prop damage

[Portholme]

i've got very light damage to the ends of my prop where it hit a rock in the sand at low speed. the prop ends have a few burrs on them. Is it ok for me to emery up the burrs and carry on as normal?

do props go out of balance easily? If so do they vibrate car wheels?

Thanks

[Hightower]

Originally Posted by Portholme

i've got very light damage to the ends of my prop where it hit a rock in the sand at low speed. the prop ends have a few burrs on them. Is it ok for me to emery up the burrs and carry on as normal?

do props go out of balance easily? If so do they vibrate car wheels?

Thanks

I can probably answer this one for you as I did something similar a short while back.

I hit my prop on rocks a little harder than you. Although there was roughness as you describle on two of the three blades, the third had a tad more damage and needed a little welding to bring the edge back for grinding. I did this at work the following week and polished the prop up to look like brand new and ready to go back on to the boat.

Then someone I know seeded a little dought in my mind and suggested that I get it checked for balance and pitch. I wasn't going to bother, but thought that a small price payed today might be a bigger saving tomorrow, so I did it!

Took the prop to Hamble propellers to get it checked over and they found that one blade was out of pitch and that the prop was out of balance too. Obviously it might have been this way before I dinged it, but I'm glad of the peace of mind that paying £70 cost me.

I haven't been on the water to test it since getting the prop reworked so can't comment on any performance gains/vibration.

[rik_elliott]

tbh very minor damage is unlikely to have upset the prop too much, but if chunks are missing then you probably should get it looked at, and also check the prop shaft to ensure the impact didnt bend it.