Ok, having got my hands on my Mac, I've started thinking again about this flushing issue.
It seems it's a bit like "clogging of the arteries" in us humans. A lot of folk seem to think the best approach is not to dwell on it and hope for the best. Is was rather alarmed to learn that the previous owner had never flushed the outboard - I'm inclined to believe this as the flushing muffs looked brand new:)
A similar approach would now be to take the attitude that, "if it's been ok so far, why should I bother".
I was interested in the earlier debate -"to tilt or not to tilt", when on a mooring. I would like to do an experiment with two pieces of metal and some salt water but don't really have the time.
What I think I'll do is (try to) flush after each outing and leave the outboard tilted up.
I've fashioned a custom flush bag from a couple of heavy duty rubble bags. I placed one inside the other and folded over a seam at the top and inserted 4 eyelets evenly around this seam.
The resultant bag fits the outboard's leg like a glove and I've rigged a sort of halyard system, using the eyelets, to maintain a snug fit.
When this contraption is in the water there will be no strain on the bag or it's support and, because of the snug fit, very little fresh water will be needed, just enough for flushing.
It did a trial run on the trailer but without the support of the sea the bag sagged rather alarming and I gave up before it did. One good side effect of this was the discovery, in the process, that the fuel tank I thought contained fuel was in fact empty.
To be continued....
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MacGregor 26M 2009 - Sky's the Limit - Suzuki DF50
Ok, having got my hands on my Mac, I've started thinking again about this flushing issue.
It seems it's a bit like "clogging of the arteries" in us humans. A lot of folk seem to think the best approach is not to dwell on it and hope for the best. Is was rather alarmed to learn that the previous owner had never flushed the outboard - I'm inclined to believe this as the flushing muffs looked brand new:)
A similar approach would now be to take the attitude that, "if it's been ok so far, why should I bother".
I was interested in the earlier debate -"to tilt or not to tilt", when on a mooring. I would like to do an experiment with two pieces of metal and some salt water but don't really have the time.
What I think I'll do is (try to) flush after each outing and leave the outboard tilted up.
I've fashioned a custom flush bag from a couple of heavy duty rubble bags. I placed one inside the other and folded over a seam at the top and inserted 4 eyelets evenly around this seam.
The resultant bag fits the outboard's leg like a glove and I've rigged a sort of halyard system, using the eyelets, to maintain a snug fit.
When this contraption is in the water there will be no strain on the bag or it's support and, because of the snug fit, very little fresh water will be needed, just enough for flushing.
It did a trial run on the trailer but without the support of the sea the bag sagged rather alarming and I gave up before it did. One good side effect of this was the discovery, in the process, that the fuel tank I thought contained fuel was in fact empty.
To be continued....
MacGregor 26M 2009 - Sky's the Limit - Suzuki DF50
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