Thought I had a shark attack my prop!

[TREVELLY]

I was fishing at the shelf solo 45km East of Moreton at the Canyons.
I was just starting a drift and just did a drop to 300m and the line was approaching the hull so I started the motor to reverse the boat a little to change the orientation for the drift when suddenly the motor jumped about making some pretty big banging sounds.
I stopped the motor immediately and went to see if anything was hitting the prop from the hull but saw nothing.
I restarted the motor and it went well but once I had retrieved and motored forward at 10-20kph the boat was vibrating such that I could see the sounder shaking.
I stopped the boat and lifted the motor and saw the prop tips bent and dented - what the!!!
As I had nothing obvious that had struck the motor I thought must have been a shark sitting under the boat when I stopped the attacked the shiny silver thing when I restarted it.
I knew a guy some 30 years back had his 75hp attacked once he started the motor such that the hull went sideways and he fell over and split his ear and the guy retrieving the anchor went over the side. He got up slower than it took the guy to jump back into the boat but the motor had the leg bent 90 degrees at the prop - so he got towed home.
For me the prop was bent but the boat managed to work okay at 30kph.
When I got back to the ramp after dark I was met by water police at Scarby ramp pontoon and breathalyzed and I told them about the shark attacking the boat.
I got the boat onto the trailer and once up on the flat I took a good look at the motor.
Clearly the little fin and disc above the blade had rattled down till it hit the blade.
I assume the blade kept the disk away whilst going forward but once in reverse it sucked it into the prop.
Does anyone know someone good at prop repairs?
9187091871

[lucee81]

Sorry to hear about the prop but how hard was it winding at 300mts?
Did you catch anything.

[TREVELLY]

The deepest I fished was 550m - retrieving was a bit of a yawn
I only got two fish - just about to put on on barbecue now

[Moonlighter]

These guys are really good:

http://www.propellerrepairsaustralia.com.au/

Havefixed several for me. Do great work, fair prices

[tenzing]

hey Trv
Its not really clear from your photo ,but on my suzy , as with the donk before , the vertical blade of that "trim tab" faces backwards.
Has it spun around in the ding or was it forwards before?
Cheers
Brendan

[lucee81]

The deepest I fished was 550m - retrieving was a bit of a yawn
I only got two fish - just about to put on on barbecue now

Only 2 fish? Did I miss the report.
A bit of a snore? Oh that's right you use an electric.

[peterbo3]

Solas at the Sunny Coast will fix it. That little trim tab is the culprit IMO. Looks like the bolt that secures it has come loose allowing the tab to come in contact with the prop.

[TREVELLY]

Solas at the Sunny Coast will fix it. That little trim tab is the culprit IMO. Looks like the bolt that secures it has come loose allowing the tab to come in contact with the prop.

The prop is a suzuki prop which solas make - do they repair them as well??

[TREVELLY]

Only 2 fish? Did I miss the report.
A bit of a snore? Oh that's right you use an electric.

Lucas - report is not up yet - it is more boring than the retrieve ;)

[trymyluck]

Like Pete said, solas.

[Chimo]

Moonlighter is correct.
C
C

[tunaticer]

I would be suspect of the thread that bolts the vane into place now. Quite possibly the last few threads may have been stripped out.
I would probably get that thread helicoiled just to be sure. Duralac the helicoil before fitting to avoid corrosion.

[Dignity]

I don't know about suzzies but is that vane a sacrificial anode and has some one adjusted the angle recently to reduce torque in a particular direction, often this is the case and the bolt is overtightened and being a zinc compound the threads get stripped. I lost one in similar circumstances but fortunately for me it dropped off without causing the damage to the prop like yours.

[Moonlighter]

Whilst Solas may indeed make props for Suzuki, the Solas versions are NOT the same as the OEM ones supplied by Suzuki. So if you want to replace like-for-like, then get one from Suzuki.

But i would say that the one in the picture should be easily fixable.

The mob at Southport have been around for many years.

I last used them a few years ago when i bought a second hand stainless prop for my last boat on ebay, it was a bit rough, and also needed to be recupped. It came back looking like it was brand new out of the box, and cost $100. Very pleased with their work. Would highly recommend them.

[LittleSkipper]

Too me it looks like the bolt that holds the trim tab to the underside of the cavitation plate has worked it's way loose or wasn't tightened to begin with and hence the reason for the damage to the prop and your trim tab ending up at the bottom of Moreton Bay!

[TREVELLY]

Too me it looks like the bolt that holds the trim tab to the underside of the cavitation plate has worked it's way loose or wasn't tightened to begin with and hence the reason for the damage to the prop and your trim tab ending up at the bottom of Moreton Bay!

I agree 100% and suspect the latter

The thing did it's business 85km from the ramp at Moreton Canyons - so that little trim is now in 300m of water.

Trip back was economical making me stick to 30kph on dead flat seas

[hard2catch]

+1 for Propeller repairs australia.
I had similar damage on my 4 blade SS prop,cost $150 to repair so your prop should be a bit cheaper.It was fixed in 4 days and looked like new.

[Nicko_Cairns]

when I was living in south aus I heard of a few great whites chewing on props but usually at rest, they'd just have a taste then leave, or in one case circle the boat until they left lol.. snapper catch during that time... nil.

[TREVELLY]

when I was living in south aus I heard of a few great whites chewing on props but usually at rest, they'd just have a taste then leave, or in one case circle the boat until they left lol.. snapper catch during that time... nil.

Yeah Nick the guy who had his boat smashed years ago said the shark was up sniffing his burley pot and when he started the motor it got cranky - he was unaware of it being there till it started shaking the boat over 1m each way fast - probably a stray white - central coast NSW - I did see one white at dusk in that area and even fishin off the rocks I stepped backwards a few paces. The fin was over 1m high - freaking huge fish.

Thanks for the heads up on places to take the prop guys - really appreciate and it is always good to know they are recommended.

[Dicktracey]

Trev Performance Propellors at Taylor St Bulimba have my prop at the moment & are cutting it back. 16x 18 1/2
Col reground my 140 prop.
After severe prop slip under load @ 1770 I had the 200 prop scanned to find the leading edge had a raised edge on all three blades, this is typical for a solas prop from my personal experience.The difference after being ground is remarkable,last boat the prop was cut back and picked up speed right across rev range after being ground equal on all 3 blades
Dick

[LittleSkipper]

I agree 100% and suspect the latter

The thing did it's business 85km from the ramp at Moreton Canyons - so that little trim is now in 300m of water.

Trip back was economical making me stick to 30kph on dead flat seas

Would a Shark really do that kind of damage to a Stainless Steel prop? I mean the Shark might be able to sharpen his teeth and give them a good flossing?, but to actually bend the blade tips? I'm not quite convinced?

Thankfully; there was only minimal damage to your outboard and you were able to motor home....slowly but surely.

[Nicko_Cairns]

Would a Shark really do that kind of damage to a Stainless Steel prop? I mean the Shark might be able to sharpen his teeth and give them a good flossing?, but to actually bend the blade tips? I'm not quite convinced?

Thankfully; there was only minimal damage to your outboard and you were able to motor home....slowly but surely.

Like a 1000kg roughly the size of a combi van? YES, yes it would..