Originally Posted by
chris young
I lost my prop because it wasn't properly fitted, and I didn't notice the cotter pin was missing. So when I shelled out for a new 541, I wanted to keep it, and that's how I learned about lap fitting. I also took the opportunity to pull the shaft and die check it, so I was able to do the lap fitting with a rig to spin the shaft with a drill. I started doing it by hand, but it was taking forever, so I rigged something up so I could put the prop on the floor and spin it with a drill. It worked so well I actually went too far, but no harm done. If I was going to do it on the boat, I'd either rig something up to spin the shaft or the prop.
There are a couple of really good reasons to properly fit a prop, not loosing it is one, but the other one that is more important, is that your prop should not rely on the key to drive the prop. If the prop is just a little loose, it'll bang on the key, and this can lead to the shaft breaking. Apparently most shaft breakage occurs at the keyway for this reason. What many people don't know (I didn't) is that it's the fit that drives the prop, not the key. The key is there for safety in case the prop gets loose.
I don't want to spread any paranoia but that's also why it's generally recommended to replace the shaft coupler with a new one any time you remove it from the shaft. Cheap insurance against failure at that end as well.
It may be overkill to do the heating thing, but I'd rather be swearing and banging and heating when I finally need to get the prop off, then swearing and sweating and paddling to get my boat back to the dock with my prized 541 on the bottom of the lake. My boat stays in all season, and my dock is my railway, so if I have to pull it out for any reason, it's a real pain.