Water Towing with dripless shaft system
 

I am getting ready for a Powell trip in a few days. We will be towing our 2013 A22 behind the houseboat for 5 hours. The houseboat will only be traveling 10mph. I am getting conflicting stories. Will the dripless system heat up and seize at only 10mph? I called Axis/Malibu and they said they didn't think 10mph would cause any damage. Don't think is not too comforting. They also don't know a good way to keep the prop from spinning. Any experience in this? Thanks.

If you have a pss system you will be ok if you have one of the systems with rubber seals do not tow the boat you will burn up the seal

Never heard of a packing gland getting hot via house boat towing. 10mph towing sounds a bit high. You wake surf at 10 mph are you sure your going to be towing that fast.

I would be WAY more worried about swamping and sinking your boat then any potential packing gland damage. My advice would be to make sure you have a Bow cover on your boat and or have the entire cover on your boat when u tow long distance over potential rough water. I have seen a few story's about wake boats being towed at Powell that get swamped from
The wakes of the tour boats. Just something to keep a eye out for while under way.

We will be towing 8-10mph. I am not sure if the Axis has a PSS system. All the documentation I can find is dripless. It probably has a water line from the motor feeding the system. So when the motor is off, no lubrication water is getting to the seal

I would think if you started the engine and let it idle during the tow it would solve the problem

Or how about just tying the prop off to the rudder so it does not spin when you are towing?

What about just removing the prop?

^^^Agreed

Installing it under water!

However, a 5 hour tow is very long to not secure the prop shaft or remove the propeller. The potential damage and excess drag (fuel economy) will far outweigh any inconvenience to installing the propeller with a long one-way snorkel and mask, or just hold your breath.

No way in hell I would willing install a prop in the water. If you're really concerned and the tow is that long jump in the water with a mask while towing and take a look. You can see just how much it's spinning and if its even an issue. I'd imagine not. Worst case the prop only spins one direction so I'd run a rope up to the opposite side swim platform mount or lifting ring and call it good. Rudder would probably be fine but I wouldn't chance any freak accident on a big weekend. With a boat it seems like anything can and will go wrong when you need it least.... Like losing a cotter pin or shaft nut in mud while trying to install a prop in the water :)

If you're towing it at 10mph anyway, why not just have a crew big enough to drive the houseboat and one to have you surf there the entire way :)

I'd say tying the prop up would be easy enough to undo underwater on the way there and redo underwater on the way back. Like Detox said, run a rope from one eye on one side, through the front of the prop blade around the back and out the otherside back up to the other eye on the transom. That should keep it steady and not moving.

What about just locking out the drive shaft? Could be a simple wedge with a 2x4. Seems easier than tying off the prop. Another idea, not sure if this would work, leave the boat in gear then shut the engine off??? Would this lock out the drive shaft from moving while towing???

I never worried about it and was fine.. But if you're concerned, hook a bungee cord around one blade of the prop and to the swim platform bracket.. It'll keep it from spinning.. Leaving it in gear will not stop rotation.. it's a hydraulic transmission.. Good Luck!

I am not sure if I should be too worried about it. It sounds like no one has really had this problem. Malibu "thinks" it should be fine. Stopping the prop will be a big drag on the houseboat. If I decide to do it, I like the idea of tying a rope to a lifting eye, or I was thinking about tying it to the wedge. Thanks for all of the ideas.

What about putting the boat in gear? Typically with our 36' sailboat, we will not leave the transmission in neutral when sailing, everyone recommends to put the trans in reverse, it "locks" the prop, keeps it from spinning.

Drag is negligible at best. It's NOT as bad as you think at all.

The sailboat typically goes 6-8 knots here on the bay, so it would probably be going faster than you will be towing.

Duh! Lol sometimes it's the simplest idea that gets overlooked! Best idea yet.

It's a hydraulic transmission... In gear will not keep it from turning............... lol

I'm curious if you've had your powell trip yet and what you did? My old boat didn't have a dripless, so i didn't worry about it. new one does and I'm not sure what kind