Dinged Prop

[jxm99]

A few weeks ago i had the unfortunate experience of being caught in a large storm off of miami while anchored up at the key biscayne sandbar. We were anchored firmly for 3-4 hrs when all of sudden we got nailed by the storm. The winds changed very quickly and dislodged our anchor as well as many other boats. Even saw a 70 footer pushed up into the sandbar.

I tried everything to re-secure our position but to no avail and ended up nestled up against the sanbar. luckily the bottom is all sand so nothing major. Had the diver check shafts props etc.. he told me there was a small bump in the starboard prop, most likely from trying to start the engine while in the sand.

Took her out yesterday and noticed a little more vibration than usual, nothing major. Is it safe to run a slighlty dinged prop(Quarter sized), or should i have it pulled immediately and refinished? If so what is the typical cost of a resurface/finish? Thanks for the help

 

[Mr Salt]

If you have vibration, that is not good and if bad enough ithe vibration will lead to a lot of other damage. Only you know how bad it is. If you are concerned get it taken care of.

 

[1956olds]

going to depend on the prop ,i had a submerged log hit my starboard prop thursday on the way to my slip from the storage marina GRRRRRR couldnt find a diver for less than four hours pay at 200 per hour so had her pulled on saturday am.At 1000 rpm it was noticeable to me and at 1200 it was worse yet i surely wouldnt bring her on plane like that so i idled to the nearest marina with a hoist and time to pull her out as most are behind in putting boats in because of the weather we have had,luckily it wasnt too far.I didnt want to cause damage to my cutlass bearings or shafts .I talked to the manager tonight and after seeing it myself agreed that the prop was bent on two blades the cup was deformed also .The mechanic used a dial indicator to check the shafts and they were fine .I did have a cutlass bearing slightly worn on the port side so it will be replaced also.So the price i was given to repair my prop from jhon henry in clay michigan was 122.50 each as i will have them both balanced togeather,my blades are bronze,nibrals are 165.00 each plus 105 each way for the lift and time to r&i the props and then replace bearing 1 hr also going to have them clean out the port shaft tube it has a small leak that pisses me off it is very similar to scotts leak and the mechanic said it looked like the layup guy fell asleep on that side as the other is perfect.anyway i belive you will/can cause more $$$ damage by running it ,just my .02 cents Glen

 

[Alex F]

You boat 12 months a year, so there's no end season to wait for trying to justify the delay. I would take the prop off and have it scanned. While you at it, do both sides. Scanning is usually free. Chances are you'll need some prop tuning.

 

[HUMPH]

Get them pulled and tuned so you don't vibrate the rest of the boat apart.

 

[jxm99]

anyone know of anywhere good to do this in the miami area???