Johnson Motor Lock

[carbineone]

Hey everybody.Have another one of my stupid questions.I have a 1963 28HP Johnson.I have never ran it yet on the water but it has a lock for the motor when its down and ready to run.Do you lock this when running the lake or only in reverse maybe.I have had some boats in the past that locked automatically with the shifter but cannot remember if the motor should be locked or free when running...Thanks

 

[JimS123]

Re: Johnson Motor Lock

That's a tilt lock. Leave it in the locked position except when you tilt the motor up to beach the boat or put it on the trailer. If you don't have it locked and you try to back up, or you decelerate quickly, the motor could fly up and damage the transom. If you are going forward and hit something, it will automatically disengage.

 

[carbineone]

Re: Johnson Motor Lock

I see it has a spring going upward from it and thought that might be some kind of tension spring that would release if you hit something down below.To make sure I understand this correctly,I drop the motor down and lock it then start her up and leave it locked the whole time while out on the lake?Correct? Like I say I have had boats that did this automatically for you in the past through the gear shifter but never paid any attention if they locked in neutral or while the shifter was in gear..It really never made sense that it would have a lock that was not used when in motion but thought I better ask....Thanks very much...

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Johnson Motor Lock

you got it. If you are running around in shallow water keep it unlocked, but be mindful of this and don't hard reverse.

 

[F_R]

Re: Johnson Motor Lock

If you want to reassure yourself that it automatically unlocks when you hit something, just hunker down behind it and give a quick hard rearward yank on the lower unit. It will make a loud bang and come on up. Don't worry, the noise didn't hurt anything, it was just that bear trap spring.

Run it locked down unless you are in shallow water where you know darn well you might hit bottom.