Rope Cutter Thumbs up or down?

[tome]

The boat is coming out of the water end of October briefly. I'm having seacocks overhauled, new anodes etc as per survey requirements and will slap on a coat of antifoul to see her through the winter. Also fitting PSS shaft seal and engine service.

Question: at 400 quid, should I fit a rope cutter (I'm not Onassis101)? I've had ropes around my prop in the past and always (soemtimes after a lot of farting about) managed to clear the prop.

Comments and votes from our esteemed and learned panel

 

[Guest]

Thumbs up

Prop wraps tend to happen at the most inconvenient time. Better that your engine doesnt stop than to have to recover the situation in times of stress eg when you are in close quarters manouveurs (sp?).

It also prevents you having to strip off in eg wintry conditions etc etc.... I had a prop wrap once whilst anchoring in April at a remote nature reserve British Columbia. Fortunately the warden ashore had a wet suit...........

Alternatively, it might be cheaper to carry your own wet/dry suit.

 

[jimi]

Have you looked at the Ambassador?
http://www.ropestripper.com

When I posted a similar query in March this was the one recommended and I got it fitted. From memory I think it was under £300 but the mind is going ...


Jim

 

[Miker]

Re: Thumbs up

Get one and treat it as a one off insurance plicy.

 

[Guest]

I miss mine ....

Wish I had spent the money and repaired mine ..... mine was a Spurs unit ..... excellent apart from the stupid nylon spacer that wears out !!

 

[webcraft]

A friend got a rope round the prop in April last year, almost ripped out the P- bracket and the boat was towed into Eastbourne sinking. (Tough old boat, too - not a lightweight). A delay of eight days nearly scuppered the voyage to Tenerife due to time constraints, and the total bill on relaunch ran to four figures.

And he had a rope cutter . . . but the spinning knife sort, which seem to be a waste of time according to some reviews (and this experience). Personally, I think a jaws-type cutter is well worth it if your hull might incur this type of damage from a hefty prop-wrapping incident.

However, here's an idea from the US Albin Vega forum which won't work exactly as advertised because most boats have a different hull/rudder/prop configuration to the Vega, but perhaps it could be modified for different boats:

'An old Maine sailor took one look at my Vega's exposed prop and suggested installing a flat piece of stainless steel (maybe 15-18 inches long, about the size of a paint stir stick) horizontal, mounted to the trailing edge of the rudder just below the prop. Any line that crosses under the keel and sweeps up the rear edge of the rudder is deflected back and away before it hits the prop. In 4 years I've only snagged once, and that was on light wind in the middle of a tack when I think a strong tide flow actually set me slightly backwards on one. Four years later, it's the best and cheapest modification I've made!'
(Courtesy of Tom Lochhaas)

- Nick


BlueMoment.Com
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.bluemoment.com/>http://www.bluemoment.com/</A>

 

[qsiv]

There is very little more satisfying than seeing a free floating lobster pot marker floating free of the boat.

Normally I would steer round them - but when they are layed in a fairway or right in a transit/leading line I dont always have room.

I'm also partial to night passages and the Channel Islands are littered with pots - to consider night passages with the engine on would give me the heebie-jeebies. All my boats have had Spurs or equivalent, and even with the PTFE bearing that needs replacing, I wouldnt be without them.

 

[JeremyF]

Shaft drive vs saildrive

If you have shaft drive, and there's 20 mm between the P bracket and the prop, then the ST recommended best buy Proprotector at less than £100 seems a great investment. For us with Saildrive, only Ambassador do a stripper, and its some £350 - a different decision entirely. What drive have you got?

<font color=blue>Jeremy Flynn/forums/images/icons/crazy.gif
Dawn Chorus</font color=blue>

 

[tome]

Re: Shaft drive vs saildrive

It's a shaft drive and I'm definitely extending the transmission spacer so that there's room to retrofit.

So far inconclusive, but a definite leaning towards fitting. It's the Ambassador stripper I'm considering...

More opinions please!

 

[JeremyF]

Re: Shaft drive vs saildrive

ST did a test and the rotating single blade did almost as well as the scissors on the Ambassador, and at a fraction of the price. In your position, I'd go for the cheaper option, but lets see other advice.

<font color=blue>Jeremy Flynn/forums/images/icons/crazy.gif
Dawn Chorus</font color=blue>

 

[tome]

Jimi

The marine engineer (who's brother is regular crew) says Ambassador only - fair enough, so that's what I'm looking at.

Prop shaft is 1 1/4in and I need the 3 bladed model (Maxprop). I think the list price is just shy of 400 quid.

 

[jimi]

I've just been looking for my receipt but I can't find it! I sourced and got it fitted by Marine Power Bursledon who gave a competitive quote & were very good.

Jim

 

[tome]

Interesting concept - a deflector mechanism. Thanks for the post!

 

[Miker]

Re: Shaft drive vs saildrive

A year or two ago a sailing magazine did a review ( I can't remember which one) which placed Ambassador as top and said that the Proprotector was not that good with plastic. I had a Proprotector fitted which couldn't fight its way out of a plastic bag, so I changed to the Ambassador. I reckoned that I needed the maximum protection afforded by these devices, and any saving could be a false economy. BTW I have a blunt Proprotector lying somewhere around my garage if anyone is interested.

 

[vyv_cox]

Re: Shaft drive vs saildrive

I believe it was YM who reviewed and tested, end of 2001. The Ambassador came out top, closely followed by Spurs, with the others well back. As a result, I bought an Ambassador at LBS and have never had a rope around my prop since. Mind you, I never did before, either.

What I can say is that they are very sharp indeed. I cut myself installing it.

 

[Twister_Ken]

Re: Shaft drive vs saildrive

My Stripper certainly managed to cut my log line very effectively.

 

[tome]

Looks like a resounding yes vote on this so I'll bite the bullet.

I'm going to fit an Ambassador Stripper after reading the ST review and on the advice of the marine engineer and others on this forum.

Thanks for replies, I'm off to suggest to my wife that we buy a stripper. Wish me luck!

 

[pandroid]

I think the Stripper's the right choice. If you want to wait until the Boat Show, they often offer to kill the VAT as a show deal. Fitting only takes a few minutes uness you need to push the shaft out, for which they make spacers.

 

[Budgie]

I have a saildrive and last time it was out of the water I could not see how a rope cutter could be fitted - nor that it would be very effective. Any comments? Has anyone with a saildrive suffered a problem?

 

[Guest]

Positive cutting ....

Single blade cutter was shown EVEN on the www sales site to rely on the material wrapping and tightening against the 'knife-edge' .... sorry but I don't like this and am yet to be convinced that a single blade can be better than two opposing edges positively cutting. I had spurs fitted to my boat before .... I never knew if I had a rope or not ... spurs likely cut anything before I knew ! I don't have now - stupid economy .... I now have a 'slack' tiller to rudder stock fitting after picking up the cargo net and no spurs to get rid of it. The vibration of the prop shook my rudder violently ......

Give me two blades - Stripper, Spurs whatever .....