Help with how shallow water drive is supposed to operate on 30 tiller.

[juicegoose]

I have a 91 30hp tiller. For the longest time ive read in my owners manual that the motor has a shallow water mode. Seems like you are supposed to flip the tilt lock lever and the shallow water link is supposed to lock on the trim bar. Problem i have is that i flip the lever it releases the shallow water link and as i lift the motor the link slides along the trim bar until the springs pop it past the bar and all the way up. My link doesnt have any channel built in like the replacement ones ive seen online. How are you supposed to get the motor in shallow drive?

 

[tazrig]

Re: Help with how shallow water drive is supposed to operate on 30 tiller.

Specifically what kind of motor is it? Make? Model? Lacking that some pictures of what you're talking about?

 

[juicegoose]

Re: Help with how shallow water drive is supposed to operate on 30 tiller.

91 evinrude 30hp tiller. Model is e30teless.

Here is a picture of the shallow water link.

 

[juicegoose]

Re: Help with how shallow water drive is supposed to operate on 30 tiller.

Took a couple more pictures. As you can see in the photos I have the older style link that is just a flat bar. It seems like the new replacement has a lip on it so that when the link hits the trim bar it will sit on it.

 

[bonz_d]

Re: Help with how shallow water drive is supposed to operate on 30 tiller.

Don't know if that one is the same as the one on my old 78 35hp Evinrude but the way it works is that you flip the lock lever to release it then tilt the engine about 1/2 way up and it will stay in shallow drive position. From there it can be tilted all the way up and it will lock into that position.

 

[juicegoose]

Re: Help with how shallow water drive is supposed to operate on 30 tiller.

Thats how I understand it to work. In looking at the operator manual it seems that link is upposed to stop and set on the trim bar. Mine just slides right past it and up against the motor. Basically all the lever does is allow the motor to lock all the way up or release the engine once locked. On another note the antireverse paws do not work either. Possibly has something to do with it.

 

[bonz_d]

Re: Help with how shallow water drive is supposed to operate on 30 tiller.

Wish I could offer more insight but there is clearly something not working correctly. Could there possibly be a spring missing or a broken linkage? May be time to locate a manual.

 

[tazrig]

Re: Help with how shallow water drive is supposed to operate on 30 tiller.

Here is a link to the service manu@l for your engine. Section 8 covers the trim:

Boatinfo - 1990-2001 Evinrude Service manual

 

[Don Hansen]

Re: Help with how shallow water drive is supposed to operate on 30 tiller.

To be in shallow water drive mode the lock/unlock lever should be up. In your picture boat2 the link appears to be in the proper place for shallow water drive. In that position you should be able to lower the motor so the tilt pin sits on the link. The motor does have a tilt pin doesn't it. Your link looks just like the one on my 35 hp and it has worked fine for 33 years. You not going to be able to run the motor that fast while in shallow water drive anyway.

DLH

 

[juicegoose]

Re: Help with how shallow water drive is supposed to operate on 30 tiller.

Don so if i understand you correctly your saying that when you engage the shallow water drive and lift the motor that the link actually is supposed to spring above the tilt pin and then you set the engine back down on the pin? The instructions had me believe that the shallow water link end should craddle the tilt pin. Any way you can post a picture?

Taz thanks for the link but it appears they only go into hydraulic trim in that manual. Mine is manual.

 

[Don Hansen]

Re: Help with how shallow water drive is supposed to operate on 30 tiller.

I wish I could post pictures but my boat is packed away for the winter. Picture this. Your motor is down in its normal running position. You set the lock/unlock lever to unlock, that's in the up position. Now lift the motor up about half the way, or a little more, to let the link move into place. Now let the motor down so the tilt pin sets on the link.
If you set the lock/unlock lever to the down position and let the motor all the way down the motor should be locked down so you can backup in reverse without the motor lifting up. The manual says that you can leave the motor locked down while going forward and that it will release if it hits something but I don't trust it. I always run the motor unlocked when going forward.

