@help. Stuck bucket in reverse

[McMark]

@HELP
One stuck bucket. Got a little shallow and probably picked up a rock at idle. Got the port side unstuck. Starboard is tight and can't get it to move.

 

[McMark]

I'm unstuck.

 

[GTBRMC]

How did you get it unstuck?

 

[smthng]

Unstuck is good.

 

[jetboater4life]

Congrats! Boat on....

 

[Bruce]

I bet he had a rock or stick in a bad place. Glad you are back on the water.

 

[Big Shasta]

In that situation, don't force the cables, you could make it much worse (meaning, unfixable on the water). You have to get to the gates and free whatever is wedged in there.

 

[McMark]

I don't know what was in there. I was able to pull up hard enough on the bucket from the swim platform and it worked loose. Yea I wasn't going to use the binnacle to do this. I searched first but couldn't come up with any tricks.

Thanks guys for responding.

 

[itsdgm]

Glad you're up and running again @McMark I had a similar situation after performing a "panic reversing" in order to avoid a rock while beaching. The reverse gate was immediately jammed with tiny bits of sand/pebbles. It was easily freed up like yours was by simply working the bucket up and down by hand. So you're not alone in this one. That's why they recommend 3 plus feet of water for operation. But hey, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do

 

[Aderricoatte]

Glad you're up and running again @McMark I had a similar situation after performing a "panic reversing" in order to avoid a rock while beaching. The reverse gate was immediately jammed with tiny bits of sand/pebbles. It was easily freed up like yours was by simply working the bucket up and down by hand. So you're not alone in this one. That's why they recommend 3 plus feet of water for operation. But hey, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do

I had the same problem yesterday and I forced the throttle, now it seems to have a broken linkage problem. Where do I start to troubleshoot this?

 

[McMark]

Yea. Don't use the throttles to unstick. Reach over the swim platform and move the bucket that way.

Move your throttles all the way forward and see which bucket isn't lifting. Replace cable.

 

[Gym]

I had the same problem yesterday and I forced the throttle, now it seems to have a broken linkage problem. Where do I start to troubleshoot this?

I would operate one lever at a time. If it doesn't raise or lower the bucket, that would indicate a broken cable that needs to be replaced. There is a link for replacing these cables under the frequently asked questions section of the general discussion section.

 

[Aderricoatte]

OK ok okay!!! So here's a learning lesson. I pulled close to the shore and got rocks (small pebbles) stuck in both buckets which caused the throttle levers to get stuck. I powered the levers forward which broke the plastic cable ends. To fix this you have to pull the throttle lever box apart which will take you and a friend about 1 hour, you only need a screwdriver and maybe needle nose pliers. If you can get new cable ends caps that's great, but on a holiday weekend I had to JB Weld it (autozone $10). JB weld the crap out of the plastic and don't get it on the threads and you're good!!! Replace the end caps after about an hour of curing, then FINISH YOUR WEEKEND.

I'll be ordering new end caps ($20) and I'll replace them if it ever breaks

 

[Aderricoatte]

Thank you to everyone that responded to this post, all your knowledge is a big help

 

[itsdgm]

Glad to hear that you're back up and running again.

 

[Memphis18]

I know this is an old post but man did it come in handy today....beached at the sandbar, backed out and got stuck in reverse. I had no clue what to do.....checked the forum and found this info. I pulled the reverse bucket a couple times and felt small rocks come out, we were back up and moving in no time....thanks for all the helpful input

 

[Ad Rock]

This just happened to me when backing out of a sand bar. I couldn't lift up on the bucket with enough force to free the debris. Even out of the water, back on the trailer, I was afraid that I would break something in the plastic bucket or linkage. (Kudos to those mentioning to NEVER use the throttles to free a bucket) Back at home, I removed ONE bolt from the outside of the starboard bucket and the rocks fell right out. Tightened it back up, cycled the throttle with the engines on and off to ensure proper operation and we are good to go! I'm going to keep a cheap socket in the boat for when (not IF) this happens again, so I don't have to drive home on one engine. And by the way, I did have both engines on while driving forward with only one engine. Didn't want to shove water into the muffler and back into the starboard engine exhaust manifold.

 

[BigAbe75]

This just happened to me when backing out of a sand bar. I couldn't lift up on the bucket with enough force to free the debris. Even out of the water, back on the trailer, I was afraid that I would break something in the plastic bucket or linkage. (Kudos to those mentioning to NEVER use the throttles to free a bucket) Back at home, I removed ONE bolt from the outside of the starboard bucket and the rocks fell right out. Tightened it back up, cycled the throttle with the engines on and off to ensure proper operation and we are good to go! I'm going to keep a cheap socket in the boat for when (not IF) this happens again, so I don't have to drive home on one engine. And by the way, I did have both engines on while driving forward with only one engine. Didn't want to shove water into the muffler and back into the starboard engine exhaust manifold.

I would recommend a thread locking compound for those bolts, as well. Bad news when those work free on their own, too.

 

[PaulyB]

This happened to me a few weeks ago, I took a hammer and lightly tapped on the side of the bucket a few times, while still in the water, and it freed it up pretty easily