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Almost sank


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Fun Sunday heading for a cruise then dinner on the lake.. cruising 18mph let off throttle whamp. Now nothing.. sounded like I lost a prop.. thought I did. Drifting auto billages kicking on.. oh nooo did we puncture fiberglass??. Drifting finally reach a shallow area get out.. nope prop still there open up hatches looking down shaft key in floor and shaft is not through dripless.. taking on water..

Pushed prop/shaft fwd to plug hole looped a rope and tied to cleat. Neighbor came 2-3miles to tow us home.. hooked a rope to hold prop/shaft from slipping back but was difficult. 3-4* had to stop and push prop/shaft fwd as we didn't have a good angle with rope to hold it fwd to keep hole in bait plugged.. billage wasn't going to keep up with shaft not filling the hole.. Lucky for us we drifted into a shallow area quickly enough to figure this out or we would have been sunk quickly.  Not ideal with 15on board with several infants.

Now back on lift but anyone know of this can be fixed on a lift? And how in the heck did this sheer the key and the retaining mechanism while just letting off throttle unless it was just ready to go?

Appears prop took a good song when it slipped back into rudder. Have a spare prop but given it's a good tow to the ramp curious if this can be fixed easily? I'm guessing the rudder has to be taken off to pull the whole prop and shaft off to insert the key and put it back? There's no room to fit kwy between the dripless and the transmission. Let me know thoughts

20210613_211947.jpg

20210613_212038.jpg

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If you remove the prop from the shaft, you can probably slide the shaft back past the rudder. 

Did the shaft break, or just come out of the coupler? 

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6 hours ago, justgary said:

If you remove the prop from the shaft, you can probably slide the shaft back past the rudder. 

Did the shaft break, or just come out of the coupler? 

Not sure.. couldn't see well sun was going down. . Did shine a flashlight as we moved shaft back and forth and it did not appear to have a threaded end or keyway on the end of the shaft where it was coming through the dripless, so is it possible the entire shaft broke after that threaded spot/retaining nut/key spot Does this ever happen? 

Prop removal will be interesting but I would imagine it would still hit rudder however you turn it? 

My guess is the coupler if the key was there in the floor? 

Does anyone have a diagram and there is probably a retaining clip or something? 

 

 

Edited by The Hulk
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1 hour ago, The Hulk said:

so is it possible the entire shaft broke after that threaded spot/retaining nut/key spot Does this ever happen? 

Yes, it happens.  It is the primary reason you check alignment every so often.  If the shaft has to bend as it turns, it will eventually work harden and then break.

1 hour ago, The Hulk said:

Prop removal will be interesting but I would imagine it would still hit rudder however you turn it? 

If you remove the prop and leave the rudder pointed straight ahead, you may be able to flex the shaft just a bit and get it to slide past the rudder.  The flex won't be enough to put a set in it, so it won't hurt anything. 

While you have the shaft out, consider replacing your strut bushing.  Inspect it carefully for wear, which could be another indication of poor alignment.  For that matter, inspect the strut also to make sure it isn't bent.  I was able to straighten my strut on a press stand pretty easily.  I used new Vesconite bushings when I put it back on the boat.

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13 hours ago, The Hulk said:

Fun Sunday heading for a cruise then dinner on the lake.. cruising 18mph let off throttle whamp. Now nothing.. sounded like I lost a prop.. thought I did. Drifting auto billages kicking on.. oh nooo did we puncture fiberglass??. Drifting finally reach a shallow area get out.. nope prop still there open up hatches looking down shaft key in floor and shaft is not through dripless.. taking on water..

Pushed prop/shaft fwd to plug hole looped a rope and tied to cleat. Neighbor came 2-3miles to tow us home.. hooked a rope to hold prop/shaft from slipping back but was difficult. 3-4* had to stop and push prop/shaft fwd as we didn't have a good angle with rope to hold it fwd to keep hole in bait plugged.. billage wasn't going to keep up with shaft not filling the hole.. Lucky for us we drifted into a shallow area quickly enough to figure this out or we would have been sunk quickly.  Not ideal with 15on board with several infants.

Now back on lift but anyone know of this can be fixed on a lift? And how in the heck did this sheer the key and the retaining mechanism while just letting off throttle unless it was just ready to go?

