View Single Post
  #3   Report Post  
posted to rec.boats.cruising
Skip Gundlach
 
Posts: n/a
Default "quicKutter" from Australia- cut ropes tangled @ prop?

Obviously there's a market for these, or it wouldn't exist, but...

The guy was kind enough to call me and another in the Morgan group,
direct - from across the world! - after we submitted our info on his
web form.

In the end, at least with my setup, to attempt using his product was
terribly convoluted. He started by saying that it wouldn't work at all
(that was based on his view of our prop and shaft way out as we were
servicing it and not connected to the tranny), then, on review with it
in position, sent a couple of drawings for a workaround.

This is, to try to simplify it, a cutter like you'd have on a lathe,
but oriented parallel to the moving surface. The technical challenge,
and the reason he calls you, is to make sure the cutter is parallel to
the moving surface, a small barrel construction which goes on the
shaft, and that there's enough room (the barrel is a non-trivial
length).

I get the impression that these are custom made - each one unique -
from the conversation and followup communications.

For ourselves, the reason - aside from that this looked like it was
going to be a very long time in development - that we passed on it and
the other two products requiring the same is that I'm very loathe to
drill into our strut.

This and the other two - spurs, and the similar with teeth rather than
just a sickle-shaped cutter - all require mounting something on the
strut. If it doesn't bother you, somthing which shears is to my mind a
good thing, and was where I was headed until I followed up on the prop
protector.

Despite what you may think from reading other of my posts, I like
simple, and, in particular, limited failure modes induced on use. This
particular product just looked like too many chances to screw up for
us.

L8R

Skip

Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig KI4MPC
http://tinyurl.com/384p2 The vessel as Tehamana, as we bought her

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you
didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail
away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails.
Explore.
Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain