Warning - upsetting pics

T

tico

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Courtesy of a pot rope in biggish seas late last Saturday night.
Big bang then lots of vibration.
Stopping completely wasnt an option as it was in biggish seas and getting dark quickly. Sheltered water only 1/2 mile away so continued at slower speed.

Removed a big bunch of orange rope/net the next morning. Amazing how the duoprops shredded it.

notice how its completely folded back one section of the blade... heck of a force
Grrrrrrrrr
 
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Must have been a bit scary given the circumstances. Maybe you should consider replacing them with a set of SS props.
I've run over a few lobster pots with mine and the SS props just shreds it all to pieces. The only thing left is pieces of melted nylon between the props with no damage on the props or any other parts (other then the pots which all have been placed mid channel and badly marked)
 
Not sure if it was a pot rope or net, nothing visible at the time.

Insurance not concerned, just some more business for Steel Developments.

Thought about SS props , but 2 disadvantages
1 at least if I hit something ali props are cheaper to repair/replace than outdrive internals
2. I can't afford them!


Fitted the spare set this w/e and all ok (phew!)
 
Aluminium Prop Repair

There are certain types of Aluminium welding rods which you can use with a gas torch (check the video on You Tube) now being sold on E-Bay. Looks like it is worth a go....with a little time, patience, grinder, file and buffing wheel it should be no problem.
 
Old Glow In The Deeps said:
There are certain types of Aluminium welding rods which you can use with a gas torch (check the video on You Tube) now being sold on E-Bay. Looks like it is worth a go....with a little time, patience, grinder, file and buffing wheel it should be no problem.
Click to expand...

Your having a laugh....aren't you????

Balancing propellors is as critical as wheel balancing with the speeds that propellors on planing boats go round- the tiniest nick can cause major vibration - this is probably repairable but only by a professional eg steel developments etc.
 
A_8 said:
Must have been a bit scary given the circumstances. Maybe you should consider replacing them with a set of SS props.
I've run over a few lobster pots with mine and the SS props just shreds it all to pieces. The only thing left is pieces of melted nylon between the props with no damage on the props or any other parts (other then the pots which all have been placed mid channel and badly marked)
Click to expand...

That sounds like a plan - make the props out of a stronger material, so the next weak link might just be a more expensive item .... like the outdrive itself!
 
Tico............Bad news about the props, seems to be a very common occurrence in your waters (rope fouling), and thats only the reports that make it on to this forum!

Thankfully you had (operational) alternative propulsion to bring you home.

Is it common practise (in UK) to carry a sea anchor, of suitable size to hold head to weather, on the occasion of propulsion loss or engine failure? If so how many have tested the device to determine how successful it would be in the case of an emergency?

The marks on your damaged props (not impact damage), are they left from scrapping barnacles, or is there an electrolysis issue going on?
 
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Mostly remains of barnacles, but there is a little electrolysis from before I installed the galv isolator. Previous user used to leave it connected to shorepower all the time.

Also note that paint has fallen off.
I now use an etch primer followed by a 2 part epoxy acid resistant coating... brilliant, lasts 2 seasons and seems to have little attcaction for the barnacle blighters
 
Some one has, well at least for an outboard leg which is similar but the manufacturers weren't happy having other peoples bits bolted to their legs so we stopped selling them. These were bolted to the existing anode bolt hole on the Suzuki 4 stroke legs. Known as the quicKutter™ I have some old photos somewhere but we've taken them off the website now.

The design could work with contra rotating props but it would mean re designing the foreward prop, so too expensive.

A cutter on the leg will work on debris between the foreward prop and the leg, but it needs a fixing bolt into the leg and many outdrives don't have an existing bolt hole. The leg builders could easily modify the legs to take the cutters but none have shown any interst in doing this!
 
Good luck with getting them repaired. I had a set of ali props with far less electrolysis on them than your picture suggest you have and steel developments said they were unrepairable.
 
To be fair...

Old Glow In The Deeps said:
There are certain types of Aluminium welding rods which you can use with a gas torch (check the video on You Tube) now being sold on E-Bay. Looks like it is worth a go....with a little time, patience, grinder, file and buffing wheel it should be no problem.
Click to expand...

...I think Old Glow was trying to be helpful - so no need to round on him. Not very gentlemanly is it? A simple explanation of counter-rotating (or any fast) propellor is all thats needed.

Once I actually had a propellor which came with a Merc 90 and someone had craftily glued a blade back on with Isopon, then sanded it and painted it black. No really! It lasted a *whole week* before shedding the blade!
 
It doesn't appear to be just pot line that's the culprit, in some old MBM stories, the guys doing channel crossings seem to pick up some fairly massive net rope, about 50mm dia.

Some of our pro-fishers use larger bouys with a light-weight 2 metre, high vis., flag on pole. Bit of cost involved, but saves on dramas.
 
AndieMac said:
Some of our pro-fishers use larger bouys with a light-weight 2 metre, high vis., flag on pole. Bit of cost involved, but saves on dramas.
Click to expand...

No no no, that's not how to do it at all. The "best" one I have seen recently was a 5L dark blue plastic container that had been pulled 2 inches below the surface :eek:

I only spotted it because the water was reasonably flat and the tide was running out (What's that hole in the water?).
 
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