Kicker Maintenance - better late than never?

[Jim26m]

Well, starting to get caught up from the house fire and rebuild. Thought it was a good time to do kicker maintenance. Very low hours, so water pump, lower unit lube, remove prop and grease shaft, reinstall with new cotter pin.

Pull all of the marketing dress off the motor so you can work on it. Pull the foot. Realize that you haven't thought to build a cradle to hold it while you do the water pump. Note that shop garbage can is about the right size...

Pull pump housing. Remove old impeller. Clean everything up and install new pump housing and impeller from OEM.

Reinstall foot on motor. Get cleaned up and go to bed. Congratulate yourself on being a mechanical genius... Think to yourself how easy tomorrow is going to be. All you have to do is pull the prop, clean and grease the shaft, and change lower unit lube.

Sweet dreams...

 

[Jim26m]

Get up next day. Note corrosion under prop nut. Try to remember if you have removed prop in the several years you've owned it.

Rig up prop puller. Pull prop off of hub, leaving much smaller and harder to pull hub firmly welded to shaft.

Try to get bite on hub with bearing puller. Note that BRP did not design arrangement to allow this.

Get out cutting wheel and dissect rubber hub to allow surgical removal from shaft. Fill entire shop, and house above with the delightful smell of a tire fire. Carefully cut, chisel and pry hub away from shaft, being careful not to damage shaft. Invent several new expletives, most of which are neither desirable, nor anatomically feasible. Remove hub from shaft, and clean shaft and motor. Go upstairs and wash the rubber and metal dust off and have lunch. Note that stuffed clams and broccoli with cheese sauce have an overtone of burning rubber.

Try to convince yourself that prop was slipping the last time you used it and you were going to replace that hub anyway.

Think to yourself, maybe I'll wait till tomorrow to change the lube and clean all of this up...