Hey MacGyver, what's your best on-the-water/at the lake fix?

We all have been there; either on the water, at the launch, or whatever, and >>>BAM<<<, you know what happens! :shock:

Be it bailing wire, duck tape, zip ties, or bubble gum...let's hear those stories of how you repaired your broken ____ :?: ____ and returned back to the launch, dock, or hobbled your way back home.

(The greatest bragging rights go to those with pictures). :mrgreen:

I'll play, bought a '89 Sunbird bowrider (glass boat) with a 2.3l Ford and an OMC Cobra drive that the PO left freeze solid.

1. First trip in the new boat had it missing, ended up running ok once I took the oil fill cap off so the steam could escape. Swapped in a junkyard engine.

2. Outdrive always swapped oil and water, the input drive shaft spun the top bearing. Note, water boiling off outdrive is not a good thing... Reset the gear lash with plastic shim stock

3. 2.3l Fords have a timing belt, moisture causes the sprockets to rust, that eats belts. Note, a screwdriver and adjustable wrench can be used to reset the timing when the belt loses it's teeth, (over and over again). It took three hours to go five miles downriver.

4. OMC had a recall for the shifter and throttle cables failing. Note, screaming left, left, no, the other left at the top of your lungs to an 10yo who's driving while you try to hook the throttle back up is not fun.

I bought that boat for $3k, put a junk yard engine in and a CL outdrive, and sold it for $2500 four years later. Nosmoke is your friend. The new owners love it

One of the guys on Riversmallies.com had to shove handfulls of Zoom plastic worms into a hole after ripping the transom free going over a ridge

Jamie

back down the boat ramp and ended up in a 4 foot hole at the end of the ramp tralor weels droded in the front spring shake caught the cement bottom trying to pull the tralor out tore the front shakel off the tralor on one side got the boat off the tralor and used a bottle jack to jack up the tralor used rocks to hold the tralor up so we could relocate the jack the wheels on the drivers side were twisted as far back as the motor so used the tralor wrench to pull the x back in place thank god the other side didnt brake got the traalor to the top of the ramp and used some rachet straps to hold it in place luckly ther was a cross member aboe the x so ran to straps to that and tne ran one pulling to the front and one to the back the guy with me says what are we going to do now i said well i got up at 2 am drove 80 miles to fish this lake the boats in the water i dont know about you but iam going fishing .end of the daqy we loaded the boat and drove home long drive home at 25 miles an hr

It wasn't how I fixed it, but how I got it back to the dock. When I got my first boat at 16, it had a 5 hp Eska on it. The lower unit was trashed, so I frankensteined it with a wards motor to get it to work, so I could get it on the lake. The motor was finiky, you had to work the throttle/choke for a long time before it wouldn't stall, so it was easier to cock it to the side and do donuts until it was warm, and with rotted off exhaust, it looked like and sounded like the only aqua dirtbike around.

One night around 2 am, I snagged a tree on shore(as usual) and managed to snap the fuel connector off of the motor on a limb. I was 5 miles from the launch, and my deep cycle would't have made it that far. I cut the broken connector off of the fuel line, and shoved the fuel line into the carb., and put the primer bulb under my foot. It took some figuring out, like if I gave it too much gas, I'd have to pull the line out to work the choke until I used the fuel up, and find the carb in the dark before it starved out. I know every person/animal heard me on the lake that night, between the dying/surging motor,the "dirt bike" sound, and me swearing.

I told my dad that story the next day, he laughed hard for a long time, and gave me his 72' 6 hp Johnson I still run today, problem free 13 years later.

hardwatergrampa said:

back down the boat ramp and ended up in a 4 foot hole at the end of the ramp tralor weels droded in the front spring shake caught the cement bottom trying to pull the tralor out tore the front shakel off the tralor on one side got the boat off the tralor and used a bottle jack to jack up the tralor used rocks to hold the tralor up so we could relocate the jack the wheels on the drivers side were twisted as far back as the motor so used the tralor wrench to pull the x back in place thank god the other side didnt brake got the traalor to the top of the ramp and used some rachet straps to hold it in place luckly ther was a cross member aboe the x so ran to straps to that and tne ran one pulling to the front and one to the back the guy with me says what are we going to do now i said well i got up at 2 am drove 80 miles to fish this lake the boats in the water i dont know about you but iam going fishing .end of the daqy we loaded the boat and drove home long drive home at 25 miles an hr

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Periods and commas are your friend.

I know it doesn't count but we had to duct tape a tank round together once.

LOL Tank Round ftw

stick and bubblegum in the transom of our 10'er after dragging it down the ramp.

Usmctanker said:

I know it doesn't count but we had to duct tape a tank round together once.

