Marine Accessories

Many boat owners do not include the propeller in their preventive maintenance ritual, even though it is the final determining factor in boat performance, and the most common point of failure. There are a few propeller checks and minor repairs that you can perform yourself to avoid shortening your hard earned weekend at the lake.

First, you must remove the boat propeller from the shaft to inspect it and its components for wear or damage. To remove your propeller, you will need a variety of common hand tools: a pair of pliers, a flathead screwdriver, a rubber mallet, an appropriately sized deep well socket and ratchet, a small two-by-four, and a pair of leather gloves. Depending on the particular make, model, and year of the motor or outdrive, you might not need all the tools listed. If you find that you don’t have a large enough socket for your prop nut, a 12 inch adjustable wrench should do the job.

Read the rest of this entry »

First think of propeller as a gear, whether it be on a car or even a bicycle. The lower the gear, faster hole shot, more power, but revolutions are much faster so at a point you can only turn that gear so fast until you over rev the engine (or you legs). Now think of your car stuck in only 5th or 6th gear, very slow out of the hole, little torque, but eventually it will catch up with itself so you can cruise to a good speed. Read the rest of this entry »