280 and such lube question

"Was changing the oil in my dr

"Was changing the oil in my drive today and it struck me.. Top end of drive is lubed by oil that is pumped up from the bottom of the drive.
OK...as I recall, the vertical shaft in a 200 series drive only rotates when in gear...what lubes the upper end when engine is in neutral?
There are times that I drift fish a fairly unpleasant inlet near my home (Barnegat) and I don't shut the engine off for safety reasons.
Should I be bumping it into gear from time to time? I know that the prop spins very slowly when not in gear due to lube drag... but surely this can't be enough to have the oil pump work.
Is there a max recommended run in neutral time?"

"Seems to me that you still ha

"Seems to me that you still have oil in the gearbox as long as you have an indication on the dipstick. You may not be getting complete circulation but you have some cooling of the oil since the gearbox is under water. They say to allow room for thermal expansion and not fill the gearbox all the way up.

Since these drives have been around since the oceans were formed, I would assume thay would have issued a bulletin if there was a problem."

"Nope, no problem Robert.
Th

"Nope, no problem Robert.
The oil level is such that oil covers the lowest "driven" gear/bearing....., and since they all three rotate whenever the engine is operating, oil is splash lubricating all three gears and bearings.

Only when running and in gear do we get the cooling effect from the lower unit oil circulation.

Single prop w/ slinger pump = 30W -40W.
Duo Prop = GL 5 gear oil.

Funny that you'd bring up that last question.
GM had an automotive Saginaw manual 4 sp transmission in the 70's that could not be towed more than a few miles or the speed gears would weld themselves to the main shaft. No oil slinging took place!
I don't think we can tow any cars much these days w/out disconnecting the driveline. "

Thanks... wasn't sure wher

Thanks... wasn't sure where the oil level started and the gears ended. I supppose I could have pulled the dip stick and lined it up with the housing but I didn't. Thanx again.