PDA

View Full Version : Neat tool for getting what you dropped in the $%#@! bilge



C_Spray
02-26-2010, 03:50 PM
If you've never dropped anything into the bowels of your bilge, you probably don't own a boat. The rest of us know that virtually nothing on a boat is magnetic, and we've all stood on our heads, scraped up our arms, and dang near gotten stuck retrieving (or trying to retrieve) some crucial part that we need to get back in order to get home or go boating. :cuss:

I bought this from McMaster-Carr (They DO sell almost everything!!!) for $41.77 - Item #57465A54: "Lighted Retrieving Tool, Claw Style, 42" Overall". It has a short flexible section about 2/3 of the way down, but the other sections of it are rigid, so it doesn't act like a wet noodle. The claws open up to about 5/8" by 3/4". It even has a pistol grip. :hurray:

This probably means that I won't drop anything into the bilge for the next several years, in which case is was more than worth the money.... :sifone:

If nothing else, it will be great for pinching people out of arm's length. :reddevil:

cigdaze
02-26-2010, 04:07 PM
Cool deal. I have one of those grabbers (no light on mine) and they're an indispensable, must have.

OldSchool
02-26-2010, 04:09 PM
Cool deal. I have one of those grabbers (no light on mine) and they're an indispensable, must have.

Me too!!!!

Geronimo36
02-26-2010, 04:19 PM
I like the light, thanks!

DaveP
02-26-2010, 04:35 PM
My protologist has something like that in his office.... LOL!

C_Spray
02-26-2010, 04:38 PM
My protologist has something like that in his office.... LOL!When your eyeballs light up from the inside, he's gone too far.

Ted
02-26-2010, 04:45 PM
Me too!!!!


I had one till Craig borrowed it :(:(


:sifone:

Tony
02-26-2010, 05:18 PM
About once a year I pick up a dozzen of those beefy telescopic magnets from Napa. I find bilge fishing somewhat rewarding, you find **** down there that you forgot that you had.

old377guy
02-26-2010, 05:22 PM
Mine is in the top of my tool box, no light though - may be time to upgrade

Scarab KV
02-26-2010, 05:29 PM
Have one minus the light. Also one thats telescopic with a magnet on the end. Both are must haves. Seem to get used alot.:D

OldSchool
02-26-2010, 05:33 PM
I had one till Craig borrowed it :(:(


:sifone:

I've got two of them if you need to borrow one neighbor!!!:sifone::seeya:

LaughingCat
02-26-2010, 05:33 PM
My protologist has something like that in his office.... LOL!

MarylandMark got one from an Asian guy

FastDonzi
02-26-2010, 09:42 PM
Sh*t, I have found some of my tools 3 years later when a boat Came back for motor repairs, Pulled the motors and there was my test light and wrench (Replaced a long time before:ack2:)

Blue Oval
02-26-2010, 11:16 PM
The auto term is mechanics fingers! I have one in my boat! Also good when the ladies put bad things in your porta potti!

Slandrew
02-27-2010, 08:49 AM
Have one minus the light. Also one thats telescopic with a magnet on the end. Both are must haves. Seem to get used alot.:D

Magnet good as long as it's not stainless!Nice tool the light is a good thing:USA:

Trim'd Up
02-27-2010, 10:03 AM
The auto term is mechanics fingers! I have one in my boat! Also good when the ladies put bad things in your porta potti!

I'll be damned... I've always called them motherf#cker savers. :sifone:

tommymonza
02-27-2010, 11:52 AM
My buddys 53 sailboat devloped a really bad oil leak on the old Ford Lehman when a freeze plug rusted out on one of the oil galleries. After fixing the problem i spent a day way down in the sump area of the bilge cleaning 38 years of grime and 3 inches of compacted dirt.

In one chunk of dirt i found an old large Sears Craftsmen adujustable that the last 2 inches of the handle and the adjustable mechanism were rotted away from electrolisis .

Next trip i had to make to Sears in KeyWest to get another tool i brought it in to them to just show it to them. Guy comes back with a new one and says looks like the adjustable mechanism failed Here ya go.

Blue Thunder
02-27-2010, 09:40 PM
If nothing else, it will be great for pinching people out of arm's length. :reddevil:

We will be keeping an even closer eye on you and crew than before, this year ;)

MarylandMark
02-27-2010, 11:13 PM
If you've never dropped anything into the bowels of your bilge, you probably don't own a boat.

Or upgraded to outboards.. :bump:

MacGyver
02-28-2010, 11:40 AM
In one chunk of dirt i found an old large Sears Craftsmen adujustable that the last 2 inches of the handle and the adjustable mechanism were rotted away from electrolisis .

Next trip i had to make to Sears in KeyWest to get another tool i brought it in to them to just show it to them. Guy comes back with a new one and says looks like the adjustable mechanism failed Here ya go.

Thats what I like about having Craftsman tools. They'll replace almost anything (except a torque wrench with a broken locking collar :rolleyes: ).

Tony
02-28-2010, 01:06 PM
Thats what I like about having Craftsman tools. They'll replace almost anything (except a torque wrench with a broken locking collar :rolleyes: ).

Throw it in the bilge for a few years then try again. :sifone:

Bad Idea Baja
02-28-2010, 11:37 PM
A "See Snake" is also a very helpful tool to use along with the mechanic's fingers grabber.
I bought a flashlight/magnet pickup tool from Northern Tool. Thing is awesome.
http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_200343049_200343049

TMS1155
02-28-2010, 11:49 PM
Thats what I like about having Craftsman tools. They'll replace almost anything (except a torque wrench with a broken locking collar :rolleyes: ).

If you pick a day when its busy and you make enough noise they will. I'm on the third one. When they tell you its not guaranteed remind them that their policy is ALL hand tools are lifetime. When they say no, get a manager and ask him to show you how to plug it in or how it is used if it is not a hand tool. Noise is the key!

C_Spray
03-01-2010, 08:53 AM
A "See Snake" is also a very helpful tool to use along with the mechanic's fingers grabber.
I bought a flashlight/magnet pickup tool from Northern Tool. Thing is awesome.
http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_200343049_200343049Pretty cool, and the price is right! If only something besides the crankshaft and rods in my boat was magnetic. Hand tools, I suppose...

Chris
03-01-2010, 10:27 AM
My buddys 53 sailboat devloped a really bad oil leak . After fixing the problem i spent a day way down in the sump area of the bilge cleaning 38 years of grime and 3 inches of compacted dirt.

.

You were on a sailboat? :eek:

tommymonza
03-01-2010, 11:02 AM
I know I am a little Sick but the pay is good and the beer is cold.We aren't sailors we are Drinkers that are not allowed behind the wheel of something that goes faster than 6 knots.