Prop damage

R

rh320

Member
Mar 2, 2018
119
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Boatless
Engines
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hey, all. So at the end of last season I bumped something but it was near the end of the season so I didn’t anything about it. Now that spring is here and the boat will soon be back in the water, I was wondering if it is worth pulling the prop to have it refinished. I will be putting it up for sale soon and hope to have it sold this year. Considering that, I would hate to spend the money to fix it, then hit something again and have to spend even more money to fix it twice. I think I’d rather leave it as is and deal with it during the survey with any potential buyers. I don’t believe the damage is that bad that I need to be worried. What’s the worst case scenario considering that damage? Worse fuel? The pic is not that great but you can see the damage on the left blade
 
It will certainly affect top end and fuel economy. Worst case scenario? Well here goes:
  • Damage could cause cavitation on the prop, eroding the metal to such a degree that it cannot be repaired.
  • Damage causes an out of balance condition. That leads to vibration in the shaft, causing abnormal wear in the bearings and where the shaft attaches to the engine. The vibration causes the packing to fail and a water leak. Also causes premature wear to the shaft, necessitating replacement.
  • Prop vibration is transmitted to the strut and cutlass bearing. That causes damage to the shaft and necessitates replacement.
Are these likely? I don't know. However, think of it from a buyer's perspective. if I were looking at buying a boat (and I am) prop damage would immediately raise questions about what kind of strike caused the damage and what impact it had on the entire drivetrain. Warranted or not it makes everything suspect: shaft, bearings, strut, transmission, etc. Suspect = uncertainty = lost sale or reduced offer price. If you have a buyer willing to accept the risk, the damage may degrade the ride quality enough to loose the sale as well. It might also make a buyer think the boat was not maintained properly.

From my perspective, a seller's objective is to remove any doubt from the mind of a potential buyer about the boat's condition. A damaged prop introduces doubt. I would have it repaired to eliminate any points of suspicion of damage for a potential buyer.
 
tiara in the snow 01.JPG
You gotta be kidding. Fix it! Should have been done over the winter. Now you will wait 6-8 weeks unless you have spares. Buyers want zero surprises. Watch where you pilot so you don't need to fix it twice.
 
sbw1 said:
View attachment 66738 You gotta be kidding. Fix it! Should have been done over the winter. Now you will wait 6-8 weeks unless you have spares. Buyers want zero surprises. Watch where you pilot so you don't need to fix it twice.
Click to expand...
That was much more succinct than my answer.
 
Whether you fix it now or fix it the day before the boat sells, you are going to pay for the repair.

You might as well do it now and enjoy the benefits of the repair.
 
If your gonna launch the boat do it before you put in the water - otherwise your going to have to pay for a haul. Oh and one more thing... this is a public forum anyone interested in your boat may somehow come across this post and be turned off by this fact - that alone could cost you thousands or reduce your selection of buyer extending the time on the market. I would get it done and use it as a selling point!

-Kevin
 
Having just been a "buyer" I second the notion of doing it before you offer it for sale. I would also so anything else that needs to fixed. Offering a boat for sale that has obvious issues will turn off a lot of buyers. No one wants the concern about buying a boat and having "buyers remorse". Or, worse yet, the "Admirals" buyers remorse.
 
Well it looks like I will have it addressed before splashing the boat! Thanks for the answers. I do agree that if I was interested in a boat and saw that then I might wonder what they hit. However, on the Chesapeake Bay every boat has hit or bumped something at several points in its life and so just because a prop shows no damage doesn't mean that the boat never touched ground or a log! At the end of last season 4 of my friends on my dock all hit something which shut their season down early. A sea ray mechanic told me he's never pulled as many boats as he had this year because of hitting things. He knew of one yard that had 50 boats on the hard at once just because of hitting things. On the upper Chesapeake its a crap shoot every time you go out because of the Conowingo dam. But I do agree if you dont see any prop damage then you dont really wonder if the boat ever touched ground or bumped something vs if you do see it then your mind definitely starts to wonder. But if you want a boat that never touched anything then buying one on the upper bay is a bad idea!
 
BOB TYSON said:
Having just been a "buyer" I second the notion of doing it before you offer it for sale. I would also so anything else that needs to fixed. Offering a boat for sale that has obvious issues will turn off a lot of buyers. No one wants the concern about buying a boat and having "buyers remorse". Or, worse yet, the "Admirals" buyers remorse.
Click to expand...

I walked away from a purchase of a Marquis 55LS after the sea trial based upon a bad prop. The boat didn’t come anywhere near the published WOT RPMs and the broker couldn’t tell me how long it had been that way. It was clear after a bit of investigating that the port prop had a major issue. Trust me, fix the problem now before you even consider selling the boat.
 
So, do I need to have anything else looked at for damage while the prop is off. I dont want any potential problems getting worse. On the way back to marina I never noticed any issues. Didn't hear, feel or notice anything that was off.
 
I know when I bought my boat the prop was bent. They had a prop shop right there at the marina. They took it off and fixed it before anything else even began. I also checked the strut bearings to see if they were loose. I don't know if someone would check that, but I did. Good luck with the sale.
 
Not fixing something because you are going to sell it is exactly why we have to pay big $$ for a surveyor. Either way, you are gonna fix it.
 
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