Reverse for Brakes?

[scatgo]

Anyone ever try to put there boat in revers to try to make a fast stop?

 

[harringtondav]

I have with my stern drive Alpha II. It's a bit hard on the dog clutch, shift cables, etc. Most O/B motors use the same F/R dog clutch system. Also a small O/B w/o trim/tilt cylinders may buck up out of the water.

I wouldn't make it a practice unless you need to make an emergency stop. The prop has a lot of free wheel inertia from the boat's movement thru the water. Shifting to rev could cause excessive clash on the clutch's teeth.

 

[racerone]

It is NOT a good idea.----I have done a lot of sailing on 30 to 40' boats.----When 15 of them are heading ( at 6 knots ) to a short start line and 12,000 lbs to 20,000 lbs each , there is no room for error.-----It can get hectic and noisy.-----They do not have brakes.-------You have to be prepared and know the rules.----So on a small powerboat you slow down EARLY when trouble looks like it is developing.

 

[ahicks]

It works, until it doesn't. That's a terrible plan for slowing or stopping unless you are at a dead slow speed, as you might be when docking or loading/unloading at a boat landing. Do NOT come into a dock too quickly, planning on hitting reverse to slow/stop. EVERYONE is going to hear your boat hit the break wall one of these days if you do.

 

[jakedaawg]

Simple rule when boating: Never approach anything at a speed greater than which you wish to hit it...

 

[gm280]

There's times when reverse can be your friend. Like something cropping up you weren't prepared for and need to either stop or actually move backwards. Also, if wind is pushing the boat too fast to dock or load. So while you don't want to slam it into reverse at a good rate of speed, there are time you have to use reverse to control the boat. Just be smart about it and at idle speeds if possible. JMHO

 

[F_R]

Have I ever used it for brakes? You betcha. Did it work, well sorta. See, I was flying down the river with 3 girls in the boat, possibly showing off a bit(??). Went around a curve and, lo and behold, there was a boat under the bridge, coming toward me. I yanked the throttle back and made an instant shift to reverse and gave it throttle in reverse. Instant brakes, right? wrong. The reverse thrust over powered the tilt lockdown and the motor tilted up out of the water. Now, no brakes and no steerage either. Shortened up the boat about 3 inches when it hit the concrete piling.

 

[scatgo]

There's times when reverse can be your friend. Like something cropping up you weren't prepared for and need to either stop or actually move backwards. Also, if wind is pushing the boat too fast to dock or load. So while you don't want to slam it into reverse at a good rate of speed, there are time you have to use reverse to control the boat. Just be smart about it and at idle speeds if possible. JMHO

Thanks. That was my plan. Will practice some to see how it works out and of course try not to forget to use the reverse lock. LOL

 

[Scott Danforth]

Thanks. That was my plan. Will practice some to see how it works out and of course try not to forget to use the reverse lock. LOL

you obviously dont understand the reverse lock mechanism that is on some drives and outboards.

my suggestion is to take a boaters safety course if you havent. then to get the hang of boating, boat on a big-open area and take it slow...... slow down long before you want to stop.

 

[scatgo]

Ya kind of left me hanging on that one. I thought the whole idea of a reverse lock was to keep the prop from lifting out of the water when in reverse?

 

[Scott Danforth]

The reverse lock mechanism is a glorified gate hook, intended for low speeds. That little bent piece of sheet metal is not intended to restrain the motor when you toss it into reverse if you are on plane

 

[F_R]

The manual tilt lock on many OMC outboards is intended to hold in reverse at normal reversing speed. A lot of people are afraid to use it though, for fear that it won't tilt up if they hit an underwater obstruction. But they are designed to release in that event. Don't believe it? Clamp the motor on a boat on the trailer, lock it down, then hunker down behind the motor and give a hard yank on the lower unit. It will give a loud bang like you busted something, release and come up. Not to fear, the bang was merely the big spring as the lockdown released.

 

[oldboat1]

Great fun with an inboard. Roar up to slip. Throttle lever to idle. Shift lever to neutral. Coast a bit. Shift to reverse. Throttle up until the hull stops. Prop walks to port, so alternate fwd and reverse at idle until can reach the lines.

Sometimes startled by the high pitched screaming until I remember I'm alone in the boat.

 

[scatgo]

The manual tilt lock on many OMC outboards is intended to hold in reverse at normal reversing speed. A lot of people are afraid to use it though, for fear that it won't tilt up if they hit an underwater obstruction. But they are designed to release in that event. Don't believe it? Clamp the motor on a boat on the trailer, lock it down, then hunker down behind the motor and give a hard yank on the lower unit. It will give a loud bang like you busted something, release and come up. Not to fear, the bang was merely the big spring as the lockdown released.

Good info. Thanks I was afraid to use the lock down even as intended because I was worried I might forget it was locked then hit something full speed forward and have the engine get ripped off the transom. While trying to get familiar with the boat i did notice in reverse there is a build in rev limiter that wont let the prop raise even as wide open as the rev limiter will allow. Looks like they went out of there way to make these things idiot proof. lol

 

[scatgo]

Great fun with an inboard. Roar up to slip. Throttle lever to idle. Shift lever to neutral. Coast a bit. Shift to reverse. Throttle up until the hull stops. Prop walks to port, so alternate fwd and reverse at idle until can reach the lines.

Sometimes startled by the high pitched screaming until I remember I'm alone in the boat.

LOL......... More great info. Thanks

 

[scatgo]

you obviously dont understand the reverse lock mechanism that is on some drives and outboards.

my suggestion is to take a boaters safety course if you havent. then to get the hang of boating, boat on a big-open area and take it slow...... slow down long before you want to stop.

That is the plan. My brother and I got this boat a couple of months ago. The one and only time the weather was safe enough for us to go out we did have all of Hempstead Harbor and Long Island sound all to ourselves. We did learn the hard way about watching the tide because of them dam sand bars and shallow water areas we have in the harbor. But we are trying to be careful and take it easy and hopefully be pros before the weather gets nice and the waterways get congested. As long as the good tips keep coming my way the learning curve should be shorter and less painful. LOL

Thanks for the help.

 

[racerone]

Fact-------I can teach you about boating in 20 minutes.------Then it takes 10 years to get better at it.-----Not the same as driving down a road with while lines and thousands of signs to guide you !