the launch ramp , or ramming the dock.
I pulled the unit out, took it all a part cleaned it and greased it, checked all of the cablels, and they were all good. Put it all back together, ran her 2-3 more times, but it just did not feel the same, then it let go again. So I guess 40 yrs and going on 2,000 hrs later I had (gotten my money's worth) and bought a new one.
We had been out all day fishing and change spots 4-5 times, with a hick-up, until approaching the dock to take her out.
Lesson learned, think of the worst possible thing that could happen, and be ready for it, and have the knowledge and the ability to handle it.
Also having a little luck on your side helps too.

 

[SST]

My Alpha One has given me a few scary moments. Usually when entering the slip. My Alpha One does not like in any way continuous rapid shifter movement from any position when trying to enter a slip thus rendering it useless. Sometimes it gets locked up going forward or reverse. Never seems to get stuck in neutral though. There have been several times over the years when I've had to shut off the engine while still in gear. That isn't fun.

The last slip I was in, 30ft, and the current slip, 24ft with a skinny neighbor, has allowed me to enter my slip without having to monkey with the shifter. Plus, I keep just enough speed so that I can put the drive into neutral and allow the momentum to carry the boat into the slip without having to shift more than once or twice. There have been a couple of times when I coast into the slip and not have to use the shifter at all. I just coasted to a stop, get out and tie it up. But that is pretty rare. Plus, doing it this way eliminates the awful yawing caused by the prop therefore the boat will do what I want it to do, straight, left or right.

 

[Denny]

I replaced mine with what they call the second generation, which is probably like the one you have, being that you are a couple years newer than mine. There are three slots that a ball bearing falls into when you shift from neutral to forward and reverse. When you feel the bind, it is when that ball bearing gets jammed in one of those slots. What I found out is, that slot wears and gets wider and the ball bearing falls deeper into the slot. So be careful and be aware, your girl is getting older and it could jam at the worst moment. The unit was $550.00 , I did manage to save some money though by putting it in myself.