Omc Sterndrive

[gooders]

I have a 3.0L 1989 Cobra with an OMC Sterndrive.My boat is currently moored in the local estuary.The only problem is that the mooring dries at low tide.This leaves my boat on the sand with the outleg (raised) sitting in the sand.The sand itself is soft and wet.Someone told that due to it being sat on the sand the bearings etc will get damaged. So far everything seems ok and I have had no problems.Any opinions.?

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: Omc Sterndrive

Howdy,

If the vertical drive is raised all the way and is not under the strain of holding the back of the boat up it shouldn't hurt it.

You would want to see if it is still down far enough (when all the way up) to put a strain on the trim cyls or the rest of the gimbal when sitting in the sand.

If the drive is in the sand as it starts to float, it will get banged around and possibly put undue strain on the steering components whenever the boat starts floating with waves or wind moving it around...

That wouldn't be good for it. I am a little different. I wouldn't store any boat in the water if I could help it.....salt or fresh....I realize that some people just have to do it. Salt water just turns boats into junk eventually. I would NEVER buy a boat that was stored (or even used) in salt water......BUT that's just me!

As my old man used to say......let your conscience be your guide!

Cheers

 

[gooders]

Re: Omc Sterndrive

Thankfully , from what I can see the drive is not supporting the rest of the boat, as at low tide I can see that the leg does not sink too far into the sand. I take your point on the drive being banged about by any waves whenthe boat begins to float. Again, thankfully the estauary is sheltered and the waves are very gentle at the worst of times. Oh how I wish I could use her in fresh water, I know the salt does not do boats much good , I only moor her from March to October.But there is one other thing, at low speed the steering wheel is really stiff.Again I was told this is normal? Not so sure though.Any suggestions.

 

[Coors]

Re: Omc Sterndrive

you have power steering? If so , check that, and the belt.

 

[Lou C]

Re: Omc Sterndrive

I have had a shallow mooring spot (salt water) in past years (3-4 feet at low tide) and the only way to deal with it is to keep the drive trimmed all the way up. It is not optimal, because the bellows is stretched up and the trim rams can get growth on them. But I did it with minimal ill effects over 3 seasons or so. This season I purposely got the boat in early to get a good spot that's about 10 feet deep at low tide (17 feet deep at high). This is much better because I can keep the drive down and it makes coming in at close to low tide much easier.

Rick, you would be suprised to see how well a I/O, one that is maintained well, can stand up to salt water. I have a 20 year old Cobra and it's been in salt for at least the past 7-8 seasons. Not much corrosion because it's not in a marina, just a mooring but salt water for sure. If you can keep the fouling down to a reasonable level, it's really not that bad. If I had to trailer a boat every time I wanted to use it I would not bother and I'd get a classic muscle car instead!
As it is, I drive down to the beach (5 minutes) walk over to my dinghy, dump it in the water, paddle out and I'm out inthe channel in 10 min. So I deal with the salt issues. OMC/Bomb Triple Guard Grease is your friend! Use it and Boeshield or Corrosion X liberally.