What has hurt your BOAT the most?

**JigginPoleJoe** · 02-28-2013, 03:38 PM

Originally Posted by LMBarnett

3 things here:

#1 I was running the ditch behind Hollowell at 30 mph in the dark and it was about 25 degrees, I hit "something" and the tiller handle ripped from my hand, and the next thing I know, I was in the buckbrush, and then going 0 mph with the nose burried in the resivoir levee about 8-10". This all took about 0.04 seconds. I just knew that I was alive, and so was my buddy in the front of the boat, and noone had injuries. BUT my buddy did have to finish off the drive the rest of the way to the hole that morning.

#2 I was testing out a motor that my wife's grandad was wanting to sell. I thought he motor was too long shafted for his boat, so I put it on mine for the test run. I went out, ran up and down the lake with the wife and kid for 20 minutes or so. They were tired of boat ridding, so i dropped them off at the dock. It was at this point I loosened up the tie down bolts and moved the motor a little to the left to center it up. The wife then said some stuff, and got me thinking of something else, so I did what she told me to. Then I jumped back inthe boat and tore out from the dock like I was running holes at Bayou Meto. Then as I made my wide turn to go down the lake, I felt the motor shift, looked back and it was cock-eyed, I let off the throttle (BIG MISTAKE). The motor, and gas decided to go for a swim. I was in the middle of the lake, cursing like nobody had ever seen before. Wife was onthe dock trying to figure out what had happened and then didn't beleive me when I told her the motor fell off. A buddy with scuba gear came out and helped me find the motor, we got it running within an hour after removing it from water, and then the next week, i sold it to a guy from Stuttgart for WAY too much

#3 Once again, running the ditch behind Hollowell, I was laughing as i flew past all the guys cleaning grass off thier props. I couldn't beleive mine was cutting thru and thier's were not. Well, about 1/2 way down the ditch, my motor just cut off... died like I shut it off in gear. I was not too worried until I looked back, and there was so much steam comming off the motor. Then I was trying to figure out how I was going to pay for a new motor. After about 20 minutes, I figuredd, i had nothing to loose, tried to start it up, and it fired, sounded fine, and we went hunting. One of the worst hunts I have been on in years. TOkk it to the shop later that day, and all checked out just fine. Still running today.

The grass prolly clogged the water inlet, very common...
Outboards can get hot many many times without damaging them.

**RCC** · 02-28-2013, 06:43 PM

What has hurt mine the most is a loose nut on the tiller handle. This seems to happen at least once each year at the most inopportune times, and has resulted in miscellaneous damage to my boat, equipment, and pride.

**Slabyanker** · 02-28-2013, 10:11 PM

Wasn't my boat, but about 15 years ago a buddy and I were going duck hunting off black river. It was opening day around an hour before daylight, and my friend left something in the truck. We were headed up river when he hit a snag sticking up at an angle down river. I flipped the boat up nearly 90 degrees on its side. Both of us went in the water. Luckily i managed to grab the side of the boat on my way out, and pulled myself back in. He was lucky he was wearing a float coat, because i had to turn the boat around and go drag him back in. He ended up with a broken toe somehow. We made it back to his truck. He went home, and I went with the guy we were meeting. The snag punched a hole in the front of the boat about the size of a pringles can. At least it was above the water line, so it didn't sink.

**JigginPoleJoe** · 02-28-2013, 10:37 PM

Sounds like a lot of close calls!
Good reason to remember "BE CAREFUL"

I read a sign one day..
It had a picture of life jackets and children.
It said "If you don't wear these, who will take care of them"

**Millwood Lip Ripper** · 03-01-2013, 01:48 PM

3/4" piece of rebar drove into a stump and high water. Going down the river on plane on Millwood Lake. Got to the spot I wanted and started slowing down. I knew the backwash was coming so I throttled her a bit and felt a very small bump on something but the boat just stopped dead in its tracks. Knew it was bad when I saw the building pool of water coming up from the floor drains. It was winter and about 35 degrees. I tried for 3 hours to get the rig to move. Still didn't know it was rebar. I stripped down and tied the bow rope to me and told my buddy to save my ass if I didn't come back up. Jumped in and got under the boat, found the stump and felt the piece of rebar going into the middle of the keel. This was a 20' Stratos with a 250 Merc. I tried to lift it up but the water was too deep and I was turning blue. Ended up calling a buddy to come drag us off. Kept the bilge pump running and ran the 20 miles back to the landing. I had to take the center livewell out, the built in gas tank, and patch from the inside. It was not to bad a hole until we started pulling it off the rebar. Not a fun trip. I did find the rebar when the water went down and cut it off the stump.

About a month later, I had bought one of those automatic bow eye connectors that let you just run the boat up on the trailer and it would automatically connect......Well it didn't and I had those teflon strips on the trailer bunks. You guessed it. The wife started pulling up the hill at yarborough landing and the boat slid right off the trailer. The guy that helped me get it back on the trailer ended up buying the boat from me. The ramp did a lot of damage while the boat was dragging. It is hard for a wife to hear manly screams for life over a noisey diesel. Could have been worse though.....almost went to work that day.

**Roughneck** · 03-01-2013, 07:04 PM

Hey Lipripper,
It is beyond my thinking WHY people put rebar on a stump to mark it. I see a lot of rebar on Reelfoot Lake and yes durning high water folks are always scraping the bottom of their boat. I would rather use a peice of sharpen PVC or treated wooden stake. Or better yet DON'T DO NOTHING. Leave the stump alone.

**20watt** · 03-01-2013, 07:22 PM

One thing this thread has taught me..

I will NEVER buy a boat from a duck hunter.......

**JigginPoleJoe** · 03-01-2013, 07:27 PM

Originally Posted by 20watt

One thing this thread has taught me..

I will NEVER buy a boat from a duck hunter.......

That's right!!

**Conwayslabber** · 03-01-2013, 07:31 PM

Originally Posted by 20watt

One thing this thread has taught me..

I will NEVER buy a boat from a duck hunter.......

Thread: What has hurt your BOAT the most?

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