Re: Hurth HBW-50 Transmission Needed

Its all about maintenance and handling. I cringe when I see some skippers slam their trannies from forward to reverse at higher rpm than I would be comfortable with - certainly without giving the shaft some time to slow down. Also, a lot of these are behind the engine in the cavern under the cockpit, very hard to access - not tended to as they should. Natural breathing through the vent causes moisture to enter - collect in the bottom of the sump and it starts eating at the metals. Pleasure boat trannies seldom are runlong enough for the oil to reach operating temperature - i.e. hot enough to start driving off moisture - in fact in my opinion most of them are over-cooled with tranny coolers and they don't typically have thermostats to regulate their temperature. With all the negatives affecting their oil condition, they should see a complete oil change every year - preferably at the end of the season, so they don't sit with moisture laden oil over thewinter. FWIW

Well said "Dutchess22". I agree. When we were out cruising, 1988 to 1995, I repaired several transmissions for other cruisers as I had been trained, Cypress College, SoCal, plus had my own part-time business doing boat repairs, 1972 - 1988. After a few years when checking into a new cruiser's hangout I would offer a short class in maintaining your gear box. You must change the oil, assure the oil level is correct and the vent is clean. A plugged vent on a Borg Warner Velvet Drive will blow the front seal in short time. Check the vent as well as oil level before each use. Getting the tranny out of the typical engine "cave" is not fun and a lot of work, plus a gear reduction BW will weigh 140 pounds. If you blow the front or rear seal and don't check and replenish the oil, you can have a serious melt down which may not be repairable. A new BW with reduction is over $4,000. I have a few RTO's available. Check with me off the Cal list. Tom Vandiver, Cal 46, Bayou Chico, FL From: "du… [at] aim.com" <du… [at] aim.com> To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Sent: Saturday, December 14, 2013 8:58 AM Subject: [Cal_Boats] Re: Hurth HBW-50 Transmission Needed Its all about maintenance and handling. I cringe when I see some skippers slam their trannies from forward to reverse at higher rpm than I would be comfortable with - certainly without giving the shaft some time to slow down. Also, a lot of these are behind the engine in the cavern under the cockpit, very hard to access - not tended to as they should. Natural breathing through the vent causes moisture to enter - collect in the bottom of the sump and it starts eating at the metals. Pleasure boat trannies seldom are runlong enough for the oil to reach operating temperature - i.e. hot enough to start driving off moisture - in fact in my opinion most of them are over-cooled with tranny coolers and they don't typically have thermostats to regulate their temperature. With all the negatives affecting their oil condition, they should see a complete oil change every year - preferably at the end of the season, so they don't sit with moisture laden oil over thewinter. FWIW