Cotter pin?

[harpguitar]

Good morning,

I should be out on the water now!

I put my Westerly 26 in forward (engine started +running well) and nothing happened. Reverse, nothing happened. Opened up to look at drive train and the shaft was spinning nicely, gears shifted, shaft spun in other direction.

So............

Break it to me gentlly. Am I going swiming?

I din't hit anything the last time I was out. Do these pins in the props just rust out? Anything else it could be?

Thanks for any help. Oh, the engine is Volvo MD 2B diesel.

Rick

[sailingdog]

Are you sure the prop is still attached to the shaft?? If the shaft is spinning, and you're not getting anything, the prop is likely no longer attached to the shaft.

[SEMIJim]

Originally Posted by harpguitar

Good morning,

I should be out on the water now!

Shouldn't we all! In our case: Busted our tails getting all the much-needed yard work done yesterday (Part II of spring cleanup) with the hopes of sailing today. Maybe even racing. Well, 50% chance of rain, with increasing chance of thunderstorms as the day wears on, and winds of less than 5 kts kinda put the kibosh on that plan. Oh well...

Originally Posted by harpguitar

Break it to me gentlly. Am I going swiming?

I think you already know the answer to that one .

Originally Posted by harpguitar

I din't hit anything the last time I was out. Do these pins in the props just rust out?

They can be eaten. That's why we have sacrificial anodes. (Aka: "zincs") When's the last time you inspected yours?

Originally Posted by harpguitar

Anything else it could be?

No water under the boat?

Bad news is: The prop is keyed onto the shaft. So if nothing's happening, sounds like it's Neptune's now. Hope it wasn't an expensive one!

Good luck.

Jim

[harpguitar]

Thank you Jim and Sailing Dog. The thing is it could well be sitting at the bottom of my dock/slip. The last time I went out it got me home just fine.

So perhaps with the low tides when the boat sank down into the mud it worked it's way off.

Jim asks whether it was an expensive prop. I don't know. Came with the boat last year when I bought it. Guess I'll find out. Regarding zincs. I don't know where to look.

I'll let you know what happens. Guess I am in the market for mask and flippers.

Rick

[SEMIJim]

Originally Posted by harpguitar

Regarding zincs. I don't know where to look.

Oh boy. Small, egg-shaped thing clamped to your prop shaft. This is something you really need to know about, especially if you're in salt water. Here's an explanation of what they are, what they do, and why they're necessary: Sacrificial Zincs by Don Casey

In short: When your sacrificial zinc is gone, galvanic corrosion starts eating the metal bits of your boat--things such as your prop, prop shaft... cotter pins... metal thru-hulls...

Jim

[harpguitar]

Jim,

Thank you. I won't get to it until next Sunday. Bought mask and flippers so I can at least look.

I get it about the zinc. Wish I knew about it last year when boat was hauled and painted.

Wish me luck!

Rick

[Omatako]

It would be unusual for a prop to be installed with a "cotter pin", they are usually set onto the shaft with a keyway with a nut after the prop with a splitpin to secure the nut.

The chances of a keyway stripping to a point where the shaft runs without the prop are pretty remote so I reckon you're going shopping soon.

[Omatako]

Just for interest, the reason I put the words cotter pin in parenthasis in the post above is because I have a different understanding of th term cotter pin. Here's why:


In the United States, cotter pin (also known as a cotter keyFact|date=August 2007 or a split pin) is a metal fastener with two stems that are bent during installation, similar to a staple or rivet. Typically made of wire with a half-circular cross section, cotter pins come in multiple sizes and types.
In the UK, the term split pin has traditionally been used to describe the same device. [ [Split Pins Split Pins at Technologystudent.com] ] [ [Split Pins Split Pins at Stig's Stainless Fasteners] ] [ [Split Pin (Cotter Pin) in Stainless Steel Split Pins at Stainless Steel Solutions] ] The term "cotter pin" is reserved for the tapered round cotter that was used to fix bicycle pedal cranks to their shaft, being installed offset from the diameter of the driven crank, flat on one side to prevent rotation and tapered so as to tighten the entire union. The different usage between the two countries is often a cause of confusion when companies of both countries work together.

This quote came from here: Cotter pin

[sailingdog]

Originally Posted by Omatako

...The chances of a keyway stripping to a point where the shaft runs without the prop are pretty remote so I reckon you're going shopping soon.

Or swimming. Be careful swimming in marinas, as some have AC leakages that can be lethal.