Appears prop took a good song when it slipped back into rudder. Have a spare prop but given it's a good tow to the ramp curious if this can be fixed easily? I'm guessing the rudder has to be taken off to pull the whole prop and shaft off to insert the key and put it back? There's no room to fit kwy between the dripless and the transmission. Let me know thoughts

20210613_211947.jpg

20210613_212038.jpg

Glad everyone is safe

  • Like 2
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When we used boats on big water we kept a pack of wood plugs. Some the size you might need for the lose of a shaft. Even some cloth towels or clothing can be stuffed into a hole the hull for a short term keep me floating issue.  I never did on smaller lakes or rivers that we could make shore and beech if needed.  Even cheep soft wood  ones.    https://www.forespar.com/products/sta-plug.shtml

  • Like 2
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3 hours ago, Sixball said:

When we used boats on big water we kept a pack of wood plugs. Some the size you might need for the lose of a shaft. Even some cloth towels or clothing can be stuffed into a hole the hull for a short term keep me floating issue.  I never did on smaller lakes or rivers that we could make shore and beech if needed.  Even cheep soft wood  ones.    https://www.forespar.com/products/sta-plug.shtml

Good idea! 

 

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@The Hulk very glad to hear everyone is safe! Wow, scary.

For lost shaft emergency, plastic bags can work wonders. Stuff a shirt in a bag, stuff the hole.

Did this once as a kid, bellows let go on the outdrive. Grabbed a garbage bag and a spare shirt, stuffed it good, actually drove to the ramp before we beached it. Over an hour later when the trailer was at the ramp, the boat still floated. 

 

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12 hours ago, asnowman said:

@The Hulk very glad to hear everyone is safe! Wow, scary.

For lost shaft emergency, plastic bags can work wonders. Stuff a shirt in a bag, stuff the hole.

Did this once as a kid, bellows let go on the outdrive. Grabbed a garbage bag and a spare shirt, stuffed it good, actually drove to the ramp before we beached it. Over an hour later when the trailer was at the ramp, the boat still floated. 

 

lucky for us it was windy and when the pumps kicked on we had only a few mins or less drift to shallow area. the water in the boat was still low enough to see the water spurting up through the shaft at this time which allowed us to figure it all out within a few mins. it was coming in quickly! my concern would have been had we not drifted over shallow area quickly to get under a still non drifting boat in clear water and figure this all out. Had the water got high enough over the drippless then the water would not have been spurting in for us to easily spot entry area and would have been more difficult to find problem. we had to move the intake filter and a few things out of the way to see up under there.

 i would imagine you get 15mins to figure this out before you have a big problem and way less with ballast! haha.

 

 

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for this to happen the nut that holds the shaft into the coupling came loose. Weird tho because this nut is supposed to have a set screw coming in from the side of the coupling to "lock" the nut from ever turning and coming loose. The shaft coupling half will have to be unbolted from the transmission coupling half and put back onto the prop shaft with key and nut and set screw. Then you can slide the coupling halves back together. Alignment needs to be checked at this time. No more than .003 of an inch should be present between the halves. Check youtube for some good videos on this. Hardest part is reaching in to do this. Might have to remove part of the lower back seating to get in there.  Good luck!

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6 minutes ago, Jason63 said:

for this to happen the nut that holds the shaft into the coupling came loose. Weird tho because this nut is supposed to have a set screw coming in from the side of the coupling to "lock" the nut from ever turning and coming loose. The shaft coupling half will have to be unbolted from the transmission coupling half and put back onto the prop shaft with key and nut and set screw. Then you can slide the coupling halves back together. Alignment needs to be checked at this time. No more than .003 of an inch should be present between the halves. Check youtube for some good videos on this. Hardest part is reaching in to do this. Might have to remove part of the lower back seating to get in there.  Good luck!

If the threads sheared off though... Waiting for pic of the shaft end. 

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3 hours ago, UWSkier said:

If the threads sheared off though... Waiting for pic of the shaft end. 

hope to get one when i head to lake this evening. again it was dark and was hard to see with water there previously so hard to say. it didnt look like threads but again it was dark and water there so i could be wrong. 

watched the youtube seems easy enough until the alignment part... 

what about the dripless and the strut bearings would they be ok? my prop has a nice ding in it from the rudder so i'll have to send that in but i have another prop, not my fav but works. 

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2 hours ago, The Hulk said:

hope to get one when i head to lake this evening. again it was dark and was hard to see with water there previously so hard to say. it didnt look like threads but again it was dark and water there so i could be wrong. 

watched the youtube seems easy enough until the alignment part... 

what about the dripless and the strut bearings would they be ok? my prop has a nice ding in it from the rudder so i'll have to send that in but i have another prop, not my fav but works. 

dripless should be fine.  Strut bearings are probably fine too, but if you plan on keeping the boat for a while, it's a good time to replace them with the vesconite type, which last way longer.  There's a slight chance you bent your strut when the shaft gave out.  You'll know when you slide the new one in if the alignment seems way off.

