Prop damage ?

[Brogsy]

Reversing the boat back in this morning for some reason my engine was lowered and i heard a ding, so i stopped and wondered why my engine was down, i put it up and at first look everything seemed fine so i jumped back in the car and went to reverse again, bang, same thing has happened again. I finally reversed it in, an was turning the hose on and bang, engine drops again. I take a look and it seems to click into place nicely, so my i just wonder weather something was preventing it going all the way in or does any one have ideas? Closer inspection of my prop and it seems i have made another ding, one of the blades perfect, one scratched and one seems to have bent upwards about 5mm at the top of the blade. I tried attaching photos but will try again tonight.

Is this prop still useable?

Excuse my lack of knowledge, but the "prop protector" that curls down underneath the prop has also got a 5mm bend in it, i presume this will make steering more difficult? Should i be taking it in for a service?

Any help would be great thanks,

Brogsy

[FNQCairns]

The skeg will not make any noticeable difference as long as it is not twisted and they don't do that very easily, preferring to break first.

The prop you can just live with it chances are you will not notice or get the hammer out and bang it straight enough that it satisfies your eye....the efficiency difference at the speeds you do will be unmeasurable.

The popular props we buy of the shelf are actually quite dumb.

[oldboot]

If it is an alloy prop...don't be affraid to bash it back into place.

Best is two hammers......the biggest you have and can comforatbly hold in one hand and a smaller ball pien a little smaller than the typical claw hammer.

use the bigger one as a dolly behind the blade and tap it flat with the other.

You should be able to eye it up, against the other blades by rotating the prop.

I've bashed mine back into shape a couple of times...if you work shallow or snaggy areas, or can be forgetfull....you may get quite good at it.

cheers