Houseboat Props Marine

    These come in a variety of materials. The most common being aluminum.  These are certainly very important and need inspection from time to time. The most common problem of course is damage.  Damage meaning the prop coming into contact with something other than water.  In most cases they can be repaired at your local prop shop. Most twin engine houseboats have opposing props. This means one turns left and one turns right.  Most props have a rubber compression bushing pressed into the hub.  This is a protector to the outdrive. If you where to hit something the theory here is the prop would spin on the rubber bushing and not cause internal damage to the drive. Having said that the rubber bushings wear out and sometimes need replacing.  You will know this when you are trying to accelerate and the engine races up and the boat doesn't.  Something like a clutch slipping in a car.  Something else to watch for is fishing line getting twisted up in your props.  If you find this remove the prop and inspect carefully.  There is a seal that is behind the prop. This fishing line issue can cause real problems here. It cuts up the seal letting water inter the lower unit. This isn't good.   I mentioned earlier that most props have a bushing pressed in. Some newer designs address this by the prop sliding down over the bushing via splines.  I either case the function is the same.  In most cases the prop will be held on by a single nut.  This nut will have tabs bent over the nut to prevent it from coming off. You must move the holder away from the nut to remove it. Once off simply slide the prop off the shaft. Be careful not to drop anything. 

Here's another tip.  Have your local prop shop put a bit of cup on the blade tips. This will really assist the prop in holding the water.  This really helps with prop cavitaion.  (loss of traction)   A good practice here is to replace the prop nut with a sacrificial anode nut.  If you have questions about this see my article on anodes.

Uncle Ricky says this ones pretty easy.