Prop guard/ prop clearance, or lack thereof!

[soacj]

I've noted my trailer's lack of clearance at the prop guard before...last night was no exception. As I left the driveway, w/ a couple 2x4's laid out to protect the asphalt, I thought I saw (wife was driving) a slight give in the guard...

Two hours later, I'm loading the boat back up on the trailer. As I'm sliding up to the boat buddy, slightly above idle, I hear a brief rattling/ratcheting noise :eek3: My first thought is what the $%$#, then I remembered the guard.

Winched the boat up the final 3" and pulled out of the ramp. W/ much hesitation, I checked my prop out.

Luckily, damage was minimal--a tiny ding in each blade. The guard itself had a couple paint scratches, but no gouging. All in all, pretty lucky for what could have been the bone headed maneuver of my summer.

Blocks, taller springs, or airbags are still on my to do list...Hopefully I haven't added a new prop to the list!

Jay

[j2nh]

Any chance of lowering the tounge?

[east tx skier]

So if I understand you correctly, you bent the guard up? If you've got an OJ prop, I highly recommend sending it off to them. Shipping is around $10 each way. Their turnaround is approx. 2 days. I bent a blade on my father in law's 4 blade OJ back about 45 degrees. They remilled it good as new. $85 plus shipping. Zero vibration. Sounds like your damage wouldn't be as much, but ICBW.

In March, I had my prop guard replaced with 1" of solid steel. Although for reasons of ground clearance, I recommend going with something closer to stock, that sucker isn't going to bend. A good welder can do it in little time. The clearance between the prop guard and the prop by our measure ments was 3/8". So you definitely don't have much room for error as you discovered.

I've had good luck with my 2" lifting blocks. I don't know how airbags react with regular submersion in H20, but if that's not a problem, more power to you. Dropping the tounge will help a little, but it never solved my problem. Rollers are good, but don't go with steel or your driveway will get scored like mine did before the lift (and coating the rollers with bedliner didn't work).

[soacj]

I've got a 6" drop hitch already. I'd thought it was an 8" until I put a tape on it a couple days ago. I probably will try an 8", though the difference won't be significant enough to solve my problem.

Airbags are looking less attractive when I can get a set of lift springs for <$100 and bolt them in (or the blocks for that matter.)

Plus, I'm not sure the leaf springs would allow enough droop to allow the air bags to work...Regardless, as evidenced by the prop guard damage I had better decide on something!

Thanks for the advice on the prop repair Doug--I read about your experience in the old forum.

Jay

[soacj]

Just got back from the river. Seems like I lucked out on the prop dings. No noticable vibes at any speed or increased water in the bilge. :dance:

Still think I'll get the prop repaired, but at least I can wait until the off-season.

Jay