Rope Cutters

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Canopy Locked

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On a shaft drive boat with a skeg bracket to the rudder, I'm still worried about about picking up a rope. I hope there are some forumites who could give me the benefit of their experiences as to which might be the best type of cutter to chose.

Thanks
 
Not sure which is best, but I have had boats with Stripper and the razor type. Neither worked when I have had encounters with fishing net and rope on different occasions.
I wonder if they are really just lucky talismans?
 
I'd be interested to hear any feedback on the Quickutter product. I think it was reviewd in MBM or MBY several years ago but not heard much about it since. (I note that TigaWave sells them so, whilst I'm interested in what he may have to say, I will be suitably cautious/sceptical.)
 
The thing about rope cutters, is that you may never know when they have done thier job.
When we lifted out last year for antifoul there were "Whip" marks on the underside, we had obviously had something around the shaft or prop's but were completely unaware. Just as I like it.
We have "Spurs" cutters fitted on both shaft's and wouldn't want to be without them, it's like wearing a seatbelt in your car, You know you are not going to be involved in an accident but it's nice to know that if you are.....
 
I have fitted prop protectors to my Broom and
fortunatly since fitting over 10yrs ago have not
had and rope of fishing nets caught since.
and they do not distort your prop.
 
No sales pitch or bitching, cutters are different to anchors.

No independent tests have been carried out on the QuicKutter yet, (but the more people that ask the magazines to do a test the better).
The last magazine test was done before the QuicKutter was invented.

QuicKutters have been promoted to commercial vessels primarily, we wanted to prove the robustness and discover if there were any improvements needed. So you won't see many on leisure vessels...yet. Our biggest show for selling them is Seaworks a commercial show. Fishermen will not buy something that doesn't work, they are in many ways the hardest customers.

Through this show we also supply to people like VT Halmatic, and builders like Lyme Boats, and also after some paper work (2 years) the RN have changed Spurs for QuicKutters on a survey vessel that runs in and around heavily potted areas. An American builder, Christensen Yachts now fit quicKutters at the factory, Americans are also difficult to convince when they have a home grown product.

I won't claim anything other than growing success with some customers that need hard evidence, or carry out their own thorough evaluations which take months or years to complete.

Thats the facts now you can decide for yourself or talk to an engineer who works on boats and cutters.

I hope this helps to generate a balanced discussion.
 
I bought a set of Quickutters from H4 Marine in March and had them fitted to my new boat, a Storebro flybridge with shafts. Having done 140 hours with them on and cruised in Wales, Ireland and Cornwall where pots are common place i can report that i have had no problems. The only incident that i am aware of was the other week in Kilmore Quay where we ran over a very long trailing rope from a pot. The line to the pot was immediatly cut by the cutters and we simply then trailed the buoy. On investigation ie a quick dip under the boat by yours truly revealed a cleanly cut line and the remainder of the rope to the buoy partially looped on the p bracket behind the prop, which if left would not have fouled the prop. They are not the cheapest to buy and fit but i can confidently recommend them.
 
Tetleys, thanks for the report. May I ask some specific questions:

- Did you have the standard or hardened version?
- What were the considerations for that choice?
- Any performance implications?
- Any fitting problems?
 
Another vote for Prop Protector relatively cheap easy to fit and no issues to date.

http://www.prop-protector.co.uk/

It is a bit like insurance you never know when it might be needed.

Dodging pots off the East Coast I feel happier with a cutter fitted than not.
 
Hi guys

We at Prop Protector have been designing and manufacturing the Prop Protector for 13 years now and have over 13,000 in use throughout the world.

Our cutters are supplied to both commercial and leisure vessel owners and we also exhibit at the Seawork Exhibition in Southampton and have found many new commercial outlets including pilot boats, fishing boats and small ferries. Of particular interest for some of the bigger vessels we supply is that they can be fitted by a diver under water without having to haul out the boat, this is very popular in USA.
We also supply Broom Boats, Christensen Yachts, and many others with our product.

You can see a demo video on our website showing the Prop Protector working under water.
 
[ QUOTE ]
The thing about rope cutters, is that you may never know when they have done thier job.

[/ QUOTE ]Sure true but you certainly know when they don't.

We had a spur cutter on our yacht and had two rope fouls in 2 months. All the cutter did was cut it up sufficiently to make sure it was in a thousand strands and with nylon/poly rope it makes one hellava mess. We tried to clear it when in the water but it was such a mess that it needed a lift.

I wouldn't use a spur again.
 
Hi Observer. I fitted Quickutters having done research on the net and seem to remenber reading a thread on here by Gary T with a Sealine F43 going through the same process earlier this year.
I went for hardened blades because you hopefully only fit once.
No performance decrease whatsoever.
Fitting quite straightforward by Yacht Haven Lymington. Only critical issue is to have the blank supplied with the cutters machined to an accurate size so that when a rope is fouled it is correctly aligned over the cutter blade.
The chap at H4 was extremly helpful when supplying the cutters and was quite happy to liase with yard for any queries.
I'm happy because they are maintenance free and they work.
Cheers Tetleys.
Ps like Gludy i am just a happy customer
 
[ QUOTE ]
I'm happy because they are maintenance free and they work.


[/ QUOTE ]

You say they work, what did they work on? Was it a rope or fishing net?
 
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