Anbother vote for the killcord

[onesea]

I assume it’s because they assume a 2HP blender would do less damage than a 30HP blender. The more videos like this shared the better as it really makes the point.

I would go with that however there are variables:

Same 3hp:
On a 100kg+ 11 foot dorry I cannot say I use the kill cord,
On a small 25kg inflatable then yes.
Same engine on back of my old 24’ sailing boat then no*,

Unfamiliar open boat capable of planning then yes, displacement boat well it depends.

*well I attached it to the aft end of cockpit so I could pull to stop as I approached a berth / mooring, it has no reverse.

 

[NormanS]

I have never used the kill cord on my little 2.3hp outboard. It is fitted with what is effectively a "Dead Man's Handle", which means that if my hand is removed from the rotary throttle, the engine goes to tickover, and the centrifugal clutch means that the propeller stops.
I fully accept that with engines which do not automatically behave as above, a killcord should be used.

 

[Keith 66]

That video should be required viewing for anyone who uses an outboard.
28 years ago i witnessed a similar incident, we had just come back from the Nore race on the first of the tide & couldnt make our mooring. One of our crew jumped in & took a couple of lines to the mooring & we made fast.
Club rib & Dory come alongside. Two squealing girls & driver aboard the dory, all have had a few. Our crew is still in the water when the dory lot want to go ashore. Driver starts the 40hp yamaha, its on full throttle & full lock. It takes off in a circle, our crewman is up to his waist in the tide & tries to get out the way & only just manages it. It comes round again, this time he manages to push the corner of the transom but it bowls him over. The driver hasnt got his kill cord on & is spreadeagled across the top of the engine, the girls are screaming. Somehow he manages to reach the kill button & stops it.
Me & another guy grab our mate in the water & are expecting the water to turn red any second. We haul him aboard expecting the worst, By some miracle he had just a thin faint cut on his calf about 2" long. Lucky lucky sod!
He had drunk a crate of 24 Kronenberg 1664's during the day but when i took him ashore 5 minutes later he was stone cold sober. He reckoned he felt the propellor brush his leg.

That video took me right back.

 

[Graham376]

Taking the kill cord every time is a bit extreme. No way to untie or tie up while wearing the kill cord but that is also the time the throttle can get leant on accidently or a rope snags it.

I see some large centre consol boats dont appear to have kill cords (must be hard wearing 6 though) so at what point does one need or not need one ?

Every trip in tender for me, easy enough to clip around wrist before engaging gear or even before starting. May have to think about it for a few trips but then it's just routine.

 

[ProDave]

Aren't OB's supposed to have an interlock so you can't start them in gear? Every one I owned had. In the video it looks like he started the OB, it was on WOT and in gear and full lock and the boot took off in a tight circle and tipped him out. If only it was not possible to start the OB while it was not in gear........

 

[westernman]

Aren't OB's supposed to have an interlock so you can't start them in gear? Every one I owned had. In the video it looks like he started the OB, it was on WOT and in gear and full lock and the boot took off in a tight circle and tipped him out. If only it was not possible to start the OB while it was not in gear........

I think the smaller ones can all be started in gear.
(I don't know exactly what smaller means....)

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Of course, if you have a Seagull, it has neither kill cord nor gears!

 

[ProDave]

I think the smaller ones can all be started in gear.
(I don't know exactly what smaller means....)

All the ones I have had 3.5 to 5 HP won't let you pull the cord if not in neutral.

Never tried one of these egg whisks without gears.

Current boat has an 8HP yamaha with electric start. I must check and see if that has any interlocks to stop it starting if not in N

 

[Bilgediver]

They are often used on tugs where apparently the increased grip on the water is very useful for low speed manoevers.

And of course of turbo fan engines like on your average Ryan Air Boeing 737 Max.

A high bypass turbo fan is basically a turbo prop engine with a multibladed prop surrounded by an enclosure. And the blade pitch cannot be varied on your B737, where as it can be on almost all turbo prop aircraft.

High bypass turbo fan plane engines are all about fuel efficiency.

What you see on a tug boat is not a prop cage but an engineered Kort nozzle' You cannot compare one of these to a prop cage of uncertain origin.

 

[Bilgediver]

I always take my own kill cord if operating someone's RIB with one already on board. That way a cord is left in board
so that they can come and get me if I fall out.

 

[ylop]

I have never used the kill cord on my little 2.3hp outboard. It is fitted with what is effectively a "Dead Man's Handle", which means that if my hand is removed from the rotary throttle, the engine goes to tickover, and the centrifugal clutch means that the propeller stops.
I fully accept that with engines which do not automatically behave as above, a killcord should be used.

How quick does it get to tickover? What you describe is a good start but the manufacturer decided it wasn’t enough to mitigate the risk. Have you checked the prop actually stops at tickover? I’ve not had a centrifugal clutch for about 18 yrs but I seem to recall the prop still spun (fairly slow - 100rpm?) at tickover. I never tested to see how much torque was there - perhaps the injury would be trivial and more likely you can get out the way - but I’d not want to find out.

