Duo Prop Hit Yesterday

George Des · **Joined:** Thu Jul 09, 2015 7:15 pm **Posts:** 55

Was out with the Sundowner 5.7 GSI Duo Prop yesterday on Lake Winnepausakee. In a moment of not paying enough attention to the water depth, the outdrive ran over a rocky bottom and I severely bent up two of the blades on the forward stainless prop. After the hit we were concerned about damage to the outdrive but other than some low level vibration there was no oil in the water or other apparent signs of damage. We limped on over to a place where we could take a better look but could only see the two bent blades on the prop. It was a slow limp back from the Weirs beach area to the bottom of Alton Bay. When we pulled the boat out of the water and it was on the trailer we were better able to assess the damage. Other than the forward prop, the only other damage was to the skeg which now looks like a 4-5" stub on the bottom of the outdrive. Fortunately, I had two new stainless props that I had as spares, so today's job was to swap them out. I had read all the posts here in the Forum regarding the difficulty in removing the forward prop if it had not been previously mounted using grease on the shaft splines so I was fully expecting the worst, To my great surprise, this was one of the easiest jobs to do. The forward prop took maybe three small taps from a rubber mallet to coax it off the shaft. The previous owner had obviously heeded the warning regarding the greasing of splines! Now to get that bent up prop reconditioned.

BartsPlace · **Posted:** Thu Sep 03, 2015 2:21 pm

Welcome to the club! Most of our boat-able lakes (Utah) have rocky bottoms. In the last 5 years I've had the props reconditioned 3 times. Of those times, 2 happened this year! When it rains it pours. Insurance covered the first one (big ugly once-in-ten-year storm shoved the boat onto the rocky shore in the middle of the night). The second one is on me. Wind was the culprit again, but I was at the helm and should have worked out a better plan...

Good luck!

George Des · **Joined:** Thu Jul 09, 2015 7:15 pm **Posts:** 55

Ya, it was a rocky bottom in Paugus Bay of Lake Winni. Was trying to get in closer to shore to look at some lakeside condos in South Shore Down and did not see a black warning marker that sort of blended in with the water. My bad, I should have been paying more attention. Thankfully, I was not going very fast when I heard that unmistakable sound and immediately looked down to see how shallow the water was. The skeg took the brunt of it but I'm not sure if the front prop bit the end of it off when two of the blades were bent up or vice versa. No apparent collision damage to the shaft bullet and no oil leakage. Only sign of problem was some vibration due to the damaged prop. I'll test this weekend with the new props installed. Fortunately, it's nearing the end of our season here and I plan to have the outdrive pulled shortly to replace the bellows, service the gimbal and u-joint, and to replace a trim sensor. I'll have them also take a good look at the prop shafts and coupler while they are at it before winterizing.

GottWhat · **Posted:** Fri Sep 04, 2015 1:47 pm

We wrecked a Bravo3 prop* (Merc's version of the DuoProp) and luckily, used replacement sets can be had for $300-$600 depending on type and condition. It is still a bummer but glad I did not have to wait for repair or make an insurance claim.

*A few months ago when we pulled my boat out by trailer so my cousin could refinish the outdrive, we had a little incident with the forward prop. The weather was crappy so the wife didn't want to go out. So the fork lift guy lowers the boat into the water and all we have to do is walk the boat around with the lines to the other side of the dock where one of the ramps is located. Boat goes on trailer and we pulled the boat out. That is when I noticed we forgot to put up the outdrive. When in rack storage, the drives stay down and since we didn't go out on the boat I didn't think to put up the drive. A quarter of a blade on the forward prop was totally torn off. I will never do that again.

LouC · **Posted:** Sat Sep 05, 2015 9:34 am

Most of our bottoms here are sandy mud but there are rocky areas that you have to watch out for. If you don't have one yet, I'd recommend getting a good GPS/Depthfinder combo unit, they can read bottom contours well and you can set a low water alarm to warn you a bit at least. I have stuck with aluminum props for my Cobra because its moored in salt and a stainless prop while it would perform better and be more durable, would considerably increase the corrosion potential in salt water. Bent up one when I first got the boat (must have been a piece of wood because there was not a mark on the drive, just a bent up prop) and got stuck on a sand bar once (no prop damage, but had to replace the impeller/wear plate).
We have 7 foot water depth changes from high to low tide, every 6 hrs. So you not only have to keep track of where you are, but what time it is in the tide cycle. But never have low water problems per se; its all fed by the Atlantic Ocean....

George Des · **Joined:** Thu Jul 09, 2015 7:15 pm **Posts:** 55

Yes, I have the GPS/Depth Finder but if your attention is elsewhere... well you know how that goes. Only takes a second or two to get in trouble when you do this and are in closer than you ought to be!

Flying Sushi · **Posted:** Thu Sep 24, 2015 1:11 pm

I think we hit exact same shoal with our H260. It was the end of the first year with our brand new boat back in 2008. Like you we were casually going about 20mph (lucky me) so the damage was not major. Little bent in the front prop, no vibration and no oil leak. However, port side of lower housing and skeg has decent markings. The depth finder said 8 feet deep even when I hit it so I must be wrong place in wrong timing. I thought I went same route year after year for 10 + years…
It turned out that the damage was a lot bigger than we thought and we ended up with replacing the bottom of lower unit. VP-DP has very delicate prop shaft and I would recommend to check your shaft and make sure it is not bent..

blue dragon · **Joined:** Tue Jul 12, 2011 5:01 pm **Posts:** 792

I would recommend you definitely pull the lower unit and check the coupler.

Rick2752 · **Posted:** Thu Sep 24, 2015 4:05 pm

If you have a depth under combo unit most of them have a depth alarm setting. You just have to find it in the settings and it will drive u nuts if in shallow water. I have mine at like 6 ft to put me on the alert if we transition into shallow water I'm not expecting

LouC · **Posted:** Thu Sep 24, 2015 4:53 pm

On most of them there is also a 'keel offset' setting that takes into account how far below the water line the transducer is actually mounted. It could be as much as a foot or so, and making setting this will make your depth readings very accurate. I have a boat hook that I marked off in one foot increments and used this to get it very close.

Twox48 · **Joined:** Wed Sep 23, 2015 8:50 am **Posts:** 25

George Des & Flying Sushi,
I know the exact spot as well. My cottage is right across the bay from that. There are a few large "prop adjusters" scattered there in waters that are between 6-12ft deep. Even paying attention to a depth finder you likely would have had the same result. The only help there is an extra set of eyes on the bow shouting directions!
Best of luck when they get into your outdrive George Des!

www.iFourWinns.com

Duo Prop Hit Yesterday

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