It finally happened, we hit a log

Very unfortunate.

This happened on the way back to DC from Tides Inn (3300 rpm). We never saw what it was. Most bets are on a stump that was floating just under the surface. It tore the blade off the nibral prop in the picture, flexed the strut and cracked the hull so that water started coming in where the strut bolts to the hull.

We were fortunate that it happened just outside Fort Washington marina and that they could do an emergency haul-out. The strut bed had to be ground down and completely re-glassed, new shafts, strut straightening, cutlass bearings, new props and months getting the ground fiberglass out of the bilge. Fortunately, the transmission made it thru.

I am curious why you left the port transmission in gear on the way home. I have dripless shafts as well and water flows to the seal with the engine on.

-John

John,
If you have the "Sure Seal" dripless shaft packings (or similar) you can check for a "cross-over tube", i.e. the second set of fittings on the gland housing. That cross-over will allow water to flow and lubricate and cool a free-wheeling prop shaft. If you only have one set of fittings on each shaft then you should lock down the damaged side when not operational. I've seen Sea Rays set up either way.

James
 
I kept the port engine in gear as I have been told to never put the boat in gear/motion with only one transmission, could damage the trans and/or shaft. No proof, just following advice. Was this the wrong thing to do?

Frank, service man said ours are 17 X 16 today 1 1/4" hole, 4 bladed, though I swore he said 17 X 6 3 weeks ago when they were reconditioned.
 
Four Suns, we were actually on the Appomattox, just about to enter the James River, near Hopewell, when the impact occurred.

Crappy part is now I have to winterize the engines Saturday as she is on land and there a cold front coming, 25 degree nights. Never done this, hoping it's as simple as disconnecting the hoses at the strainers and putting them in a bucket of antifreeze and turning the engines over. We have full system fresh water cooling but there is still some raw water to be concerned about.

We run a boatsafe heater with her in the water.

We have the original 3 bladed props. I am considering putting those on, put her back in the water for a run to see if there is any more damage and than, if not, pull her again when we get new props.
 
welcome to the log jammer club.

There are two types of river boaters, those that have hit a log and those that will....
Many years ago we took a hit with our 270DA, no damage to the drive but the speedo hole on the lower unit had enough wood packed in there to start a lumber yard. Rough water conditions make them impossible to see, not to mention the verticle floaters...

Good luck on the repairs.
 
Mrs R...

I had a '93 and a '98 330 DA. Both Boats came with 17 X 17 3 bladed props. The '93 had 7.4 Carbed 330HP motors and a 1.25" shaft. The '98 had 7.4 MPI 310 HP motors and a 1.5" shaft. I did replace the props on the '98 with four bladed 17 X 15.25. I posted the results on the "old" SRO site.
 
I don't know where you were on the James but I saw something on the river this summer that was absolutely unbelievable. There was a guy clearing several acres of land and he was basically bulldozing the trees into the water. Needless to say, full trees were floating by my dock and out on the James...

This has to be very illegal. My business has cleared several heavily wooded lots with mature trees and the cost to remove them from site to an approved dump is substantial – especially the stumps. This very rude dude saved many thousands of bucks and should have been reported. Most jurisdictions will not let you bury trees on site, so sending them down river can’t be accepted practice.

I am also in the “Find a Log Club”. For several years we boated on a large lake in central PA, surrounded by mountains that looked like they went straight up from the water. After any hard rain, especially in the spring, logs and entire trees would be all throughout the lake. You tend to get a little cocky after a while and think you can see them by looking for the branches, usually sticking out of the water. Logs are like gators, you don’t see the one that gets you.
 
Mrs R...

I had a '93 and a '98 330 DA. Both Boats came with 17 X 17 3 bladed props. The '93 had 7.4 Carbed 330HP motors and a 1.25" shaft. The '98 had 7.4 MPI 310 HP motors and a 1.5" shaft. I did replace the props on the '98 with four bladed 17 X 15.25. I posted the results on the "old" SRO site.

The 3 bladed original ones came with the boat and we have never put them on.

The place that re-conditioned our 4 bladed ones 3 weeks ago tells me the re-conditioned 4 blades ones are 17 X 16 and the shaft is 1 1/4. I contacted a prop seller on-line yesterday and the guy tells me there is no such thing as a 17 X 16 4 bladed with a 1 1/4 shaft. Perhaps the re-conditioning place made them this way, custom if you will?

So now I am confused on what we need to replace them with.
 
John,
If you have the "Sure Seal" dripless shaft packings (or similar) you can check for a "cross-over tube", i.e. the second set of fittings on the gland housing. That cross-over will allow water to flow and lubricate and cool a free-wheeling prop shaft. If you only have one set of fittings on each shaft then you should lock down the damaged side when not operational. I've seen Sea Rays set up either way.

James

James,

You are correct. I have PSS dripless seals and have not gotten around to putting a crossover in. Since most of my boating is on the northern part of the Potomac, it is easy to run slow back to the marina or lock the shaft down.

-John
 
I kept the port engine in gear as I have been told to never put the boat in gear/motion with only one transmission, could damage the trans and/or shaft. No proof, just following advice. Was this the wrong thing to do?

Frank, service man said ours are 17 X 16 today 1 1/4" hole, 4 bladed, though I swore he said 17 X 6 3 weeks ago when they were reconditioned.

No problem with only one transmission in gear. The consequences are based on how fast (and long) you are moving on one transmission. Our boats handle really poorly on one engine so you have to keep the rpms up and the rudder hard over to maintain a straight heading. The faster you go, the more likely it is that the other prop will free rotate. The best solution is to lock the shaft down with a pipewrench to prevent it from spinning. Free spinning can hurt dripless seals which require a constant raw water flow to remain cool. As James mentioned, you can eliminate the possibility of damage by running a crossover hose between the seals.

-John
 
"dripless seals which require a constant raw water flow to remain cool."

Where does this flow come from?
 
So if the engine is running, raw sea water pump is circulating, the dripless seals are getting water regardless of the boat being in gear or not? So in theory I could have put the port transmission in neutral, kept the port engine running and there would have been no risk of damage to the port trans/shafts?
 
One engine running.....feeds one dripless.

You can also make a bypass valve .....to have one running engine ....feed both dripless seals. ( for towing aplications )....or just strap the shaft at the tranny to keep it from turning.
 
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You may want to trace the lines and see how it is plumbed up. I assume that the seal on your boat, like mine, gets its raw water flow off the engine raw water cooling circuit so water gets to the seal regardless if the transmission is in gear or not. On later model Sea Rays, there are two water inputs on the seal such that each engine feeds both seals so if one engine quits, then you still get water to both seals. That's the crossover people refer to. Now if both engines quit and you are being towed, you need to lock the shafts down as the seals are not getting any water.

This is another reason to keep the raw water circuit on a boat clean....
 
The same thing happened to us on the Mississippi this year. 7 years without ever having to rework a prop. Once I got the props back on everything was great.
 

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