SO say someone used an impact gun to tighten down the nut on the forward prop of a B3

J3ff

Don't ask me why this happened, but it did. After putting all of my weight into a 1/2 inch breaker bar and almost breaking it, the thing is STUCK on, even with the help of oil.

My questions-
Could any perm. damage have occurred? 
Is it okay to use the impact gun to get it off?

Dam that saying about "you have to do everything yourself" keeps biting me in the rear over here!

rasbury

Bud, what happened? I only know when I've taken mine off (once) I put on with a torque wrench..don't recall in was high #- I'm sure you can Google it. I would not think that the nut on the props is putting any load on those bearings but worth making sure...

oscar1

I used an impact gun to remove the nuts of my drive during prop replacement, so far everything is being good. 

davidbrooks

It has to come off at some point. The question is if that is now. Def but a new nut and the only damage I can think of would be if the threads got crushed.

aero3113

I would think the only damage would be on the nut side. It’s such a soft metal compared to the stainless shaft.

Black_Diamond

Something off on this.  Even if over torqued it will come off.  Adding oil / penetrating oil won’t help…it cannot get into the threads enough to matter. 

The forward nut should only be 60 lb-ft.  Rear one 100 lb-ft. 

My thought: either badly cross threaded…rather improbable though.  Or someone used Locktite on it.  If the latter, gently heat the nut with a propane torch as it will break the bond.  It will ruin the nut though (nylon insert) so replace it.  

GMSLITHO

Try a good heat gun instead of the torch and check it with a hand held thermometer 

J3ff

A mechanic for some reason went to the dark side and used an impact gun on it.. no clue why the normal procedure was ignored. It wont happen again, but he may come out to use an impact to get it off.. or at least break it loose. 

I have already have new nuts, would never reuse them..

J3ff

So the mechanic came clean that he used an impact gun to put the props back on, but then today he mentioned that he then used a breaker bar to tighten it down. wow. Okay. 

I called a local towing company who came out with a 700 dollar electric impact gun and he had this done in less than 30 seconds.. for the first 15 seconds it was working HARD for sure.. 

I plan to put the new 22p props on and use the correct torque bar to put the rear to 100lbs/ft and the front to 60lbs/ft. Is there anything else to do? there does appear to be plenty of grease on the shaft splines, should I put anything on the threads ?? Didn't see any corrosion or any other reason that this was so hard to get off. 

Cableguy Greg

I put 2-4-C grease on the shaft and threads when installing. I also but some under the thrust washer. 

I can't believe that he used an impact and a breaker bar. WTH? I wouldn't want him working on my boat again. What else does he over torque? 

J3ff

Unfortunately the amount of mechanics who will work on i/o in the keys is extremely small. If I could afford an upgrade to a searay 370 venture I would do it in heartbeat (it's a sweet boat with out boards and a huge swim platform). Unfortunately I just don't have the cash to do it. There are plenty of other live aboards that do not cost $200,000 but the problem with those boats are that it's a huge hassle to take them out and most of them have a lot of problems that would take thousands of dollars and many hours to figure out. The 270 that I have currently seems to be the sweet spot between a boat that you can crash on most of the time and a boat that you can single-handedly take out the reef or The Sandbar and have a good time on. I have had great times on it down here with friends and family just heading out even after work and I am very reluctant to upgrade to an older boat that comes along with serious problems. The 370 venture is the closest thing I can find to a boat like this that would avoid some of these issues. The problem is Sea Ray charged an astronomical price for it when it was new and low prices have not crashed yet!!

Black_Diamond

~NEVER~ grease / oil the threads.  You will overtorque due to the friction change. It also mucks up the nylock.  

Grease the bronze taper bushings. Grease fill the splines on the shaft and prop hubs.  You can wipe the non-threaded areas as it will help keep stuff from sticking to them.  

Cableguy Greg

I heard that the Rinker outboard cruiser is sitting at the plant 3/4’s completed. She was designed to have triple Mercury 350’s on her. Talking with Kim Slocum last weekend, he said it was going to be a nice boat. 

raybo3

Cableguy Greg said:

I heard that the Rinker outboard cruiser is sitting at the plant 3/4’s completed. She was designed to have triple Mercury 350’s on her. Talking with Kim Slocum last weekend, he said it was going to be a nice boat. 

What a shame!!

rasbury

If they would have stayed in the game a couple more months they would have had the best year ever- that being said, bad loans are out there and I'd expect lots of rv's, boats and some nice vehicles back on the market with better prices soon...hooe I don't have a lot of bank stock.

Black_Diamond

Banks will be fine.  The repo market will boom. lol. Last think a bank wants is storing boats and RV’s.  I agree there will be some deals to be had!

captkevin

I am ready for some deals.