Had a bad Sunday

R

Ron-O

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jul 30, 2007
Messages
106
First was adding little Stabil to my gas, then dropped my gas cap wrench in the river..Ok, so I always carry extras, no bigger. Put the bimini top up and headed up river to the dam as always. Get close to the dam and see a barge headed through the locks, make a turn to head back since my son called and was going to meet me at the dock. 30 seconds later, sounded like my outdrive was coming off and the boat stopped dead. Ran into a sandbar. closer to a gravel and rock bar. Wife and daughter thought I detroyed the boat. After 10 minutes off trying to get the boat off the sandbar with a long pole. I jumped in the river and pushed the boat off. Jumped back in and started back to the dock.. 3000 rpms and the boat was only doing 2 mph. Made it to the dock, my son and I jumped in the river and removed the prop.. Nothing left of the fins. Ran home, picked up my other prop, back to the dock, then into the water and installed the spare. My son and I took a quick spin and everything seemed ok. Called the insurance company yesterday just to let them know and opened a claim, in case. They want me to pull the boat and have it checked as soon as possible..

I'm going to test it this weekend again.. temp seemed fine on the first test. Just wanna make sure nothing is bent. Anything else to look for?

Ron


ps.. Here's my "was brand new at the beginning of the season" prop..

37694_1381089686220_1201271565_937619_3630636_n.jpg
 
45Auto

45Auto

Commander
Joined
May 31, 2002
Messages
2,842
Re: Had a bad Sunday

Wow, you did a job on that sucker!

Probably wouldn't be a bad idea to check the runout on the propshaft and do a pressure check on the drive to make sure the shaft isn't bent.
 
mxzeatr

mxzeatr

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jun 2, 2010
Messages
188
Re: Had a bad Sunday

WOW! Never saw that before!

Be thankful it wasn't stainless!
 
R

Ron-O

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jul 30, 2007
Messages
106
Re: Had a bad Sunday

My spare is a stainless.. Guess I'm not going up to the dam until the water level is higher..And to think, this propeller was supposed to spin the hub first..:mad:
 
T

tcgobucks

Seaman
Joined
Jul 1, 2010
Messages
68
Re: Had a bad Sunday

Ron-O said:
My spare is a stainless.. Guess I'm not going up to the dam until the water level is higher..And to think, this propeller was supposed to spin the hub first..:mad:
Click to expand...

wow, we've messed up some props, but that one is the champ. Make sure you don't hit that sandbar with the stainless prop....if that happens, the prop will be the least of your problems.
 
Mark42

Mark42

Fleet Admiral
Joined
Oct 8, 2003
Messages
9,334
Re: Had a bad Sunday

Ron-O said:
ps.. Here's my "was brand new at the beginning of the season" prop..

37694_1381089686220_1201271565_937619_3630636_n.jpg
Click to expand...

Ahh, that nothing. Just drop it off at a prop shop and they should have it dressed up in no time. :D
 
ziggy

ziggy

Admiral
Joined
Jun 30, 2004
Messages
7,473
Re: Had a bad Sunday

wow, what a bummer....

looks like a boating trophy to me. something ya hang on the wall and tell war stories about 'that' day...

let us know how the drive turns out. i'm curious. i run alum. just in case of just what happened to you. hopefully the prop to the heat and saved the drive.
 
roncoop75

roncoop75

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Jun 23, 2010
Messages
229
Re: Had a bad Sunday

Heh, I'd like to thank the OP for this one!

I was debating over stainless or alum. for a spare prop on a boat I bought to run mainly on the river. This is exactly what I fear NOT happening with a stainless.

That picture and lack of 'immediate' lower unit damage seals it for me!


Hope nothing else is damaged.:)
 
R

Ron-O

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jul 30, 2007
Messages
106
Re: Had a bad Sunday

Triton II said:
Crickey! What's your skeg look like? :(

TII
Click to expand...

Actually the skeg seemed fine. It did take a small chunk out of one of the fins on the lower unit (about the size of a quarter).
 
ezmobee

ezmobee

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Mar 26, 2007
Messages
23,767
Re: Had a bad Sunday

Mark42 said:
Ahh, that nothing. Just drop it off at a prop shop and they should have it dressed up in no time. :D
Click to expand...

This would be worth doing just for the laughs :D

I've never seen a prop that destroyed. Excellent work! :eek:
 
Thad

Thad

Lieutenant Junior Grade
Joined
Jun 8, 2009
Messages
1,028
Re: Had a bad Sunday

I actually have a shelf in my bar, dressed up with nautical items and years of destroyed props and impellers. And a prop shaft and...

I call it the shelf of shame.:rolleyes:

Now you have a good start to your own;) Just try not to keep up, it gets expensive:eek:
 
R

Ron-O

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jul 30, 2007
Messages
106
Re: Had a bad Sunday

Thad said:
I actually have a shelf in my bar, dressed up with nautical items and years of destroyed props and impellers. And a prop shaft and...

I call it the shelf of shame.:rolleyes:

Now you have a good start to your own;) Just try not to keep up, it gets expensive:eek:
Click to expand...

Yea, I really would rather not break anything else.. Had the boat almost 4 years now and this is the first mishap...and boy was it a doosey.
 
L

lkbum

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Sep 1, 2008
Messages
445
Re: Had a bad Sunday

My stainless props have a plastic insert in the hub that shears to protect the drives from impact damage. From first hand experience, they work... 2001 Mercuiser Alpha One with Mirage SS prop. The splined piece goes on the prop shaft, the larger polymer piece (the large "block") fits over the splined piece, the prop goes over the large polymer piece. If the prop hits something, the splined piece spins inside the polymer piece
image.jpg



.
 
Thad

Thad

Lieutenant Junior Grade
Joined
Jun 8, 2009
Messages
1,028
Re: Had a bad Sunday

lkbum said:
If the prop hits something, the splined piece spins inside the polymer piece
image.jpg



.
Click to expand...

Not always.:(

I have one of those on my shelf as well. It had only been on the boat for two hours when I wrecked that one.
 
R

Ron-O

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jul 30, 2007
Messages
106
Re: Had a bad Sunday

My aluminum prop had that same setup with the hub.. Guess it didn't work as it was suppose too.. The hub is still in the prop. My stainless doesn't have the plastic hub.Since there's only about 2 months left in the season, guess I'll order a new prop over the winter..
 
KC4YIN

KC4YIN

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Sep 6, 2009
Messages
91
Re: Had a bad Sunday

Made it to the dock, my son and I jumped in the river and removed the prop.. Nothing left of the fins.


So how did you make it back to the dock?
 
JimKW

JimKW

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Jul 10, 2009
Messages
397
Re: Had a bad Sunday

I would not put a Stainless Steel prop on without that protection even for one time out. Years ago they did not have the rubber hub and I hit something submerged and took my drive out in two places. It's kind of like a chain, it breaks at the weakest link and you want that to be the easiest to get to and the cheapest to fix.
 
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