rcgreat
Well-known member
How many of you run a kill switch with a lanyard on you jon? My outboard does not currently have one but I am thinking of adding one for safety. Is it necessary?
TinBoats.net
The original aluminum boat site!
Kill switch or not to kill switch
- Thread starter rcgreat
- Start date
Help Support TinBoats.net:
Specknreds
Well-known member
Do you have a tiller or remote steering? It's the law in Louisiana. In LA you also have to wear a life jacket while underway on a tiller driven boat. I had a accident with a rouge wave and every since then I have used it.
rcgreat
Well-known member
Specknreds said:
Its a tiller steer motor. I dont think its a law in FL. (I will check and make sure) and I know its not law to wear life while in motion unless you are under 12.
redbug
Well-known member
I have my kill switch hooked around my wrist every time i fire up the big motor and have the live vest on also..
Wayne
Wayne
Specknreds
Well-known member
rcgreat said:
Please check into the FL law. I will check later. I will be in FL at the end of Sept. fishing for a week out of Homosassa River. I'm bringing my boat and it is tiller.
The life jacket law in LA is when your outboard is running no matter your age.
CarlF
Well-known member
I use my lanyard everytime I run the engine. Its cheap life insurance. Watching you boat go out of sight as you bob in the water would suck. Worse would be it circling back & running you over.
Here in AL, I believe that all boats under 26' have to have one, I know all remote steer boats under 26' do.
Kids under 12 have to have on life jackets. Adults only have to when within 1000' of a dam.
Here in AL, I believe that all boats under 26' have to have one, I know all remote steer boats under 26' do.
Kids under 12 have to have on life jackets. Adults only have to when within 1000' of a dam.
Quackrstackr
Well-known member
My Triton has one but honestly... the only thing ever hooked to the lanyard is my clippers for cutting line. 
I pulled it once to check function and like to have never gotten the thing back the way it was supposed to be.
I pulled it once to check function and like to have never gotten the thing back the way it was supposed to be.
rcgreat
Well-known member
Specknreds said:
Specknreds, I just went thru my book and it does not say anything about kill switches and lanyards. I was wrong about life jackets it says anyone under 6 years must wear a life jacket while underway on any vessel under 26 ft. I tried going to Florida wildlife commission website but apparently it is down. https://www.myfwc.com/
fowlmood77
Well-known member
CarlF said:
I was going to say the same thing. WHY TAKE THE CHANCE? A guy got bounced out of his boat last year around here. He didn't have the lanyard on, but was luck enough that there was someone close by that somehow got in between him and the boat that was circling him. If those guys had not been around, he might not have been so lucky.
ben2go
Well-known member
My engine has no provisions for a dead man switch.I do wear my pfd.If it had one I would use it every time.
rcgreat
Well-known member
I am thinking I am going to go ahead and add one to the outboard. They are not that expensive and not that hard to wire up. It sounds like some of you have heard of somone getting bounced out and I really dont want to be one of those.
Waterwings
Well-known member
When I had my Tracker and was in calm water just motoring to another location I wouldn't use it. However, when we would head out into the big water of Ky Lake or Barkley Lake and it was choppy I would always don the pfd and clip the kill switch lanyard to the d-ring on the pfd. I would also have my passengers put their pfd's on also.
ben2go said:
They are only 9 or 10 bucks, and about one of the simplest things to wire in.
I always wear my lifejacket when the motor is running. Usually, however, the kill switch isn't worn. I do wear it in rough water, or in tourneys, as most of them require one.
I did hear a story years back where a guy fell out of a 14 footer with a 6 horse Johnson, and the boat circled back, and cut his arm off. We are talking just a 6 horse motor here. No motor is too small for one.
ben2go
Well-known member
I know but my engine doesn't have a wire to use to connect to.It has a plate under the fly wheel, that grounds out the ignition, when the throttle is back down to stop.I don't have a button or anything.Only wire I have is the plug wire.The points and condenser wire is solder and under a water tight cover.
Is that plate the only thing that can ground out the ignition....?ben2go said:
See where I am getting at here. Most kill switches have 2 sets of terminals. One opens the circuit when the switch is pulled, and one closes it when the switch is pulled. So, if you can, attach a wire to that plate, and through the switch, in the latter position mentioned to a ground. If the switch is pulled, it grounds it, just as the plate you mentioned does.
ben2go
Well-known member
I could try it.The plate is tiny.Maybe 1/16 inch square.
GrumMan
Well-known member
I know most would disagree with me, and probably correctly so from a safety standpoint, but I guess I'm old school. The motor I have now is the first I've ever owned with a kill switch. I can't stand the dang thing! Not sure if something is wrong, but the only way to shut the motor off is to pull the kill switch, must be installed to start the motor. Real pain the @$$! I'd like to bypass it. In 35 year's of JB's, I've never fallen out on purpose, never knew anyone who did in a town where there is practicaly 1 or 2 JB's in every yard. Just use common sense! Don't jump barge roller's, (don't ask how I know this LOL) don't go where the waves are so high you'd get bucked outa the boat, and don't do "Bat turns."
Have you tried pushing the red button on the kill switch in to stop it? When I first got a motor with a kill switch, I thought the only way to stop it was to yank it, and used it like that for a friggen year and a half. Then, one day I was tooling down the lake (with a 4 horse, it is fairly slow), and musta been messing with the front of the tiller, and the motor just quit. I then realized that if you push the button in, it stops it. #-o #-oGrumMan said:
Zum
Well-known member
I have an old 9.9 that the throttle sticks on...hit a rock or stump,knocked me to the floor and I started doing tight circles...I tried hitting the motor straight a few times before it finally went straight again.Wished for a kill switch that day.
Was in alittle tournament and the boat ahead of me was an older boat with cable steering,one side of his cable broke sending buddy flying out the boat and his boat didn't stop till it crashed ashore,he wished for a kil switch that day.
I still don't have one but wouldn't mind one.
Was in alittle tournament and the boat ahead of me was an older boat with cable steering,one side of his cable broke sending buddy flying out the boat and his boat didn't stop till it crashed ashore,he wished for a kil switch that day.
I still don't have one but wouldn't mind one.
