scary situation

[beanz2166]

today as we were moving away from the dock, at no wake speed, we hit something in the water that completely shut down the motor, not to mention chewed up the prop pretty good. When I looked behind the boat we couldnt see anything in the water. I really have no idea what I could have hit. this leads me to question what could I have chewed up internally hitting something hard enough to shut down the motor. also since I need a new prop how do I find out what Diameter prop I currently have, I know people have said it is stamped on the prop itself, but I cant see it.

 

[blackhawk180]

Re: scary situation

Gotta ask if you have a sonar/fish finder on board and if you'd ever launched at that location before. My experience with no wake zones are well marked on the charts and any underwater obstructions noted. If you could post a picture of your prop, someone will be able to probably identify what you hit.
Most props have the diameter/pitch stamped on either the outside hub or near the retaining nut.

 

[beanz2166]

Re: scary situation

dont have a sonar/fish finder. I have only launched this boat there twice, but Ive launched other watercrafts (rented boats, and personal jetskis) there 100s of times.

 

[tpenfield]

Re: scary situation

Maybe a rock or something . . .

there should be a part number on the prop somewhere . . . you can Google it to see what it is in terms of brand, model, dia, pitch.

 

[southkogs]

Re: scary situation

... big ole' hunk a' wood that's floating just below the surface. We have that sometimes here in the TN impounds due to water flow.

 

[spoilsofwar]

Re: scary situation

Generally the prop will have the diameter and pitch stamped on it, somewhere. Sometimes, I've seen just the pitch. If there is no markings anywhere on it, there are some prop calculators on the web that can get you in the neighborhood of what pitch you should be running. The diameter is relevant, but not nearly so much as pitch is.

As for internal damage to the drive, I wouldn't worry about it yet. I forget whether you have a merc or volvo drive, but a bent propshaft or a sheared drive coupler is probably the worst you'd have done to it, and that isn't too probable if you were running an aluminum prop.

Put a new prop on it, run it for a while, and check your lower unit gear lube for water. If no water and no weird vibrations, continue boating.

 

[UncleWillie]

Re: scary situation

... chewed up the prop pretty good... what could I have chewed up internally hitting something hard enough to shut down the motor...

Let's see a picture of that prop.
One persons, "Chewed UP" is another's "Minor Ding"!

Stopping the engine at a dead idle is not all that hard to do.
You likely have no internal damage.

You are looking for something like this.....


It could be anywhere, you may need to pull the prop to see it.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: scary situation

I can't see how a sudden stop could chew anything up either, but a ding in an alumninum prop at idle speed would be from concrete not wood.

A one-time sudden stop at idel speed won't hurt anything--at least on an outboard. Don't do it a lot, though

 

[MH Hawker]

Re: scary situation

I would guess a deadhead thats a log sort of floating under water, their very common in the spring

 

[Texasmark]

Re: scary situation

Do you have a marina nearby? I ripped off the tip of my skeg once on a concrete marina anchor. It was quite a distance from the floating slips but the tell tale was the other end of the cable that you could see heading out and into the water.

If you are at idle and hit something really hard, it can stop the engine before the rubber hub has time to slip. Again, a pic of the prop is worth 1000 words.

Mark

 

[beanz2166]

Re: scary situation

heres some pics of the prop, all three of the blades have some damage to them.also I found this stamped on it. J 15 x 17P what does all that mean. I know 17 means the pitch, but what is the J and the 15 mean. also is 17" the standard pitch or did someone along the way change it?

 

[series60]

Re: scary situation

heres some pics of the prop, all three of the blades have some damage to them.also I found this stamped on it. J 15 x 17P what does all that mean. I know 17 means the pitch, but what is the J and the 15 mean. also is 17" the standard pitch or did someone along the way change it?

View attachment 189881View attachment 189882View attachment 189883View attachment 189884View attachment 189885

Very repairable prop. $80-$100 repair. You can find new ones on eBay for less than repair.

 

[rbh]

Re: scary situation

I bet that you drove the drive right into a bed of rocks and gravel/sand.
Blade pic #1 and #5 paint cleaned off (sand mud)
Pics #2#3#4 you whacked some rocks.
Props repairable, infact I would file it smooth and use it "if I had to"

 

[UncleWillie]

Re: scary situation

heres some pics of the prop, all three of the blades have some damage to them.also I found this stamped on it. J 15 x 17P what does all that mean. I know 17 means the pitch, but what is the J and the 15 mean.

Looks like some Minor Dings to me. A file will clean most of that up. Still a usable prop.

The "J" is the manufacturers model type, and means little to you. (Johnson Style Hub ???)
The "15" is the Diameter of the prop in inches.
The "17" is the Pitch of the prop.

A direct replacement would be a 15x17 prop with the correct hub to match your prop shaft.

 

[coolbri70]

Re: scary situation

+1 on the rock damage, and also would use, at least untill i learned where the rest of the rocks were

 

[Ned L]

Re: scary situation

Never mind, .... didn't see the question was answered two posts up....

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: scary situation

that's not so bad; smooth out the big dent with a file and wait until the end of the season.

I say you hit concrete/rough rock or steel (rebar?)

A stainless steel prop probably would have handled it; here (shallow water generally soft bottoms) they are preferred.

 

[oldjeep]

Re: scary situation

Very repairable prop. $80-$100 repair. You can find new ones on eBay for less than repair.

$40 if you are in the US. Those props only cost $120 brand new

Doesn't look like much damage, I've folded a blade on an aluminum prop complexly over on a rock with no damage to the drive.

 

[BobGinCO]

Re: scary situation

Looks like a really big bass hit on your prop. Stay out of the water on that lake!!!

 

[Texasmark]

Re: scary situation

The main dings look like concrete damage to me. Concrete is not smooth like a rock so you would get the separate lines in it. The paint scuffed off, as said would be sand if you didn't do it previously. For sand to grind that much paint off, you would have to be in it for a couple of minutes and at reasonable power level. You're not just going to whack and go and rub it down that much.

My 2c,
Mark