"Butch Davis" wrote in message thlink.net...
Buy a stainless prop. It'll pay for itself many times over the years. Got
a sounder?



Yes I do. My boat is a 18.5 bowrider.

I live on Lake St-Clair (well, on the shore really!.) Up to about
half a mile out, the depth finder reads around 2 feet, then 3 feet for
500 feet before reaching 10 feet. I start to plane when the reading
reaches three feet.

It is very difficult not to occasionnally touch bottom when driving
out. The bottom is clay with some rocks at places. Of course, coming
in I can plane much closer to shore because the rear of the boat is
higher. I slow down when the finder reads 3 feet.

By the way, I just read elsewhere that the vibration from a bent prop
can cause the carburator to malfunction (because of the vibrations).
Recently I started to get pronounced hesitations at higher speeds. As
if I'm about to run out of gas...Maybe the cause is the bad prop. I
will definitely consider the purchase of a stainless steel prop as you
suggest.

A.Z.


Butch
"Mikkilla" wrote in message
...
In article ,
says...

One of the blades on the prop on my Mercury 4-stroke has a noticeable
bent, plus a few nicks and scrapes on the other two blades. Since I
have to drive the boat quite a distance in shallow water (2 feet)
before I reach the 4-5 feet depth, I hesitate to have the prop
repaired until the end of the season since it will be damaged again in
no time. But, I do not want to damage the motor, of course...

Can someone give me more information on the risks of running a motor
with a bent propeller?

You'll throw the propshaft out of blance causing lower unit damange..
which in
turn could/will transmit up the drive shaft to the powerhead Don't be
cheap get
the prop fixxed. cheaper to repair the prop then have a gearhousing or
powerhead rebuilded.. If you don't throw a Rod out the block