Is anyone living OK with a recently fitted rope cutter on a saildrive?

[steve_cronin]

Having just found out that a rope which must have been picked up at the start of last season has resulted in the need for a new prop., cone, anode & gasket I am now seriously looking at fitting a cutter to the saildrive leg.The smooth disc type looks ineffective to me so it will have to be a "Spurs" or some other active "chewing" type.

Does anyone have any tales to relate about their experiences with any of these. Also is it necessary to drill & tap the endplate for attachment purposes?

Steve Cronin

 

[TigaWave]

For sail drives there is currently only one option, the Stripper, we are working on a cutter for saildrives but it will be at least a six months away.
If you search under "rope cutter marine" on google you should find them.
My last boat had a saildrive and I can sympathise having had the debris problem more than once, but fortunately no lasting damage.

 

[scarlett]

I have had the AE Stripper on my Volvo 120s legs for the past 11 years and eaten through a more than a hundred lines in that time I am sure . It works well. No drilling is necessary. Remove, clean and grease once a year. Replace bearing surface packings when necessary. [me once] Fit and forget.

 

[steve_cronin]

Your "shaving" approach looks interesting. I have indeed done a search (on Yahoo) for rope cutters. What I was interested in was individual experiences.

Steve Cronin

 

[bullen]

We have an Ambassador Rope cutter - Stripper- on our Bav 38, sail drive. It has saved us once, knowingly, when we got a large peice of discarded net wrapped around the prop. It has been on a year and works well.

 

[bullen]

We have an Ambassador Rope cutter - Stripper- on our Bav 38, sail drive. It has saved us once, knowingly, when we got a large piece of discarded net wrapped around the prop. It has been on a year and works well.

 

[jerryat]

Hi tigawave,

That's interesting, I didn't realise Ambassador Marine were the only manufacturers of 'leg' cutters. I felt sure Spurs also produced one, but it's many years since I fitted my Spurs (totally brilliant kit) so may have mis-read, or more likely, mis-remembered(!) /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif the literature at the time.

Cheers Jerry

 

[Micky]

Now having one fitted by Foxes marina, the 3 Jews type. Not such a simple job as it first appears. The fit onto the shaft has to be correct and there has to be enough room to allow for the prop going in and out or it will foul the cutler's. Apparently props move inward up to 1/4" when put into gear.
The cutlers has to be drilled and taped and a spacer has to be fitted on the gearbox flange to give the required clearance at the prop end.

The cost, estimated between £400.00 and £500 all depending on any snags cropping up during the fitting.

 

[sonic]

I have an Ambassador rope cutter on my Bavaria 38 no problems with it as long as you have it serviced annually. Local engineer at Troon striped it down and replaced the bushes for not a lot. The only problem is you have to have the leg anode drilled to allow it to fit on the shaft.
Touch wood so far no fouled props in 3 years.

 

[EdEssery]

I've had an Ambassador Stripper on my 120S Sail Drive for the past two seasons. No problems. Extremely well engineered product and good service. Recommended. No connection to the company.

Never had a problem with a rope round the prop that I know of! Fingers crossed for coming season.

Ed

 

[DaveS]

I have Spurs fitted to my VP 120 saildrive. It was fitted to the boat when I bought it so I cannot really comment on initial ease of fitting, but it can certainly now be taken off and replaced very easily - which you do when replacing the leg anode. Other than one screw (see below) there are no fixings at all: the whole unit slides on to the splines before the propeller. Fixed and moving blades are permanently clamped together with plastic washers that allow free rotation without any noticeable play. The fixed blade is connected to a fork which sits either side of the training edge of the leg, preventing rotation while allowing for the bit of necessary axial prop shaft travel noted by other posters.

The only problem is that Volvo's standard anodes no longer fit straight out of the packet. You have to take about 10 mm (from memory) off the thickness to make room for the Spurs unit - but that's a 5 minute job if you have access to a lathe. You also have to drill a wee hole in the anode to accommodate the stainless wire which is run between an anode fixing screw and the screw on the fork.

Oh and yes, it cuts ropes very well indeed - especially nice new ones that you accidentally drop overboard!

 

[Cantata]

I've got an Ambassador on a 120S saildrive, no problems.
The saildrive anode is slightly modified, yes, but you can buy them from Ambassador ready-drilled for much the same price as everywhere else.
You do have to drill a couple of holes in the front face of the propellor boss, but it's a straightforward job and Ambassador will even do it for you if you don't want to do it.
No connection - but I did visit them a few weeks ago to pick up an anode and found them very pleasant and welcoming.