DLH

 

[Don Hansen]

Re: Help with how shallow water drive is supposed to operate on 30 tiller.

I want to add a little to my above posting. You can go to the shallow water drive position from the locked up position. Pull up on the motor and move the lock/unlock lever a little toward the reverse lock position. Now lower the motor until it sits on the link. Return the lock/unlock lever to the full up position. Its a little tricky but you can even pull start the motor when its in shallow water drive. Nice for pulling away from shore.

DLH

 

[juicegoose]

Re: Help with how shallow water drive is supposed to operate on 30 tiller.

Thanks for the reply Don. Just so I am clear the link (u shaped piece) doesnt lean against the tilt pin on its end it actually is suiposed to sit on top of the trim pin . Makes sense it just seems the manual was confusing. Now to get the reverse lock working.

 

[Don Hansen]

Re: Help with how shallow water drive is supposed to operate on 30 tiller.

In my first posting I said "so the tilt pin sets on the link". I should have said "so the link sets on the tilt pin". There appears to be a lot of rust. Since the whole mechanism works by springs pulling on something make sure everything moves freely. Looking at your pictures everything looks like its in the right place but in your first picture it looks like the cotter keys have been replaced. Maybe someone had the mechanism apart and put it back together wrong.

DLH

 

[juicegoose]

Re: Help with how shallow water drive is supposed to operate on 30 tiller.

agreed. I'll take a hard look at it against a parts breakdown and see what I can do.

Thanks for the help.

 

[boobie]

Re: Help with how shallow water drive is supposed to operate on 30 tiller.

Don't know what parts break downs you have. but they also have good ones at shop.evinrude.com.

 

[jbjennings]

Re: Help with how shallow water drive is supposed to operate on 30 tiller.

Just wanted to say that the comment about the motor coming out of "lock" when in forward in the down position, being untrustworthy... That is my opinion as well. I have hit logs 2 different times that were barely submerged and the release didn't work and I broke a LOT of expensive parts, including the steering bracket and such. However, the negative of running WOT with the shallow drive lever in the "up" position is that the motor could end up in your lap with a hard enough strike. I run mine only about 1/2 throttle with the shallow drive lever up and the motor fully down, and just risk breaking stuff at WOT by putting the shallow drive lever down so there is less chance of it coming all the way over into the boat. The shallow drive mechanism on an OMC is super duper handy and one of the things I like about them, but it is also a weak point as far as breaking when hitting a submerged object and causing lots of damage.
JMO,
JBJ

 

[Don Hansen]

Re: Help with how shallow water drive is supposed to operate on 30 tiller.

I agree with jbjennings. Its up to you to decide whats the lessor of 2 evils. Although I did hid a log once at full speed there was no problem with the motor hitting me or doing damage to the boat but it did end up in shallow water drive. The power head ended up screaming for a few seconds until I could respond on the throttle. Since the mechanism moves in place from the force of a spring I wonder if a second lock could be added to hold the link out of the way until needed. On the other side of the coin, I once forgot to release the motor and hit a rock just as I was coming up on plane. It hit with such force that I couldn't believe that the gear case was not damaged. The lock never released. BTW I once saw a 25 hp motor, not an OMC, broken in half at the mid section after it had hit a rock. Only the bent drive shaft prevented the gear case from dropping into the lake.

DLH

 

[juicegoose]

Re: Help with how shallow water drive is supposed to operate on 30 tiller.

As an update to my original email I think I might have found the culprit. If you look closely at the connection pins on the shallow water assembly right where it connects to the motor you'll notice that both pins are bent. It almost looks like someone allowed the shallow water link to kick up above the trim bar and then slam down. I could notice nothing else missing other then that.

 

[bonz_d]

Re: Help with how shallow water drive is supposed to operate on 30 tiller.

Now hopefully you can repair it w/o too much trouble or expense.

When I was running that 35hp on my old Lund I used to use the shallow drive almost every time I went out. Really comes in handy.