Aren't OB's supposed to have an interlock so you can't start them in gear? Every one I owned had.

they do, but interlocks fail, and can also be bypassed if you have a fault. I seem to recall my last electric start o/b had an interlock on electric start, but had provision for emergency starting with a rope round the fly wheel which was not interlocked.

I think the smaller ones can all be started in gear.
(I don't know exactly what smaller means....)

anything fairly recent (this century at least) with a gearbox rather than a centrifugal clutch will have a start in gear protection.

 

[NormanS]

How quick does it get to tickover? What you describe is a good start but the manufacturer decided it wasn’t enough to mitigate the risk. Have you checked the prop actually stops at tickover? I’ve not had a centrifugal clutch for about 18 yrs but I seem to recall the prop still spun (fairly slow - 100rpm?) at tickover. I never tested to see how much torque was there - perhaps the injury would be trivial and more likely you can get out the way - but I’d not want to find out.

they do, but interlocks fail, and can also be bypassed if you have a fault. I seem to recall my last electric start o/b had an interlock on electric start, but had provision for emergency starting with a rope round the fly wheel which was not interlocked.

anything fairly recent (this century at least) with a gearbox rather than a centrifugal clutch will have a start in gear protection.

Yes, mine does what it's supposed to do, so the propeller does not rotate when the engine is on tickover.
Mine is air cooled, and takes ages to empty the carburetor, so much so that the engine is often back on its stowage bracket on the yacht's transom, courtesy of a good davit, before the engine stops. Not the sort of thing that I would do if the prop was still birling round.

 

[billyfish]

My old yam 2hp doesn't have a kc. a button to stop and it is always in gear...

 

[Rappey]

The current tohatsu M3.5A does not have gear start protection.. its been that way for 45 yrs.. the whole concept of these small engines is to minimise on weight.

 

[lustyd]

I have never used the kill cord on my little 2.3hp outboard. It is fitted with what is effectively a "Dead Man's Handle", which means that if my hand is removed from the rotary throttle, the engine goes to tickover, and the centrifugal clutch means that the propeller stops.
I fully accept that with engines which do not automatically behave as above, a killcord should be used.

How does the design mitigate against wear in the throttle cable preventing it spinning back? Not familiar with the design, but relying on the throttle going to zero by itself doesn't seem as safe as cutting the engine power instantly with a switch.

 

[lustyd]

Taking the kill cord every time is a bit extreme. No way to untie or tie up while wearing the kill cord but that is also the time the throttle can get leant on accidently or a rope snags it.

I see some large centre consol boats dont appear to have kill cords (must be hard wearing 6 though) so at what point does one need or not need one ?

This is the most disapointing post I think I've ever read, more so given we saw someone getting extremely badly injured on video at the top of the thread.
Getting cut to pieces by an outboard is extreme, clipping a little red cord to your engine is nothing of the sort.
If you can't tie up or untie a boat where it's appropriate to use a kill cord without the engine running then you need to get some training. It's not hard, the sides of the boat are less than a metre away in most of these boats. Cut the engine and drift onto the pontoon, put the mooring buoy on the side and pick it up there. If you're blown on and need to get off, reverse away from the dock, if you're blown off and need to get off then drift off and start the engine at your leisure.

If you engine doesn't restart immediately when you want it to, either do some maintenance, buy a new engine, or find a different hobby. It's not just you that you might kill.

 

[lustyd]

The current tohatsu M3.5A does not have gear start protection.. its been that way for 45 yrs.. the whole concept of these small engines is to minimise on weight.

You think a switch is too heavy? I'd rather carry the ~10 grams than lose 3kg of leg and ballsack.

 

[Rappey]

You think a switch is too heavy?

Where did i mention a switch ? You brought that up.
By not having gears or centrifugal clutch it makes the engine as light as it can be.
Small manual outboards that do have a start in gear inhibitor are usually mechanical rather than electrical.

 

[penberth3]

Where did i mention a switch ? You brought that up.
By not having gears or centrifugal clutch it makes the engine as light as it can be.
Small manual outboards that do have a start in gear inhibitor are usually mechanical rather than electrical.

You mentioned "gear start protection",. Electrical or mechanical, that is adding a small amount of weight, but not enough to make any difference to anything.

 

[Rappey]

If you can't tie up or untie a boat where it's appropriate to use a kill cord without the engine running then you need to get some training.

And you need a reality check. Only a complete idiot would turn off their engine before they have got a line ashore coming along side and even more of an idiot casting off before starting the engine. Try your idiotic idea in a F7 or more blowing you off a pontoon and the tide pushing you away when trying to get onto it ,and good luck explaining to your insurer how you hit another boat because you stopped the engine before securing the boat .
What happens when you untie, drift off and the engine wont start? It can happen to any engine.

When towing a yacht alongside you cant see over the boats cabin so hopping on the yacht and using its rudder makes it a lot easier to steer and see all around in a busy harbour. Cant do that wearing a kill cord .