Rope Cutter for the prop

[jay]

I sail a Seacracker 33 from the NE Coast. Am contemplating fitting a rope cutter but can't decide if its worth the expense. I've been sailing on and off in this area (on other peoples boats) for 12 years and havent yet heard of anyone catching a rope yet. Have I just been lucky? Is it a sensible investment considering I'm on a limited budget or should I just make do and hope for the best!

 

[discoduck]

Hi
Beware of the B & Q Bags just floating around. Or you don't need insurance until you are burgled.

 

[Colvic Watson]

Can I piggy back a question on this? I have similar feelings about this and have seen some disc type cutters for £60 - £100. Are they really no good? Can't afford £300 for a Stripper (and the wife would complain, ha ha.)

 

[jay]

I've been warned off the disk cutters too - by my local chandler and by various previous posts on here.

 

[Colvic Watson]

Why?

 

[jay]

just been told they dont work and that the "Stripper" is far superior

 

[mirabriani]

The advert is superior to most I've seen!

Briani

 

[Strathglass]

In published tests, they don't seem to work quite as well as the more expensive ones. I think the rope has to wrap round a bit before it get's cut.

In my view much better than nothing.

I am waiting for delivery of a 316 disk cutter via 'buy now' from a well known auction site.

At a cost of £48.50 incl carrage.

That beats any other option in my mind.

Iain

 

[jay]

looking at it now - I take it the cutting face is just the sharpened edge of the disk - are you acting on a reccomendation - or are your just employing the "it must be better than nothing" approach? Nothing wrong with the latter by the way

 

[TigaWave]

Firstly I supply shaft rope cutters so am in some ways biased, but as a Yacht skipper for many years, personally I only had two incidents, so it doesn't happen very often.

But since attending shows and demonstrating our cutters I have heard of a number of expensive incidents, from pulling P brackets out of hulls and near sinkings to bending two shafts together when both props caught one rope, and the removal of a gearbox on a very large engine!
It doesn't seem worth taking the risk, its like not carrying a spare wheel in the car. You dont get a puncture often but you wouldn't feel happy without a spare.

As to the choice of cutter, my advice is talk to fisherman, engineers or naval architects. Evaluate the three types Disc/scissor/shaver.
Fishermen often catch their own ropes so have a wealth of experience with the problem.
There are advantages and disadvantages with every type...I wont say more but if you have any questions please e-mail.

 

[Colvic Watson]

[ QUOTE ]
looking at it now - I take it the cutting face is just the sharpened edge of the disk

[/ QUOTE ]
Just seen it as well. Exactly the same design as the one in our swindlery (they wanted £110). Compass24 are doing them for £60

 

[ean_p]

I know this is in the wrong place but is relevent........I've a 2 blade Stripper in excelent condition to suit 30-32 mm shaft going for £150. Its as new and complete.......

 

[Strathglass]

Really a combination of both.

They are certainly not as good as some of the better ones but a disk is infinately better than nothing.

A disk is also much easier to fit although that is not a serious problem to me.

Iain

 

[eyehavit]

Iain, IMHO, as far as cutting rope, a disc gives you about a 50:50 chance. Why? It simply has no mechanism to deal with rope that gets caught only by the prop and then winds on to your newly discovered instant rope winch. Scissors and shavers CAN deal with that eventuality. Discs CANNOT.
Hey, but discs are much cheaper and easier to fit!!!

 

[stevebirch2002]

Just to join the debate for my pennyworth. I have fitted quite a few "Strippers" and the fitting took less than an hour. They work fantastic. The price is a bit pricey but they do actually work. I thinking buying on price is not the way, the article has to do the job! Just think of buying some body armour made out of cardboard just because it's cheaper-Ok if they fire paintballs at you but nit much cop against a high velocity bullet. This is all IMHO and I have nothing to do with the company, Ambassadour Marine. The unbiased tests carried out by the sailing magazines always put the "Stripper" at teh top of the pile for doing the job but costs.

 

[jay]

what involved in the fitting and what tools do I need? It looks like I'll have to drill and tape the cutlas bearing - not something I've ever done before. Which is the other thing that puts me off them!

 

[eyehavit]

I agree that it is better to pay more for something that works better. But, that is a generalisation and there is no doubt in my mind that there are things that can be bought at a cheaper price that work extremely well and are utterly reliable.
I only wish to draw attention that the last "unbiased" report was an article written by Keith Colwell way back in 2000. In his article Colwell discussed and compared brands by name and genre. By doing so he was probably the first person to classify rope cutters by type.
Colwell identified Scissor and Disc type cutters. Significantly, he did not remotely mention quicKutter nor its Shaver catagory.
The reason he did not was because he could not. The reason he could not was the new technology was not commercially available back in 2000.
This new development, for 2005 and onwards, renders Colwells article obsolete despite that it was well researched at the time.

If you want to read Keith Colwell's article click on:
http://www.ropestripper.com/documents/art-st99-ropecutter.pdf
If you want to read my short paper click on:
http://www.quicKutter.com

 

[stevebirch2002]

Hi

Your best bet is to call Ambassador Marine and speak to the owner, Robin. He is very helpful and when I asked about the Vega fitting he went and had a look at a Vega and came up with a small adaptor plate. Takes about an hour to fit and only tools I needed were screwdriver, spanner, allen key and perhaps a battery drill and drill bits. Dont worry it is not a difficult job and Robin will always advise.

 

[stevebirch2002]

I thought the last article I saw on Rope Cutters was last year, Sailing Today or PBO I think.....

 

[pelicanpete]

Has anyone addressed the possibility of catching STEEL rope around the prop as used by commercial fishermen? Which cutter would be best in this instance?