Use Tilt Lock Lever? y/n

TyBoo

TyBoo

Administrator
Staff member
I have decided spring is here and it is time to tilt the motors up and out of the water when moored in my slip. I figure if it freezes now we have much bigger problems.

I have always engaged the tilt lock lever and lowered the motor onto it when leaving the boat. It's more of an OCD thing than sound reasoning because I don't think there is any real weight on the hydraulics after the motor raises over center.

This season I have a new cooler and rack setup that can stay in place with the main motor tilted up, so getting to the lever is difficult without moving the cooler which would defeat the purpose of having a cooler I do not have to move.

When your boat is moored and the motor is raised, do you use the tilt lock lever or trust the hydraulics to hold it?

Thanks. And let's hope nothing freezes over.
 
TyBoo":4oaia1gf said:
When your boat is moored and the motor is raised, do you use the tilt lock lever or trust the hydraulics to hold it?

Thanks. And let's hope nothing freezes over.
Click to expand...


Ice this morning & Snowing as I type
I never use the tilt lock even while trailering.
When trailering I lower the motor so it touches the tilt rams & leave it.
In the slip, I tilt it up just out of the salt :beer
 
I have gone back and forth on bringing the OBs up and out of the water. It depends on how long between running. If I am just our for a few days and running every day, they stay in the water. (Based on do I want the salt water to dry in the OB forming Salt crystals there, or leave them wet until I can flush and dry for long term.)

If raising, I still do not use the block lever. When trailering I do use a wooden block to bring the ON down onto, not relying on resting on the Hydrolic setting alone.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

January_2010_476.sized.jpg
 
My owner's manual basically says not to rely on the lock lever for support. I have a piece I cut from a 2x3 the fits in the gap of the motor mount when the motor it tilted up. My boat lives on a trailer so this is only used when the boat is being moved because the clearance of the skeg is only a couple of inches. Other wise the motor remains in the normal position. My boat cover is designed for the motor to be in that position.
 
We use the tilt lock and retract the stainless rams fully into their housings so they're not exposed to dried salt, sand (which is quartz around here) road dirt and whatever debris is blowing around if overnight or longer, but not for a day at the beach. I like to imagine this is easier on the seals as well as
avoiding potential scratches on the rams. I've been known to wipe them down with fresh water on a microfiber cloth prior to retracting at end of day. Perhaps I am over pampering the poor dears, and the seals and rams may live longer than we do, even if we ignore them and the harsh conditions we subject them to.
We trailer in full down/retracted position, since there is plenty plenty of ground clearance for props on a TC255.
If we had to move coolers to get to to the levers, we might not bother.
It's 80 degrees and sunny, 49% humidity and 0% rain chance next 3 days, and I figure a hard freeze is about as likely as a seal failure.
Colby will pipe up here if his weather is better.
Here's to a long and supple life for all our seals!
John
 
That settles it for me. The majority seems to think there is no need to engage the lever and I obviously don't want to, so that's it! Thanks.

When trailering, I use a piece of 2x4 clamped inside the tilt mechanism to hold the motors up a ways without relying on the hydraulics. I prefer not to have them all the way up because the main sticks out there too far.

In the water, I of course leave them down if there is any chance at all of freezing but prefer to keep them out of the water as it warms up and the algae starts to grow. I read in the book for my old Honda that the tilt lock should be used but always felt it was not necessary since even if all hydraulic pressure was lost the motor would likely stay up.

Old men and their old habits are hard to separate sometimes, but this is a brand new year for me!
 
Anybody that uses the tilt lock for anything but working on the trim needs to read the manual. It is never to be used for towing and is unnecessary for stowage . It s a common misconception.
Marc
 
I get what you're saying, Marc, but to be fair the Suzuki manual is a little vague on the matter and the manual for my old Honda BF130 said very specifically to use the lever "When the boat is to be moored for a long time..."

That's why I rely on the collective wisdom found here! I tell them on the car forum I visit that owners manuals are for people who don't know how to use the internet. :mrgreen:

Now then, something I did learn from this discussion (and from actually looking in my owners manual this time :oops:) is that the tilt rams will retract when the lock lever is engaged. My old Honda did not allow that. When it came down hard on the lock lever the hydraulic pump ran through the relief valve and everything stayed put. I am fixing to go down to the boat here in a few minutes to see how Suzuki does it.
 
Alright, now I see it. The two trim rams continue to retract while leaving the tilt cylinder extended. I didn’t realize it worked that way. Maybe the old Honda did too, now I’m not sure. They are very slow retracting though.

Even so, since I don’t need to use the lock lever I won’t be retracting the rams when moored in my slip. It is fresh water anyway so I’m not too concerned about it.
 
AFAIK, the tilt lock on my motor is simply a mechanical device and is not connected to the tilt mechanism. It does the same as the 2x4 I use to lock the tilt and the 2x4 is more robust.

But in truth I have never used it and only remembered that it was there after reading this discussion.
 
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