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Brian73

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My new boat is currently being moved. Unfortunately I’ve been told the prop has hit something and it has caused the engine to come off its mounts. I’ve been quoted £1500-2000 for the job by the man who was in command of my boat at the time the problem occurred. As someone new to boating does anyone have any advice as the quote seems excessive?

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5 minutes ago, Brian73 said:

My new boat is currently being moved. Unfortunately I’ve been told the prop has hit something and it has caused the engine to come off its mounts. I’ve been quoted £1500-2000 for the job by the man who was in command of my boat at the time the problem occurred. As someone new to boating does anyone have any advice as the quote seems excessive?

 

Welcome to the uncertain world of boating!

 

Firstly, have you visited your boat to inspect the damage? This event is highly unusual.

 

What make and model of engine and gearbox do you have? 

 

Edit to add: I strongly suggest you take some photos and post them here. If the engine really HAS come off as you have been told, the damage could easily run to the sum mentioned.

Edited by MtB
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Usually if the prop gets jammed the flexibly coupling disintegrates, that's what it's there for. The next thing I'd have thought would be for it to wreck the gearbox, which it what the coupling is there to prevent.

To hoick the engine off its mounts would surely have broken some fairly hefty bolts, with failures all along the way. You do need to go have a look and try to find someone who saw what happened.

Also, to get advice, it would be good to know what the engine is - ancient or modern could make a big difference. And finally, get a second quote.

Edited by Arthur Marshall
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In my experience engines do not come off their mounts. If they did then exhausts, cables, wiring and plumbing would all have to move as well and something drastic would have happened to the shaft as well. As for the propeller well that would have been destroyed. What engine? Something is not right here. If I were you I would be tempted to take possession of your boat again and see what has happened to it.  Where is it, If it is within some sort of reasonable travelling distance I would be happy to have a look at it.

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2 minutes ago, Bee said:

In my experience engines do not come off their mounts. If they did then exhausts, cables, wiring and plumbing would all have to move as well and something drastic would have happened to the shaft as well. As for the propeller well that would have been destroyed. What engine? Something is not right here. If I were you I would be tempted to take possession of your boat again and see what has happened to it.  Where is it, If it is within some sort of reasonable travelling distance I would be happy to have a look at it.

 

 

I agree, the whole thing "smells wrong", hence my advice to start by visiting the boat and taking photos. 

 

Someone more suspicious than me might be wondering if the event has been massively mis-diagnosed, or even if it happened at all.

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9 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

 

I agree, the whole thing "smells wrong", hence my advice to start by visiting the boat and taking photos. 

 

Someone more suspicious than me might be wondering if the event has been massively mis-diagnosed, or even if it happened at all.

Which is why you should be contacting the boat mover and saying that you are going to claim through their insurance, assuming they were bona-fide and had insurance

Edited by Tonka
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17 minutes ago, Tonka said:

Which is why you should be contacting the boat mover and saying that you are going to claim through their insurance, assuming they were bona-fide and had insurance

 

Me? It's not my boat! 

 

I still fail to see that insurance will cover normal wear and tear. Prop fouls are normal events on canals and any insurance co will tell the OP to Foxtrot Oscar. 

 

I wonder if the OP might say where the boat is? There might be a forum member nearby who could drop in and assess the situation first hand...

 

 

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58 minutes ago, Brian73 said:

I’ve been quoted £1500-2000 for the job by the man who was in command of my boat at the time the problem occurred.

What were the circumstance when this man had command of the boat? Were you present? Is he a professional boat mover or boatyard employee being paid for the job? Or just a mate helping out? And why is he quoting you a price for repair, with the implication that you should pay? If he was moving the boat in a professional capacity he should be insured, and his insurance should cover the cost.

First thing you need is your own independent assessment of the damage. That may mean contacting a boatyard with no connection to the boat mover. And you should notify your insurers. They may want to send an assessor to inspect the damage.

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We were out on the boat this weekend, I was steering and just passed some moored boats so was on tickover.

