Rope sucked up into impeller

[jennsavage]

Hi Everyone, Yesterday we were out boating and accidently sucked up our tow rope in both impellers (seems to be a common occurance if you don't keep the ropes up and away from the back of the boat)...we tried in vain to get it out by swimming under the boat and untangling the mess...then we got the boat onto the trailer and used a box cutter to cut the ropes off each impeller...fortunately the boat started up afterward and ran fine the rest of the day. I didn't try this, but wanted to know if anyone has tried putting the engine in reverse to spit the rope back out the other way, or would it just wrap the rope tighter around the shaft? Just a curiosity question. I think I am going to get a pool swim noodle and put it on the first part of the rope to keep it from ducking under the boat.

Would love to hear how others have handled this issue...fortunately it only set us back about 30-40 minutes of our fun in the sun..and didn't screw up anything on the boat.

 

[LouDoo]

That's exactly what I was going to suggest, cut it in half. You can get them at the dollar store. You could also use a piece of pipe insulation, about the same price.

Lou

 

[El Toro 33809]

To answer your question about reverse, no that would just make matters worse. Reverse just diverts the jet flow, it does not change the direction the shafts/impellers turn.

 

[John in Valley Forge]

To answer your question about reverse, no that would just make matters worse. Reverse just diverts the jet flow, it does not change the direction the shafts/impellers turn.

Yes, what he said.


I have several sections of pool noodle on my tow rope, after I sucked it on my first day out.
I am also much more conscious of where the rope is. Sometimes when the kids are climbing back on the tube after falling off, it has an uncanny habit of creeping under the boat. Keeping an eye on it at all times is essential.

 

[RFoster130]

You just have to be very aware of where the rope is. If the rope isnt in use, then the boat needs turned off. IF you are pulling a tube and there is no slack, its not going under. If you are just taking off, i feed the rope out till it is tight. I have never had a problem in 3 years.

 

[Gamerse]

Carry a spark plug wrench. Engine mechanics please chime in if I'm wrong. Pull the plugs, then the engines can spin backwards so you can pull the rope out. Should not hurt anything in theory since there in no valvetrain. I can understand the pain of sucking up a 40-80 dollar competition ski rope. (not by experience) If it makes you feel better, the impeller probably ruined it before your knife did.
The noodle idea will work fine, or pipe insulation as suggested above. I buy ropes that float well and are unnaturally bright in color. Hydroslide or gladiator products tend to fit the bill for tubes and knee boards. Good luck.
:cheers:
Ernest

 

[Seadoobuddy]

Great idea about the noodles. My nephew sucked up one last weekend......guess who had to fix it?

Reversing the ski will not help as El Toro said. The engine doesn't reverse, only the gate comes down to propel it backwards. the engine stays in "forward".

I like the "remove plug"idea too. I hope someone posts that it works.

 

[wildone72]

Insteed of a noodle what about a pool rope float you know the blue and white ones, they are more buoyant.

 

[RFoster130]

Carry a spark plug wrench. Engine mechanics please chime in if I'm wrong. Pull the plugs, then the engines can spin backwards so you can pull the rope out. Should not hurt anything in theory since there in no valvetrain.
Ernest

Many people do it that way and it works quite well.

 

[parrothd]

Yep, take the plugs out and turn the PTO while someone pulls the rope works for me, the noodle thing is probably more hassle than it's worth, your still going to suck the other 50ft of rope that's not floating with the noodle part.. We check the where the rope is for every start and now is a habit...

 

[zonzik]

Hi! I had the same problem last year. Wasn't that lucky Had to go to Marina to get it out. The guy lost 1 day trying to take off the grilles from the bottom. Couldn't. So I left it at a friend of mine who took the rope out from the back of the boat (through the jets). Anyway nothing was broken. If you put it in reverse it won't help. The water still goes the same way, you just shift the jet covers. Just be carefull in the future with the rope in the water. I am now.

 

[Erroras]

Same thing happened to my boat yesterday. I'm used to looking at my rope at all times and i've been close to 20 times on the lake with my 96 speedster and never had a problem. My dad was the one who always cautioned me about sucking in the rope. i let my dad and his friends borrow the speedster and toward the end of the day he sucked in the rope into one of the engines and ended up getting back to the dock with one engine, once he go to the dock he pulled in the tube that he was towing behind the boat with a short leash and put it on the back of the boat. then started the only working engine and felt rope slipping through his feet and shut it off, but it was too late and he sucked the rope into other engine. Luckily i had tubing rope that had knots every few feet and they didn't let the rope to get sucked in more that few feet. today i spent about 30 min on each engine unwinding the rope from impeller shaft. i'm Glad I got lucky on this one

 

[casims2000]

We went tubing for the first time yesterday and I learned from everyone else's mistakes about sucking up the rope so the first thing we did was put a noodle on the rope. I think it's a great idea as the rope never went under the boat. Also, this was the first time my friend's kids went tubing and I was very impressed how each time they would feed the rope out until it was taut and when they wanted to come back in they'd pull themselves in with the rope and put it in the boat as they were pulling. We never even had a close call. I say two thumbs up for the noodle and the kids!!