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OBM ENGINE Outboard workshop · Annapolis, Maryland · Since 2008

Contact

Write to the shop

One address, read at the bench every working morning before the first motor goes in the tank. Tell us what the motor is and what it is doing, and the first reply can carry a price and a date instead of three questions.

First reply
1 working day
Diagnostic
$95
Shop labor
$118 an hour
The one way to reach us

What most messages are about
Booking an annual service 5-7 days

Working days from June to February. In March, April and May it runs 10-14 working days, so write before the spring rush, not during it.

Booking winter storage Aug 1

Bookings open. Motors and boats come in October 1 to November 30, half paid at booking and half at recommissioning. The full season is on the storage page.

Something is wrong with it 3 days

A diagnostic within 3 working days of drop off, $95 and credited against the repair if you go ahead.3 Nothing else is touched until you agree the written quote.

Check the price ledger first

What to tell us

Put this in the first message and you save a week of back and forth. Horsepower, year and serial are stamped on the plate drawn alongside, marked 01, 02 and 05.

  1. Horsepower1 Off the serial plate or the cowling. It sets the price band: 2.5-9.9, 15-30, 40-90 or 100-150 hp. Anything over 150 hp, or a twin rig, we will point elsewhere.
  2. Rough year A decade will do. Late seventies and two cylinder tells us which parts are still made and which ones come off the shelf of old stock.
  3. Tiller or remote steering A tiller motor can come in on a car roof or in a pickup bed. A remote rig usually means the boat comes too, on its trailer, and the cables get a look.
  4. What it is doing, or not doing Starts and dies, will not idle, no stream from the tell-tale, a knock from the lower unit. Say when it started and what changed just before it did.
  5. Serial plate numbers2 Model and serial, copied exactly as stamped, letters and all. A motor without a readable plate is one the shop cannot take in.
  6. Where it is and what you want On a mooring, on a trailer, in the garage. A service, a winter booking, one job you already know it needs, or just a price before you decide.
Plate 06 Sheet 06 · Detail 2:1 Plate 06: the serial plate on a transom clamp bracket Side elevation of an outboard transom clamp bracket seated over a transom drawn in section, with the motor leg in phantom and the clamp screw tightened. A detail enlargement at twice size shows the serial plate with blank fields for model, serial number, shaft, weight, horsepower and year, with callouts at the horsepower, year and serial fields. MOTOR LEG TRANSOM · IN SECTION CLAMP BRACKET · PORT SIDE A CLAMP SCREW DETAIL A · SERIAL PLATE · 2:1 OUTBOARD MOTOR MODEL SERIAL NO. SHAFT WEIGHT HP YEAR STAMPED · NOT PRINTED 01 HORSEPOWER 02 YEAR 05 SERIAL Plate 06, Detail A: the serial plate at twice size The serial plate from the transom clamp bracket, enlarged, with blank fields for model, serial number, shaft, weight, horsepower and year, and callouts at the horsepower, year and serial fields. DETAIL A · SERIAL PLATE · 2:1 OUTBOARD MOTOR MODEL SERIAL NO. SHAFT WEIGHT HP YEAR STAMPED · NOT PRINTED 01 HORSEPOWER 02 YEAR 05 SERIAL
Transom clamp bracket · Side elevation Detail A at twice size
Plate 06Where to find the numbers we ask for. The serial plate rides on the transom clamp bracket, usually the port side, riveted where a wrench seldom reaches it. Copy the model and serial exactly as stamped; horsepower and year are often on the same plate.

Hours

Saturday mornings run April through October only, when the boats are in the water and the motors are coming and going.

Monday to Friday
7:30 am-4:30 pm
SaturdayApril through October
8:00 am-12 noon
SaturdayNovember through March
Closed
Sunday
Closed
Federal holidays
Closed
Winter closure4December 23 through January 6
Closed
Spring, March to May 10-14 days

Annual service turnaround in working days. There is no same day work in April and May, however nicely asked, so book recommissioning early.

Recommissioning slots Mar 15-May 15

For motors and boats wintered here. Name your week when you book storage from August 1; any left are offered in February.

Where the shop works

Annapolis, Maryland, and the upper Chesapeake within reach of a trailer. The work is done at the shop and every motor runs in its tank before it goes home.6

The shop Annapolis

Annapolis, Maryland only. There is no counter in town and no second shop. Motors arrive on car roofs, in pickup beds and behind trucks.

Dockside visits 15 miles

Within fifteen miles of Annapolis, for motors up to 30 hp only. An $85 call out plus $118 an hour.5

Trailer collection 25 miles

Within twenty five miles of Annapolis, we collect the boat on its trailer and bring it back. $95 each way.

Further out Bring it in

Nobody goes dockside past fifteen miles and nothing is collected past twenty five. Drop off is weekdays from 7:30 am; write first so a bench is free.

Notes
  1. 1 Horsepower is stamped on the serial plate on the transom clamp bracket, usually the port side, and often printed on the cowling as well. If the cowling has been repainted or swapped, trust the plate. Back
  2. 2 The shop does not take in a motor without a readable serial plate. It has to know where a motor came from before it goes on a bench or a rack. Back
  3. 3 The $95 diagnostic is done within 3 working days of drop off and credited against the repair if you go ahead. Parts orders over $250 need a 50 percent deposit; everything else is paid on collection. Back
  4. 4 Anything written from December 23 through January 6 gets an answer on the 6th. Stored motors stay locked in and Dale walks the racks every Tuesday and Friday. More on the storage page. Back
  5. 5 Dockside work suits a tiller motor that needs plugs, an impeller look or a fuel line. Anything bigger than 30 hp, or anything that needs the test tank, comes to the shop. Back
  6. 6 The work is done at the shop because the tank is there. Back