how to trash a brand new prop......

[BaDucK]

in 5 minutes or less....

i bought my starcraft about 6 weeks ago, the prop looked like it had been used for target practice......

so the first thing i did after picking her up was go to my local evinrude dealer and buy a new gas tank hoses fittings and prop... well, the first prop i bought was the wrong size (i have the big lower unit) so back to the dealer and another 20 bucks on top of what i already dropped and i had the right one.

the ramp is only about two miles from the dealer so i stopped and fueled up, and got to the ramp where i put the new prop on.....fit like a shiney new glove


remembering what i had heard about a sand bar where a smaller creek joins the river right up from the ramp i made sure to stay right in the center....lol, the sand bar came out about 5/8ths into the river....before i knew it, i was in about 18" of water that was quickly dropping to around 12"......i didnt even have time to throttle down before it was all over.......i plowed right up/along the side of this underwater hill.....


the boat never touched bottom i dont think, but i beat the living daylights out of a brand new 140 dollar prop after being in the water for only 5 minutes

 

[coolguy147]

Re: how to trash a brand new prop......

like you hit rocks and stuff?

 

[BaDucK]

Re: how to trash a brand new prop......

like you hit rocks and stuff?

a combination of river mud, clay dirt, small stones and gravel type stuff.....

i lost about 300 rpm off top end, im assuming from the dings and small gouges along edges of prop, but other then that she seems to be running fine

 

[BaDucK]

Re: how to trash a brand new prop......

theres about a half to three quarters inch of paint missing off the prop, so im assuming that how deep i was cutting into the sand bar

 

[BaDucK]

Re: how to trash a brand new prop......

theres about a half to three quarters inch of paint missing off the prop, so im assuming that how deep i was cutting into the sand bar

well, i take that back....the skege(?) is shiney clean aluminum now as well

 

[642mx]

Re: how to trash a brand new prop......

Your lucky. I tore one up this summer too, but I had a $1000 in that prop!

 

[BeaufortTJustice]

Re: how to trash a brand new prop......

I'm a fellow member of your club. I ate one up a few weeks ago myself. Someone else on this forum made the statement (I'm paraphrasing) that the more expensive the prop, the more it is attracted to hard objects.

That is why I can't stomach the idea of investing $400 on a SS prop. I'll stick to a relatively cheap aluminum and use it as a "sacrificial" part...better to bust up $110 prop than snap or bend a shaft or gear in the drive, IMHO.

Sorry about your bad luck.

 

[BaDucK]

Re: how to trash a brand new prop......

OUCH !!!!

i felt bad about 140 !.....dont feel so bad now..... heck, i couldnt believe that i was only 5 minutes into my boating career and did that, lol, i figured ide smash into the dock before anything else........

i laugh about it now...started earning my wings early in the process

 

[j_martin]

Re: how to trash a brand new prop......

I'm a fellow member of your club. I ate one up a few weeks ago myself. Someone else on this forum made the statement (I'm paraphrasing) that the more expensive the prop, the more it is attracted to hard objects.

That is why I can't stomach the idea of investing $400 on a SS prop. I'll stick to a relatively cheap aluminum and use it as a "sacrificial" part...better to bust up $110 prop than snap or bend a shaft or gear in the drive, IMHO.

Sorry about your bad luck.

A $500 stainless prop would have eaten that sand with minimal damage. Rocks, on the other hand, are another thing. Stainless tends to be stiff enough to ship some of the damage to the prop shaft. It's not desirable to contact the bottom with any prop.

You soon learn how to read a navigation chart and/or the river current. The other option is to go broke buying props.

Take the prop off, hammer the dings back into proper shape, using a piece of iron, a mall head, or something for a backer. File the burrs off. Don't worry about nicks of metal that are missing. It'll probably run 98% for you.
Yer pride, however is in the ***can.

hope it helps
John

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: how to trash a brand new prop......

Stainless can handle sand and mud. Around here, the primary reason to have SS is becasue we frequently run through mud and sand. it will, however, wear down a prop.

SS props can be rewored, and should be if you bump a lot of stuff, so your investment in the SS may work out for the better--rather rework than replace.

Props have a bushing to protect the drive shaft, so SS or aluminum shouldn't matter in that regard, although there are some collisions that bushing won't help.

 

[BeaufortTJustice]

Re: how to trash a brand new prop......

Props have a bushing to protect the drive shaft, so SS or aluminum shouldn't matter in that regard, although there are some collisions that bushing won't help.

I had forgotten about the hub/bushing that you mentioned...good point.

 

[Maclin]

Re: how to trash a brand new prop......

I always get a two-fer....:

 

[BeaufortTJustice]

Re: how to trash a brand new prop......

I always get a two-fer....:

A Dremel tool with a grinding wheel should take that right out...lol.

Ouch!

 

[gonefishie]

Re: how to trash a brand new prop......

Moral of the story, don't run river without someone who knows it well first. If you see the depth getting shallower, it's best to stay on plane unless you're going to end up on dry land.

 

[Tacklewasher]

Re: how to trash a brand new prop......

A Dremel tool with a grinding wheel should take that right out...lol.

Ouch!

He'll need a little JB weld as well.

 

[j_martin]

Re: how to trash a brand new prop......

Stainless can handle sand and mud. Around here, the primary reason to have SS is becasue we frequently run through mud and sand. it will, however, wear down a prop.

SS props can be rewored, and should be if you bump a lot of stuff, so your investment in the SS may work out for the better--rather rework than replace.

Props have a bushing to protect the drive shaft, so SS or aluminum shouldn't matter in that regard, although there are some collisions that bushing won't help.

If you hit a rock real hard with a stainless prop, it'll wreck the prop, but often bend the prop shaft also. With an aluminum prop you just clean the excess metal (blades) off the prop.

The big reason for stainless is performance. The prop can be made more aggressively shaped and thinner and still be strong. I run my prop about 1/3 out of the lake. If I tried to do that with an aluminum prop, it wouldn't work right at all, and if it could, it would fling ears in a few minutes.

Now, the pinion gear needs prayer all the time.

John

 

[BaDucK]

Re: how to trash a brand new prop......

its a black water river, so not much luck on seeing anything more then a few inches into it....and yea, i should have taken someone with me that knew the river upstream, but with my schedule i was out there while everyone else was at work.

south of the ramp its been dredged for shipping by the COE, north its just natural.....i went north with the idea if she crapped out on me it would be alot easier to paddle downstream then up.....this was my first time out with boat after buying.

ive already filed down the rough spots and hammered the dings out......im going to keep this prop because i want to buy a bigger motor before next spring

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: how to trash a brand new prop......

Learning by experience. It gets us all at some time or other !!!

 

[vegasphotoman]

Re: how to trash a brand new prop......

I am amazed at how many props Ive seen totally damaged and still being used.....1/2 a prop missing and they are STILL running it hahhaha now THAT has GOT to cause internal wear on the drive

2 years on my alum prop and still no strikes....just gotta be careful I guess......ran the colorado river this past summer into 2 ft of water....raised the I/O till prop was partially out of the water and ran low rpm...no strike....
my brother in law flew throught that sand bar at 30mph an didnt even trim a bit....needless to say he hit a sandbar later that day and trashed a $450 SS prop...lol...his third that year! more $$$$ than brains I guess!

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: how to trash a brand new prop......

Martin, I don't disagree with you, and every time I am out I am thankful that I boat in mud and sand, and not rocks.