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On 6/16/2021 at 4:24 PM, UWSkier said:

dripless should be fine.  Strut bearings are probably fine too, but if you plan on keeping the boat for a while, it's a good time to replace them with the vesconite type, which last way longer.  There's a slight chance you bent your strut when the shaft gave out.  You'll know when you slide the new one in if the alignment seems way off.

Well thankfully it didnt actually break, hard to see down there and when i was looking at it standing on my head the shaft was still in the dripless which i could not see the threads. When my friend was pushing it back and forth it was pretty quick and in water so it didnt look like threads and it was dark. Should be a quick fix and i'll be back ready maybe by this weekend and not be boatless on the 4th!  Set screw backed out and nut fell off, key sheered. Tranny had to be removed to work on it and update alignment. Prop needs sent in for repair but i have a spare i'll throw on there as not to loose lake time! 

i was also EXTREMLY lucky as i took the boat out then a very bad storm hit us that night. No boat on the lift; and an F1 touched down right behind our place. i have a HUGE canopy, and a very heavy lift although without a boat that means gonner in most cases. I seriously watched & thought it was going to fly into our house for sure, somehow it survived without damage. Others not so lucky boats off lifts, flipped, canopies shredded , canopies in trees, trees down , power lines down etc.. i have no idea how my lift stayed! lucky!

The dealership has been excellent at getting on this repair very quickly and they have really turned that place around from what it was IMO!

 

Sometimes we get lucky!

 

 

 

 

Edited by The Hulk
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2 hours ago, UWSkier said:

For the set screw to back out AND the nut to work itself off is completely crazy.  Sounds like you're looking good though!

i think the dealer added some thread lock this time! ha

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On 6/14/2021 at 1:01 PM, Sixball said:

When we used boats on big water we kept a pack of wood plugs. Some the size you might need for the lose of a shaft. Even some cloth towels or clothing can be stuffed into a hole the hull for a short term keep me floating issue.  I never did on smaller lakes or rivers that we could make shore and beech if needed.  Even cheep soft wood  ones.    https://www.forespar.com/products/sta-plug.shtml

Years ago went to river with a buddy in his almost new Tige.  Got to ramp & he had forgot drain plug at home.  Stuffed the end of wooden flag handle into drain plug hole, busted off the excess and  off we went........Full sends only....He was am interesting dude to boat with.........

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My shaft broke inside the coupler that's attached to the vdrive a few years ago. The rudder is what kept it from falling out the back of the boat. It's not something I would even consider doing in on a lift. 

Did the shaft break or just the key came out? If the key just came out you can probably just disconnect the coupler from the vdrive and re install it. If the shaft broke you have to take it out of the water and put it on a trailer.

 

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  • 4 weeks later...
On 6/24/2021 at 9:46 AM, The Hulk said:

Well thankfully it didnt actually break, hard to see down there and when i was looking at it standing on my head the shaft was still in the dripless which i could not see the threads. When my friend was pushing it back and forth it was pretty quick and in water so it didnt look like threads and it was dark. Should be a quick fix and i'll be back ready maybe by this weekend and not be boatless on the 4th!  Set screw backed out and nut fell off, key sheered. Tranny had to be removed to work on it and update alignment. Prop needs sent in for repair but i have a spare i'll throw on there as not to loose lake time! 

i was also EXTREMLY lucky as i took the boat out then a very bad storm hit us that night. No boat on the lift; and an F1 touched down right behind our place. i have a HUGE canopy, and a very heavy lift although without a boat that means gonner in most cases. I seriously watched & thought it was going to fly into our house for sure, somehow it survived without damage. Others not so lucky boats off lifts, flipped, canopies shredded , canopies in trees, trees down , power lines down etc.. i have no idea how my lift stayed! lucky!

The dealership has been excellent at getting on this repair very quickly and they have really turned that place around from what it was IMO!

 

Sometimes we get lucky!

 

 

 

 

I resemble this comment. I have a shiny new canopy as a result of the Tornado that ran from Coldwater towards Quincy, MI. I am not far north of you. Scary night!

Which dealer do you use?

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17 hours ago, 95echelon said:

I resemble this comment. I have a shiny new canopy as a result of the Tornado that ran from Coldwater towards Quincy, MI. I am not far north of you. Scary night!

Which dealer do you use?

For lift or boat? 

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