What did I mess up?

[mesajeeper]

I hit an underwater island at wide open throttle on Friday in my little fishing boat. It took an inch or two off of one ear of the prop and a big chunk out of another ear. It felt like it lifted the whole rear end of the boat out of the water when we hit the rocks. My question is what all should I check/replace? Obviosly I will need a new prop. The motor ran fine after the accident and actually we were able to make the 30 minute ride back to the dock after the incident without a problem. It felt like I had a vibration in the motor at lower rpms and I am not sure if it was because of the damage to the prop or if something in the lower unit is damaged. Any advice you all can give me would be appreciated. The details of this setup:
Mercury 25 XD motor (mid 80's i believe)
16ft Lund alluminum boat loaded with 2 adults, 3 kids and some camping gear (very loaded for this boat)
As I said before, we were at WOT and hit very hard. The rocks were deep enough that the boat did not hit them, but the skeg/prop hit very hard.
I will start looking for a new prop, I just don't know what else I should check/replace.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Steve91T]

Re: What did I mess up?

Glad you guys are OK. Damaged props will produce a serious vibration. I believe your prop hopefully took most of the impact, protecting the internals.

Have you pulled the prop yet?

 

[Ned L]

Re: What did I mess up?

Yep, probably just prop damage causing the vibration.

 

[wbc1957]

Re: What did I mess up?

I would change the lower end fluid to see if there is any metal filings. It's a cheap check and good "piece of mind".

 

[scoutabout]

Re: What did I mess up?

Sorry to hear that - those are certainly unwelcome events and can be a real unpleasant end to to a boat trip.

Some things I would consider are:

Certainly replace the prop, and once the new one is on, rotate it by hand (engine in neutral with ingnition disabled!) and watch for wobble that might indicate your prop shaft is bent.

Closely inspect the entire exterior of the engine from the waterline down to ensure no cracks in the casing from other areas of impact, including your skeg.

Change your gear oil to both check for water intrusion due to a ruptured seal and for any obvious signs of internal damage. If you get small metal parts coming out in the oil - that's obviously bad and must be investigated further.

Check your clamps to make sure they are still tight after that impact and the motor hasn't shifted on the transom.

Make sure your motor is still pumping cooling water adequately.

Pop the cowl and give all electrical and fuel connections and other parts a once over to ensure nothing has been shaken loose from the impact.

If you have a factory speedometer that uses the holes in the lower outdrive to read water pressure, inspect them to make sure they haven't been damaged. (I once hit a submerged log which clogged the speedo intake with a very small chunk of debris.)

Finally, buy some charts for the bodies of water you boat in, and if running in unfamiliar territory, don't do it at WOT

Good luck!

 

[mesajeeper]

Re: What did I mess up?

Thanks all for your replies. I will pull the prop tonight and go about finding a replacement. I am happy to here that it is not a certanty that more is messed up I will change the oil in the lower unit this weekend and will seperate the lower unit to replace the impeller as I am due for a change anyways. I hope that there is no other damage and I get off this easy.

 

[lncoop]

Re: What did I mess up?

Good luck jeeper. Those old XDs are tough.

 

[Beefer]

Re: What did I mess up?

One of the things you definitely need to replace is your non-existent chart of you local waterways. If it was a 'submerged island', it would be noted on a chart, and you wouldn't have hit it. Get a chart, read it, familiarize yourself with it, and learn how to read the water. Even without a chart, the change in appearance of the water should have told you about what was going on below the surface. Charts are about $20, props are $100+.

 

[pootnic]

Re: What did I mess up?

One of the things you definitely need to replace is your non-existent chart of you local waterways. If it was a 'submerged island', it would be noted on a chart, and you wouldn't have hit it. Get a chart, read it, familiarize yourself with it, and learn how to read the water. Even without a chart, the change in appearance of the water should have told you about what was going on below the surface. Charts are about $20, props are $100+.

That isn't always fair,alot of smaller lakes don't have charts atleast up this way.
If your going about 25 mph in a jon boat(almost lake level),it's pretty hard to "read" the water and even if you do,the shoal will be there before you can stop.Alot of times it may even be better to be wide open on plane,might go over top.
If you do much boating at all,eventually you are going to hit something(ding a prop).

Probably only your prop,some good advise above though.
Happy boating.

 

[Chris1956]

Re: What did I mess up?

One evening I hit a hard mud plateau at 45+MPH. I slid 75' from the water across the top of the plateau on the wet grass and mud. No damage to anything, but it took wifey and I two hours+ to walk boat back to water and launch it. My PTT earned it's keep that night....by protecting all of the running gear.

BTW - Boating at nigh can be real dangerous, if you didn't know.

 

[steelespike]

Re: What did I mess up?

Yes, night navigation is tricky.An acquaintance of mine was returning home in the dark in the
American channel 1000 islands and struck a buoy and drowned.He had traveled the channel many times.
Running wide open in the dark is a gamble even if you know the area.There are floating objects including boats that may not be seen.