Think I spun a prop today

[airdvr1227]

While pulling my son on a large underinflated tube with both biminis up and into a headwind I believe I spun my prop today. Did it a couple of times. Retracted the biminis and got rid of the tube and didn't have a problem for the rest of the day.

Can you spin a prop and have it still be good? Boat is in a slip so I can't mark the prop but what else could it have been?

 

[dwco5051]

Re: Think I spun a prop today

Ventilation (some call it cavitation) could have been the cause rather than a spun prop. Heavy load, maximum throttle, headed into the waves and wind, could have caused your prop to lose its bite. Our present work boat will do this if we make a tight power turn with the trim up any more than the bare minimum. If your prop was spun it would probably do it all the time under load.

 

[dwco5051]

Re: Think I spun a prop today

Just another thought. Is it possible that you boarding ladder if you had one was down or that your towing harness was somehow hooked up to cause extra disturbance of the water at the stern enough to cause the prop to operate in a lot of air bubbles?

 

[Rocky_Road]

Re: Think I spun a prop today

While pulling my son on a large underinflated tube with both biminis up and into a headwind I believe I spun my prop today. Did it a couple of times. Retracted the biminis and got rid of the tube and didn't have a problem for the rest of the day.

Can you spin a prop and have it still be good? Boat is in a slip so I can't mark the prop but what else could it have been?

Of course you could have done this, and it would only repeat under a similar load.

The correct solution is to get the prop to a prop repair shop, but you could also try another prop that you know is good, and see what happens. Most of us carry a spare prop for the unimaginable situations, and this could be your opportunity to have a backup.

Happy boating!

 

[airdvr1227]

Re: Think I spun a prop today

Built in swim platform keeps everything out of the way. If I'm understanding you the prop, under a heavy load can just spin in it's own cavitation bubbles? Learn something new every day.

 

[airdvr1227]

Re: Think I spun a prop today

So you think it's possible that I spun the prop? What do you think about the theory that the prop can spin in it's own cavitation?

 

[craze1cars]

Re: Think I spun a prop today

Not cavitation, but maybe ventillation (there is a distinct difference)...or indeed maybe spun prop.

Mine ventillates occasionally, usually in a tight turn when pulling a load. Essentially the prop loses bite with the water. Settle the boat down and hit the gas, and it grabs again. If this is what's happening, your prop is probably perfectly fine.

Mark your prop and hub and see if it moves during your next day out, it's the only way to know.

If you can do a full throttle take-off with no loss of "traction", you're fine...it was just ventillating due to the way you loaded your boat/set your trim/turned/ran thru chop/etc....