Question for you 'veterans'

So I was idling down the river, and by idling I mean that I just barely had the throttle forward, you know just enough to move. Well anyway we're going along and thunk I hit something that was underwater and unmarked. After trying to see what we hit, I decide to see if the boat will move and when I give it some throttle I can tell there is some vibration in the boat now. So we slowly make our wake back and pull it up out of the water and I bent the prop and the rudder is tilted slightly to the right.

So my question is what is the likelyhood that I bent the shaft in this situation?? I would post pictures but the boat is in the Shop already and I'm waiting for the verdict, just wanted to hear what anyone thinks I might hear from them. Thanks all

I doubt you bent the shaft. Usually that happens when you wack something hard at speed. Also, I'd be suprised if you bent the rudder. Remeber they are offset from the prop so you can pull the shaft without removing the rudder.

Good luck.

Should just be a prop.

The shaft would likely have to sustain a direct hit. There's a key in the other end of the shaft where it meets the Tranmission. That would snap before the shaft would twist (in my experience)

heres what happens during a direct hit at speed

Yeah...my prop looks nothing like that one in the picture.

When you say that the rudder is offset from the prop are talking about where it inserts into the hull? My rudder went down a slight angle from the top to bottom instead of straight down at 90 degrees. Thats why I was saying it looked like the rudder was tilted.

Shafts are tough to bend but so are rudders... It's pretty easy to tell if a shaft is bent. Just clamp a dial gauge to the rudder with the roller touching the shaft spin it around and see if it moves more than a thou or two. A good quick check is turn the prop by hand. If it spins with constant resistance then it's unlikely the shaft is bent.

Rudders are typically not repairable and they are not that cheap to replace so you are probably looking at an insurance claim anyway. Prop, shaft, strut, rudder, expect the ticket to come in at around $3k. If you could just get away with the prop it's and easy self change for $350. In either case get the old prop repaired and keep it as a spare.

Last year I did the exact same thing as you described, had no idea anything was in front of me and heard a ding/thump as something hit the prop. The prop just had a nick on it. Also, earlier in the weekend some kid that one of my friends invited that I didn't know threw the whole rope in the water without me knowing it. Long story short, the rope got ran over. I felt the boat vibrating some so I took the shaft off and gave it to my uncle who is a machinist. He checked it out and it was bent slightly. Luckily he made me 2 new ones from the steel stock at work. My point is that you may not be able to "feel" it like the people mentioned above by simply turning it. Check it with a guage that's the only way to tell. Also, replace the prop and then see if you still have a vibration, then check the shaft.

Entrust,

The rudder just broke off? OUCH!

entrust that sucks, everybody knows how thick those props look.

hey Kevin whats up. Sorry to hear about the hit. I would look at the four bolts where the rutter is bolted to the hull. See the four bolts like in the above picture? Look around the seal. Is the seal broken. Is the flat mounts angled in the hull? Is there cracks in the fiberglass around the mount? Also, is there any noticable difference either in feel or look of your steering wheel either when turn or going back to the dock? These would be signs that the rutter mount got bent/damaged. You may not have directly dmaged the rutter but damaged its mounting or the surrounding fiberglass. In terms of the shaft being bent....its possible but unlikely. The vibration you most likely felt was that from bent blades on the prop. Also if the shaft were to be bents there is a high chance you damaged the shaft bracket. Both of which would require a significant hit with much force. I would spin your prop. Does it spin freely without any binding? If so you should be ok. I would take the prop off. Take it to a boat shop and they can send it out to be fixed, trued, and balanced. Its not that expensive either. Probably around 100 dollars or so but the prop will come back like new and shiny. Take Care and hope everything goes ok.

(Message edited by zride on April 18, 2006)

also was your prop brass or stainless. That is the advantage of brass most of the time, unless your unlucky like I was and damaged everything in one swooop, anyway brass will "taco: and fold up easy on impact or hits making any damage to other parts of your propulsion system slim to none. There is always the chance depending on the situation. The disadvantage is that brass does not hold it trueness as long and is more suseptible to damage. Ying Yang.......

I agree w/zride--even if he does drive a Nautique.

Hey thanks for all the feedback guys. I am suppose to be hearing from the shop today or tommorrow on the official word as to what all is damaged.

I'm praying it's just the prop. Anyway I'll let you know what they tell me.

lol......gotta love the wakeworld humor....

yeah the rudder just ripped off, they are designed to break so they don't rip through the bottom of the boat.

i hit a pipe that was floating just below the surface of the water, so it just ripped the rudder right off

Hey entrust my xlv looked just like that after hitting a rock at powell with just 28 hrs on the boat. We actually pushed the strut through the bottom of the boat too. Some friends went and found our rudder still sitting on the rock that claimed it. The worst part was being without the boat for 6 weeks.

ouch man, yeah i have about 8 hours on my boat i know the rudder went down to the bottom like 80 feet below

OUCH @ entrust ;(

prop repairs: www.deltaprop.com the also sell new,acme ect... i had a 543acme for about 15hrs bent it up on an old wall at the marina,got it repaired and u can't tell the diff between the new 543 or the previously new one. the do a really good job, quick turn around to.

I had a slightly bent rudder once, it made the steering stiff. I didn't really notice it until I drove a friends boat and notice how easy it was to turn.

DCB - I bent a prop at Powell once too. The lake is beautiful, but nasty that way.

When I had my prop fixed, I initially had a local guy do it who likely did not have an Acme pitch block, so it still vibrated. I then had the prop guy in Las Vegas do it. It still had a very mild vibration to it that no one noticed but me. It bugged me, so I got another Acme. So now I have 3 props (my old spare, my new prop, and the fixed Acme). If anyone would want the old Acme, I'd be willing to sell it for cheap, it would make a great spare.

I think my prop may have been fixable to like new condition had it been done right the first time.