nicked prop

[summit1]

Pulling boat up on trailer last night, I nicked the prop on the boat ramp. It looks like it roughed up the very tip of each blade, and there are now small burrs/rough spots on the tips of the blades. Can I file the burrs down and continue to run til I can get in reconditioned in the off-season? It is a stainless steel prop, and the blades don't look bent or twisted. Looking at it from the back, it just looks like the tips got nicked off. Thanks!

 

[CharlesW]

Re: nicked prop

One opinion.<br />Yes.<br />I ran a SS prop for 19 years and all I ever did to it was file the nicks and burrs off once in a while.<br />A suggestion. If you have any nicks that are square cornered, file them to a radius. Straight line cracks usually run out from squared off corners. Very seldom do you see cracks radiating out from a circular or rounded area. This works with lots of thing besides props, too. Drilling a round hole at the end of a crack in metal or plastic will often, (not always), stop the crack from traveling further.

 

[summit1]

Re: nicked prop

 

[CharlesW]

Re: nicked prop

The only thing I did was try to take off as little metal as possible. Just rounded the nicks, but made sure any burrs were flattened. While it probably makes some difference in the performance of the prop, I can't say that I ever noticed it. We seldom ever ran top end since I was propped for pulling skiers and was turning a few more RPM at WOT, than was recommended. I never ever worried about turning the Chevy V-8 to tight, but didn't want to run the outdrive over the mfgs. specs for any length of time.

 

[summit1]

Re: nicked prop

 

[CharlesW]

Re: nicked prop

New ballgame. <br />None of my damage ever caused a vibration or at least I never noticed any. Maybe you could put on your spare prop to be sure the vibration is caused by the damaged prop and not from damage to the outdrive.<br />Not knowing how bad your vibration is, and if it has just started after the prop damage, I might bite the bullet for the repair and rebalance. That imbalance at idle might put an awful lot of strain on the outdrive components at higher RPM's. While $90 is expensive, it is a heck of a lot cheaper than an outdrive for 3 to 5 thousand.

 

[summit1]

Re: nicked prop

Funny thing you should mention that- the only spare prop I have is a wooden ore to get me back if something breaks. I carry extra ropes on board, and I am a good swimmer, so I guess that counts too? I'm joking. I couldn't afford recently to drop an extra couple hundred bucks on a spare, so I take my chances everytime I go out. I think I will just go ahead and get the prop fixed up. Thanks for your help.

 

[Doug Durako]

Re: nicked prop

Agree with charlesw----if it is vibrating, get it off and send it in. $90 is cheap---costs $150 to redo a SS prop in the midwest.<br /><br />One thing about files---with a metal file, the prop people tell me you are grinding an inferior metal into your Stainless Steel prop. Better to use sandpaper and emery cloth, they say.<br /><br />The minor damage you describe should not cause noticeable vibration, unless you bent a blade and can't see it.

 

[summit1]

Re: nicked prop

Well, one blade looks like slightly more tip might have come off than the others (maybe the first blade to hit). I called probably 6 boat shops and they all recommended this prop service place hands down. He said he would add the metal, index (what is this?), balance and shine her up like new all for $90. He said if I get it to him by 5pm today, he will have it ready to go tomorrow. Guess that isn't such a bad deal.

 

[CharlesW]

Re: nicked prop

Originally posted by summit1:<br /> Funny thing you should mention that- the only spare prop I have is a wooden ore to get me back if something breaks. I carry extra ropes on board, and I am a good swimmer, so I guess that counts too? I'm joking. I couldn't afford recently to drop an extra couple hundred bucks on a spare, so I take my chances everytime I go out. I think I will just go ahead and get the prop fixed up. Thanks for your help.

Good idea. The oar, the ropes and the swim all sound like less than ideal ways to get home if you lose an outdrive. Plus having to then possibly spend a lot for the outdrive repair.<br /><br />One thing about files---with a metal file, the prop people tell me you are grinding an inferior metal into your Stainless Steel prop. Better to use sandpaper and emery cloth, they say.Easy for them to say. Did you ever try to remove much SS with sandpaper or emery cloth? They are probably right, but in the 19 years I was doing it, I never had a problem. Just lucky, I guess.