Hitting debris in the water....

This past weekend I hit something, probably a stick or log of one sort or another. Anyway, I was on my way in when I did and I was probably going about 30 mph. Made a pretty good thump. When I pulled it out of the water, I inspected the hull, drive shaft and prop. Everything looked clean, but it seemed like there was a small vibration after hitting. I've only had the boat out 2 or 3 times, and not sure if I was just hearing/feeling things from being ticked about hitting something, or if there was really a problem. If it was enough force to bend something I would think you would at least see some sort of mark, dent, etc, in the shaft. Is that right, or could something be thrown out of whack? What do you suggest doing to check it out. I am going to have the boat in the shop next week getting a tower put on, how easy (expensive) is it to have it checked out?

Things below are spinning very fast. It is easy to bend something without leaving a mark. An easy check is to change the prop and see if it disappears. That is quick and inexpensive. The shaft is a bit more difficult, but it can be checked with the proper gauges. Shafts can be straighted, but it may be better to pull it and replace it - more time on the water and less time in the shop. Have the old shaft straightened and kept for a spare.

They can check the shaft for you, should be part of the service. Just tell them you have felt some vibration and you would like the shaft looked at for proper alignment. It is probably not bent, or at least not bent without some obvious damage to the prop or rudder.

If they check it and say all is good then maybe it's the prop. "small bend" If the prop was bent enough for you to see the damage it would vibrate like crazy. But again if the shaft is ok and you still have vibration it's probably the prop. You can change have your original one fixed and then you will have a spare.

even the slightest bend in the prop can give off a vibration

My buddy and I experienced the samething going through the delta in an area we are very familiar with. When we hit the object (more likely a log since depth gauge was reading 10ft and nothing appeared when we went past the object), a loud thump came from the back and then the vibration started. When we got the boat out of the water we inspected the prop and shaft closely and saw no nicks or obvious bends. However, looking at the prop later with a spot light we could see that one of the blades of his 4 blade prop was reflecting the light a little differently. Rubbing our hands across the blades again we felt the slightest bend at the tip of the blade. Sad part was that we had just bought the prop and installed it and everything was running excellent.

Have the prop checked. I had this happen too. I hit a 4X4 post floating underwater. (I swear I didn't see it). I had ACME recondition the prop, and it looked perfect, still vibrated. They checked it again and said it was to spec'd. STILL VIBRATED. They finally gave up and sold me a new one at discount.

A simple way to check the drive shaft, and it's not the greatest but may offer some relief. Put a straight edge on the shaft and see if it touches all the way down.