Sheared off the prop shaft this morning

[Suprafan!]

Yep. You read that right. Sheared the shaft & prop off my '92 Mariah which I picked up in July. I was docking at the Fox River Preserve (last dock on the right). I was probably 50ft out from the dock & hit what I think was a big rock, though it could have simply been bottom rocks. People are saying the river's low. Guess this proves it!
Took it over to the local Supra dealer right away. Seem like great people. They came recommended by friends. Anyhow, new shaft and prop and stuffing box hose and whatnot. I'll be hearing from them on Tuesday. Any wisdom you all could share would be greatly appreciated! Anyone care to put in a guess on the cost of thr repair? Ha!
Murphy's Law right?!

[Cusefan78]

Yikes. That sucks man. My guess $2200

[leetudor]

Why do you need a new stuffing box? $1,600-1,800.

[foxriverat]

River is about as low as I have seen it. Were down here in st charles and have been skiing the river for 20 years. Have to be very careful where you go. I`m drinking my coffee now and heading out there to ski. You going to go through your insurance for repairs?

[Suprafan!]

Actually I don't think it will need a new stuffing box just the hose that connects it to the shaft log.

[Suprafan!]

Yeah. I'm thinking about going through insurance. Although I have a good rate that I don't want to lose.

My office is just east of St. Charles. That looks like a nice stretch of water heading south.

Have fun out there! It's gonna be a great day to be on the water.

[CornRickey]

Someone else to do it including new prop and strut bushing. $3500

I lost mine too fatigue. New prop , shaft, bushing, dripless and paid myself for the labor. I think it was 12 hrs @ $20/hr. My quote to insurance was about 2200 and they were doing back flips while signing the check.

[michael hunter]

I bough my 92 comp with a broken prop shaft and no prop. I got the prop shaft from General Propeller for 260.00 and am using the spare prop from my sunsport.

[Suprafan!]

Is it a difficult job? I've never done this before and from what I've read it seems like alignment is a big issue. Not afraid to take it on if it's really more a matter of labor and switching out parts.

[chris young]

If you're mechanically inclined it's no big deal what so ever. If the strut didn't get bent, then you're in to a new shaft ~$400, new shaft coupling~$100, new cutlass bearings $80, and a prop $200-$400 and associated nuts and sundry. There's a really good video on youtube explaining how to do the alignment and it's no big deal assuming all the mounts will move. If the strut is bent, add another $300, and it's very easy to do, and you don't have to mess around with getting the old cutlass bearings out which will be the worst part of the job.

Where did the shaft break? my guess is right at the end of the keyway? Anyhow my usual PSA, make sure you lap fit the new prop. https://forum.supraboats.com/showthread.php?17515-What-do-I-torque-my-prop-nut-to&highlight=chris+young

If I was going to have it done by a marina, I'd want to know that they knew DD boats. Could cost you a bundle and they don't end up doing it right, but that's just my paranoia.

[Suprafan!]

Hey Chris, thanks this is great info. Looked at the lap fitting video, makes total sense and I can certainly appreciate the precision fit vs. simply throwing a prop on and calling it done and finding out down the line that it's gone to $hit. I'm definately curious about whether the shop I've got the reco on takes the same care with their work. I have no reason to believe otherwise but definately will have some questions for them to satisfy said curiosity. I'll keep you posted. Thanks a ton!

[chris young]

No worries,

I don't think very many shops will lap fit so I think it may be good to ask if they do, because the best time to do it is while the prop and shaft are out of the boat The other thing I'd make sure of is that they replace the shaft coupling with a new one. I think I put it in my original post, but again, like a prop it requires a tight fit. Once a coupler comes off, it will be just a tiny bit loose and it will rely on the keyway to drive the shaft which it should not do. If the coupling is a split coupling, then you should be ok because you can tighten those down.