Heard a loud clonk and the engine stopped dead. a sawn log semi surfaced and then sank.

 

The engine started straight away and on further inspection showed no damage to the drive train or anything else.

Got off light methinks.

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1 hour ago, Brian73 said:

My new boat is currently being moved.

 

Is it a 'new boat' or just 'new to you' ?

 

If just knocking the prop and thus the shaft has resulted in the engine falling off its mounts, then the engine was not mounted correctly and not 'fit for purpose'.

If this is a new-build boat I would involve the manufacturer as they may have just 'sat' the engine on its mounts and forgotten to fit them properly.

 

1st thing to do is to get pictures of the engine from every possible angle - it is not impossible that there is ancilliary damage to fixtures and fittings ( Exhaust manifold, fuel and water pipes etc) It all depends on how much the engine has moved.

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2 hours ago, Brian73 said:

My new boat is currently being moved. Unfortunately I’ve been told the prop has hit something and it has caused the engine to come off its mounts.

 

 

An engine doesn't just "come off it's mounts". An engine is securely bolted to its mounts so it is far more likely the mounts have broken, rather than the engine "coming off" them.

 

I'm finding myself wondering if it is actually the other way around. The boat has hit something good and hard (e.g a lock sill) and the sudden stop caused the engine to break free of it's mounts. To explain this, a semi-credible story about a prop foul has been cooked up and relayed to you. 

 

If you visit your boat to see, have a close look at the stem post for dents. Also, look closely at the stove as this is another thing that tends to move/come adrift if the boat comes to a sudden stop. 

 

 

 

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Some insurance policies do cover impacts with under water objects, especially policies that are for more general and not canal specific 😀.

If the mounts are old and dirty with oil contamination then they can fail, the rubber splitting off from the metal is the failure mode.

£1500 sounds a bit steep for a set of mounts so you need to find out if and what other damage was done.

Does the boat mover have insurance? is he a proper boat mover?

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26 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

I have know cases where the insurance has paid for stern gear damage if its fully comp, just like if you smash your car wheels in a potthole

 

My insurance states :

 

Despite the exclusion in Endorsement 4 - Speedboat Clause relating to motor connections, electrical equipment and batteries and connections (including the rudder, strut, shaft and propeller) Your Policy is extended to cover these items where the loss or damage has been caused by contact with any external substance (ice included) other than water. Nothing in this Endorsement shall override the exclusions in Section 1 of Your Policy.

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Could it be a GRP with an outboard or small Narrow with similar?? That’s the only scenario I can imagine hitting something so hard, maybe the lower unit, to rip the engine mount/clamp out, causing damage to the transom????
 Hopefully the OP can add a bit more info once he reads the replies.

Edited by PD1964
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9 hours ago, PD1964 said:

Could it be a GRP with an outboard or small Narrow with similar?? That’s the only scenario I can imagine hitting something so hard, maybe the lower unit, to rip the engine mount/clamp out, causing damage to the transom????
 Hopefully the OP can add a bit more info once he reads the replies.

 

The only time I saw that happen the boat started to sink.

 

Interesting the OP has not been back with a rough location to see if a member would take a peek. I doubt we will ever get to know what happened.

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25 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

 

The only time I saw that happen the boat started to sink.

 

Interesting the OP has not been back with a rough location to see if a member would take a peek. I doubt we will ever get to know what happened.

It will be interesting to find out. If you were employed to move a boat and the engine mounts were loose you should have an inclination something was amiss with engine vibration/movement under power surely. It would have to be a major hit on a normal Narrowboat engine set up to remove the engine from it’s mounts as people are saying.

 Hopefully the OP can give a little more info to the situation on his return. 

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1 hour ago, Tony Brooks said:

 

The only time I saw that happen the boat started to sink.

 

Interesting the OP has not been back with a rough location to see if a member would take a peek. I doubt we will ever get to know what happened.

He has signed on, just not commented at all

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