zebra-mussels getting in to outdrives oh my-gctid389444

[Guest]

Looks like its getting bad what can one do

to stop them.It will be my 1st time out this

week end i will let you no if i overheat

a lot of boats are being pulled out due to overheating

http://www.lakestclair.net/index.php?/topic/97033-zebra-mussels-in-my-outdrive/

[JimMc]

Boatman wrote:
Looks like its getting bad what can one do

to stop them.It will be my 1st time out this

week end i will let you no if i overheat

a lot of boats are being pulled out due to overheating

http://www.lakestclair.net/index.php...n-my-outdrive/

I just finished reading the LakeStClair net thread. I too am at Beacon Cove. The fella next to us has had issues with the zebra mussels in the past and rigged some kind of back flush for the drives.

Knock Wood so far .....

[Guest]

Funny im next door at Valgers

ill be out at the moot sat.

look out for the Therapy boat

[Guest]

Ahhh yes, I had one of my drives re-sealed this year and they said they found a nice pile of zebra muscles in the drive, mainly in the water cavity so it wouldnt cause much harm.

When I pulled my boat after being in the water for about 2-3 weeks, the little bastards were coming out of my water inlets, I cleaned them out but have no real way of prevention. Using the boat more often would probably be best, but geez that costs $$$

[Guest]

Wow! Thats crazy Guys! Their are two lake here in Texas that they are already getting bad, lake Texoma, and Lavon. Parks a wildlife services are taking it vary seriously.

I'm guessing these are small baby ones right?

[Guest]

JWebber wrote:
Wow! Thats crazy Guys! Their are two lake here in Texas that they are already getting bad, lake Texoma, and Lavon. Parks a wildlife services are taking it vary seriously.

I'm guessing these are small baby ones right?

they get into your drive when they are small, then they grow. They dont detach from anything, they are stuck until you remove them. Nasty buggers and sharp.

[Guest]

I believe somebody on this form mentioned a couple years ago about hanging a mess bag of chlorine tablets off the trim tab, not sure if it worked though. Other than that, there's not a whole lot you can do besides power wash the buggers off as often as you can.

[Guest]

biohazard wrote:
they get into your drive when they are small, then they grow. They dont detach from anything, they are stuck until you remove them. Nasty buggers and sharp.

I see! yea your right about sharp edges. I remember last year being at Texoma and the water was way down, along the rocks were tons of them, I told my kids to be careful. Some were broken off and other still intacked.

[Guest]

Somewhere I read the larvae die at 140┬║F. I had a quite a collection on the trim tabs, the mercathode assy, and my transducer mount last season. The pickup for the toilet was full as well. Though we dont use the water pickup for flushing, we use a cup of fresh water for that so the seacock was closed all year. I found none in my AC system though. The water pickup holes in the drive had a few small ones and I just used an ice pick to crush them up.

This season I try to go down to the marina and let the boat warm up a couple times a week when we are not going to go out for a while. So far no problems with overheating.

I had thought about putting a big garbage bag over the drive after use, but since the larvae can squeeze through a 30 micron screen, I figured I would wind up falling in the water more than once trying to get the bag on an still not being able to keep them out. I guess I'll just have to keep the ice pick handy and poke around in the intakes once in a while.

sasmith

[RinnyBeth]

Optimus wrote:
I believe somebody on this form mentioned a couple years ago about hanging a mess bag of chlorine tablets off the trim tab, not sure if it worked though. Other than that, there's not a whole lot you can do besides power wash the buggers off as often as you can.

go into the hardware store or pool store and buy the swimming pool bleach tabs.. hang it near the area in a mesh baggy.. DONT forget to pull it when leaving for an outting...

make a note on the helm.. they are nasty buggers.. we had some attached to our rudders and props.. needed a trowl to scrape them off..

[Rick_Kenyon]

there really is some positive reason to be in salt water? :kidding

I remember back when we were still in NY boating on the Barge Canal system, many of the lock walls were covered solid with them.

[Alaskanmutt]

sasmith wrote:
I guess I'll just have to keep the ice pick handy and poke around in the intakes once in a while. sasmith

Yo, Da GodFatta sez dat Ice Picks is da weapon of choise, You don't have that back spray like a bullet duz.

[Guest]

People in Washington Oregon and Idaho are afraid to death that the Zebra Mussels will make their way into the water ways up here. They have not as yet. Idaho has boating check points at every major road leading into the state checking for them. Nonresidents of Idaho also need a nonresident invasive species sticker, to legally boat in the state, it is about $22.00 and helps pay for the efforts to keep those nasty's out of the state.

[Guest]

How about coating the water intake portion (only) of the drive with bottom paint. That should prevent them from wanting to attach to it. Yes, galvanic action is a risk; and it needs to be weighed against that of an overheated engine. If the area is small enough, it might not be an issue.

[Guest]

When we had a problem (they are mostly gone now), I would just put a pool floaty with chlorine tablets behind the boat. It was about 3' from the drives. Not close enough for the chlorine to affect the metal, but nothing grew on the drives or stern.

Note: This is probably illegal. I don't know. I just made sure it wasn't seen.

Some time ago I had painted the drives with outdrive anti-fouling paint and that worked, but was expensive and only lasted 2-3 years.