Actual chance of prop falling off?

[Oscarpop]

I know it happens, and I know that it has happened to a friend of mine.


But when I removed my prop in January, I spent 2 days on my back with a blow torch/ prop puller and f'ing great mallet before it came off.

Followed the instructions for the new featherstream one. Torqued it up, put the nut on with norlock washers and threadlock, then screwed the anode on , on top of the nut with threadlock ( this in itself stops the nut un threading).

So as we approach the first sail of the season, I am wondering how common is it? How can you reduce the chances of it coming loose? Or are people who lose their prop normally unlucky?

 

[prv]

Not something I worry about personally, though I did know someone who fitted a folding prop and kept the fixed original bolted to the engine bay bulkhead as a spare in case the folder ever broke or fell off in a remote place.

Pete

 

[Oscarpop]

Ive done the same. Kept the original at the bottom of a locker with the nut cable tied to it, just in case.

 

[vyv_cox]

Me too, not because I think the prop will fall off but because I have read of folding and feathering props losing a blade.

The chances of a prop are falling off are pretty remote provided there is some positive means of holding the nut on, such as a split pin or a locking bolt such as my Brunton has.

 

[Bosun Higgs]

The one good thing about the Radice folder is that it cant come off without first losing a blade. Mind you a one bladed folding prop is no use to anyone so there really isnt any advantage.

 

[sarabande]

there at least two occasions on the forum of props unwinding when the gearbox is put into reverse.

Drilling a transverse hole in the shaft and wiring or pinning the nut on is about the best method.

 

[Woodlouse]

I too keep the old fixed prop onboard, but again just in case the feathering prop breaks or jams. Losing the prop is not something I've intentionally planned against.

 

[Neil_Y]

Pretty unlikely, but I've lost one blade of a volvo folding prop, and your right it's pretty useless as a one bladed prop! The vibration had the engine bouncing off the walls before I could kill it.

 

[alteredoutlook]

One half of my folding prop is at the bottom of Loch Craignish. If any one ever finds it then please give it back......

 

[[10753]]

Whilst on the waiting jetty at St Peter Port a few years back a French chappy lost his prop. A diver recovered it and the owner put it back on whilst drying out against the wall.