B.O.A.T. as we all know stands for Break Out Another Thousand and that’s just about every couple months it seems. That’s the same opening line from a previous article, mainly because it applies every month! What was it this month you ask? The latest repair to the Skeeter was a trim motor on the Yamaha 250 SHO. The motor played out on a recent trip to Yucatan Landing where I fished with local legend Jimmy Hodges.
On the last stop of the day, we pulled up to take one more shot at the “leaning tree" point where I had previously caught fish. Raised the motor, dropped the Talons and begin fishing. Twenty minutes later and no fish we crank up to head to the landing.
The boat would not trim up and we ran all the way back nose down with serious drag in the water. After trailering the boat it became obvious the trim was gone and only by pulling the foot up with a rope were we able to get the trim to work enough to get the boat up and over the steep ramp of Yucatan Landing.
Trim Special
When The Boat Won't Go
October 2021, Volume 130
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Trimmed all the way up and stuck was only solved by the bleed screw which lowered the motor onto the transom saver. All the way home I kept hoping B.O.A.T could be spelled B.O.A.H! Once home I did what every bass angler would do, I got on YouTube!
Changing the motor did not seem difficult so I decided to tackle it myself. Four bolts and disconnecting the wires to the trim relay and off it came. Now to pick one up and replace. Yamaha sells the replacement for about the same amount I paid for my first car so I went internet shopping. I found an OEM at DB Electrical (not a sponsor) and did the old fashion thing and called first thing the next morning.
The next morning happened to be a Thursday, aka Bassin’ in the Boot Big Bass Thursday. I talked with a sales guy who was knowledgeable and helpful and soon we had the part model number narrowed down. Total tax and overnight shipping came to less than $135. On top of that it was on my porch when I got home Friday night. Forty minutes later the motor was installed and ran great. Just one small problem, SHO didn’t trim! Off to Lake Bruin to fish Saturday morning with no trim, barely able to idle with the motor on the transom saver and a windy forecast.
I fished all morning and while eating my PB&J sandwich it struck me to try trimming while backing up. Low and behold the outboard started rising and I couldn’t be happier. FYI the system is a self bleeder and soon the trim was working like new. If you find yourself changing a trim motor just know they will “vapor lock” and may require you to put it in the water.
With a renewed faith in humanity and 3 hours to go, I did what any angler would do. I rode up and down the lake trimming the SHO up and down. We won’t talk about the weigh in!
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