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Not to veer the thread off to chase rabbits, but I gotta ask:
1) Did you ever fire the round ?

and if so,
2) What was the pucker factor when you did ? [-o<

Usmctanker said:

hardwatergrampa said:

back down the boat ramp and ended up in a 4 foot hole at the end of the ramp tralor weels droded in the front spring shake caught the cement bottom trying to pull the tralor out tore the front shakel off the tralor on one side got the boat off the tralor and used a bottle jack to jack up the tralor used rocks to hold the tralor up so we could relocate the jack the wheels on the drivers side were twisted as far back as the motor so used the tralor wrench to pull the x back in place thank god the other side didnt brake got the traalor to the top of the ramp and used some rachet straps to hold it in place luckly ther was a cross member aboe the x so ran to straps to that and tne ran one pulling to the front and one to the back the guy with me says what are we going to do now i said well i got up at 2 am drove 80 miles to fish this lake the boats in the water i dont know about you but iam going fishing .end of the daqy we loaded the boat and drove home long drive home at 25 miles an hr

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Periods and commas are your friend.

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sorry teach iam long winded and i skiped english class and went fishing :lol:

lbursell said:

Usmctanker said:

I know it doesn't count but we had to duct tape a tank round together once.

Click to expand...

Not to veer the thread off to chase rabbits, but I gotta ask:
1) Did you ever fire the round ?

and if so,
2) What was the pucker factor when you did ? [-o<

Click to expand...

I was wondering the same thing when I read that post!

Duct tape...tank rounds?!? :shock:

Usmctanker said:

I know it doesn't count but we had to duct tape a tank round together once.

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You win!

Captain Ahab said:

Usmctanker said:

I know it doesn't count but we had to duct tape a tank round together once.

Click to expand...

You win!

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I'd have to agree...an awesome fix and a pic to prove it! =D>

:LOL2: yeah we fired it. That was in OIF 1 back in 2004. We fire a ton of rounds in the nine months I was there. We also hit a ton of IEDs (improvised explosive devices). At the time it didn't seem Like a big deal but looking back I guess it was a little risky. Remember the Marines are known for fighting, not thinking. :LOL2:

Usmctanker said:

:LOL2: yeah we fired it. That was in OIF 1 back in 2004. We fire a ton of rounds in the nine months I was there. We also hit a ton of IEDs (improvised explosive devices). At the time it didn't seem Like a big deal but looking back I guess it was a little risky. Remember the Marines are known for fighting, not thinking. :LOL2:

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Hey now I resemble that remark. Semper Fi!

I used to have am 1987 3/4 4x4 suburban. Was on a camping trip down near Hempstead TX. I pulled off the road to go around two guys in trucks that had stopped to chat on the road. Ended up almost getting stuck in a real nasty bar ditch. Ended up popping my rear u-joint at the rear end. Tied the drive shaft to the roof and drove home in 4wd using only the front wheels.

blew the prop hub out in the middle of the smokey mountain's w/ no one else around

took prop off

found old log homestead in the woods. cut a nice chunk off of a rafter

cut chunk into traingle sections (wedges)

beat wedges into prop/hub collar

let soak overnight in the water to swell the wood

made it back home this is a place w/ no houses around, straighbt up and down mountain banks, nearest town of 300 +/- was about 10 miles away

Got to the lake and had forgotten the drain plug.
Found a well soaked, almost the right size, stick on the shore. Wrapped it round and round with a wal-mart sack and jammed it into the drain hole as tight as I could from inside the boat.
Fished all night with a slow leak. When the water in the boat got a couple of inches deep,
(every couple of hours) would crank up and cruise around for a little bit. While under way would reach down and pull the plug out. When the plug was pulled out, most of the water that had leaked in was suctioned out. While still under way, ram the plug back in and go back to fishing for a while. Only had to do it three or four times.
Looking back now, we were lucky. It wasn't very smart and could have gone badly in multiple ways. But it worked that time. Somebody upstairs looks out for saints and fools, and I ain't no saint.

Loggerhead Mike said:

blew the prop hub out in the middle of the smokey mountain's w/ no one else around

took prop off

found old log homestead in the woods. cut a nice chunk off of a rafter

cut chunk into traingle sections (wedges)

beat wedges into prop/hub collar

let soak overnight in the water to swell the wood

made it back home this is a place w/ no houses around, straighbt up and down mountain banks, nearest town of 300 +/- was about 10 miles away

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The "Fred Flintstone" prop...nicely done sir, nicely done.

Nevillizer said:

Tied the drive shaft to the roof and drove home in 4wd using only the front wheels.

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Frickin' AWESOME! Got to remember that if I ever blow the drive shaft in my Jeep.

Nevillizer said:

I used to have am 1987 3/4 4x4 suburban. Was on a camping trip down near Hempstead TX. I pulled off the road to go around two guys in trucks that had stopped to chat on the road. Ended up almost getting stuck in a real nasty bar ditch. Ended up popping my rear u-joint at the rear end. Tied the drive shaft to the roof and drove home in 4wd using only the front wheels.

Click to expand...

My cousin did that while driving to my wedding (from Colorado to Wisconsin). Half way here, he broke a the piece the ujoint joins to on the rear axle. Drove in 4x4 hi (Front axle only) the rest of the way here and all the way back.. We tried to fix it here but the part was special order. We offered the dealer a 150 bribe on a $100 part to take one off someone's old truck (that was in for a long term fix) and order them a new one, he considered it, but backed out.