PROP DAMAGE/REPAIR

P

patrick and linda

New member
just checking to see if anyone has been successful with straighting a bent prop blade. was out on the river yesterday, great day, but hit a submerged log and curled one aluminum blade on my prop. i plan to pull the boat for oil change and engine tune up, but didn't want to do that for another month. i have several 100 to 120 mile, boating trips to take prior to the pull.
thanks
pat
 
Pat, I don't think I'd try it myself but prop shops do it all the time. They can even change the pitch for you. If you try it, you could break it...

Charlie
 
What you can do is put on a spare prop. Take the old one in to a good prop shop and get their best price on a spare while you're waiting for them to true up the twisted one. Think of it as an insurance policy. 8)
 
you might ask them to check the rubber cushion while you're at it. If you bent the prop, the rubber night have done what it's supposed to and slipped.

Boris
 
all good points. will try to nurse the current prop along until i have time to pull the boat or replace the prop on my own. in the marine corps we only needed two tools for any job, a hammer and a screw driver, boy how times have changed.
pat
 
Guess I'm still a wing-nut (previous discussion)!

I straighten out the dings caused by strikes with driftwood and rocks all the time.

You can only "unbend" aluminum so much, though, because it will break if it's bent too much and therefore work-hardened, and then it requires welding.

Some nice big, soft wooden blocks, a rubber and/or a leather hammer, and you become the skilled tradesman on the spot. A big vice can useful to hold the blocks, but is not necessary.

Stainless is much tougher, but do-able.

Hammer the prop flat, shape the edge with a file, squaring it up then sanding the face and edge down, then, if aluminum, Paint It Black :note (re: Rolling Stones), or polish the stainless up with progressively fine wet emery paper, then crocus paper, and finally, metal polish.

Fun !

Joe. :teeth :thup
 
If damaged too badly it will seriously lower your fuel mileage.
If out of balance it will take out the seals/bearings in the lower unit.
I would fix or replace it now. It is not that hard to do.
 
I picked up a 6" chunk of 2X4 up near China Creek in BC. Hit just right to wedge in front of the prop. Prop just barely bend so I tried to straighten it at a dock. Borrowed pieces of wood and a hammer and went slowly. Still wasn't any good. Balance was screwed up. I think it would take a miracle to repair an aluminum prop if you didn't have the proper jig. I took that one to a shop that was recommended, and they only got it close. I ended up tossing it. And it wasn't bent that badly, just one blade.
 
patrick and linda":3a0dit8h said:
all good points. will try to nurse the current prop along until i have time to pull the boat or replace the prop on my own
pat
Click to expand...

Pat, you don't even have to "pull the boat" to remove/replace the prop. Do like I saw Fred on "Anita Marie" do several years ago. He just raised his engine, paddled his dinghy under the raised engine and changed the prop out while sitting out at anchor. I'll bet it didn't take him more than 15 minutes to do the switch out. I pull my props off and regrease the shafts once a year so I know they are easy to remove and don't get seized on the shafts.
 
Absolutely carry a spare prop at all times. Don't run a damaged prop, as Jack pointed out, it will damage the seals of the lower unit, and can cause some internal damage to the gears if out of balance enough.

You can hammer out and file some small dings, but if the prop is out of balance,--Prop shop next stop!
 
i appreciate all the responses. i am ordering a new prop and having them ship it overnight. will replace it at the dock. i knew i would have to do this, guess i needed a kick in the posterior to get it done. i normally have my spare prop with me, however i left it a the lake home some 170 miles from where i'm at now. that wasn't to prudent on my part.
you guys have a great day.
best regards to all.
pat
 
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