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QuicKutter propeller rope cutter


IanD

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I know there have been a lot of scathing comments about rope cutters/prop protectors in the past, both the fact that they don't deal with some of the crap that you get round the prop on the canals and the fact that most of them have sharp edges or teeth which are a major hazard if you actually have to get your hands down the weed hatch -- and please let's not reopen the weed hatch/shaft debate, most boats nowadays (including mine) have one. Mine is one of the Tyler Wilson "chute" ones which have the advantage that they're big and can't let water in or in extreme cases sink the boat, but the disadvantage that you have to reach all the way down from the deck -- which at least means you don't have to contort yourself into a space under the deck your body doesn't want to fit into... 😉

 

Anyway, while poking round the web like you do (and having found the Yachting Monthly cutter review which didn't test it), I came across this cutter which seems like it should both work better and be much safer for hands, not having any sharp rotating blades, just a small semi-guarded one fixed to the hull/stern tube:

 

http://www.h4marine.com/QuicKutter01.htm

 

What's particularly encouraging is where it's being used, including RNLI lifeboats and other commercial boats where it has replaced scissor/blade cutters. I've had lots of stuff caught round the prop over the years (ropes, fenders, bags, trousers, bras, coats, nets, weed...) and I'm under no illusion that this would deal with all of it, but it would probably have dealt with a lot of it.

 

I'm guessing that nobody on here has fitted one, but I thought I'd ask if anyone has -- or had any experience of them being used in non-canal applications like the above?

 

I'm looking for genuine feedback either positive or negative -- and it would be nice if for once this didn't descend to the usual "clueless shiny-boat newbie asking about new-fangled rubbish, proper boaters don't even a weed hatch" invective... 😉

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12 minutes ago, IanD said:

I know there have been a lot of scathing comments about rope cutters/prop protectors in the past, both the fact that they don't deal with some of the crap that you get round the prop on the canals and the fact that most of them have sharp edges or teeth which are a major hazard if you actually have to get your hands down the weed hatch -- and please let's not reopen the weed hatch/shaft debate, most boats nowadays (including mine) have one. Mine is one of the Tyler Wilson "chute" ones which have the advantage that they're big and can't let water in or in extreme cases sink the boat, but the disadvantage that you have to reach all the way down from the deck -- which at least means you don't have to contort yourself into a space under the deck your body doesn't want to fit into... 😉

 

Anyway, while poking round the web like you do (and having found the Yachting Monthly cutter review which didn't test it), I came across this cutter which seems like it should both work better and be much safer for hands, not having any sharp rotating blades, just a small semi-guarded one fixed to the hull/stern tube:

 

http://www.h4marine.com/QuicKutter01.htm

 

What's particularly encouraging is where it's being used, including RNLI lifeboats and other commercial boats where it has replaced scissor/blade cutters. I've had lots of stuff caught round the prop over the years (ropes, fenders, bags, trousers, bras, coats, nets, weed...) and I'm under no illusion that this would deal with all of it, but it would probably have dealt with a lot of it.

 

I'm guessing that nobody on here has fitted one, but I thought I'd ask if anyone has -- or had any experience of them being used in non-canal applications like the above?

 

I'm looking for genuine feedback either positive or negative -- and it would be nice if for once this didn't descend to the usual "clueless shiny-boat newbie asking about new-fangled rubbish, proper boaters don't even a weed hatch" invective... 😉

Have you tried to use your style of weedhatch in actual use. Will you actually reach the propellor shaft and then the bottom of the blade

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46 minutes ago, Tonka said:

Have you tried to use your style of weedhatch in actual use. Will you actually reach the propellor shaft and then the bottom of the blade

 

I've tried it and indeed it's not easy, you have to lie flat on the deck and get your arms/shoulders/head into the "chute" (which is pretty big (a couple of feet wide) at the top, see attached photo), and the prop is a long way down. But then a conventional weed hatch is often also difficult to actually get down to on the boats I've been on, you typically end up doubled up with your head between your knees, your back digging into the cross-member, and your arse digging into the gearbox. There isn't any ideal solution, both have good and bad points.

 

45 minutes ago, PaulJ said:

Its not going to be easy attaching the fixed bit to your average narrowboat.

Im guessing your average trawler, while dealing with a variety of prop stopping stuff, rarely comes across shopping trolleys, bikes and other metal objects too..

 

The fixed bit would have to bolt to the side of the stern tube, if this is long enough -- which it probably will be in my case, I want to get the prop well clear of the hull to improve water flow into it and reduce prop walk.

 

As I said it won't clear everything -- but the vast majority of the prop fouls I've had haven't been metal, they've been rope or cloth or sacks or weeds/roots. And *if* it clears those -- which is what I was looking for feedback on -- it'll greatly reduce the number of times I need to contort myself down the weed hatch... 🙂

 

lockers stern.jpg

Edited by IanD
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4 minutes ago, Ianws said:

If you are having to work down the shaft for something this won't deal with, wouldn't the attached cutter become a serious hazard?

 

Much less so than the scissor/blade ones -- if you look at the site I posted, the fixed bit is just a small rectangular holder with a blade -- close to the rotating spool -- embedded in it. It would be pretty difficult to cut yourself in this, there's no sharp exposed blade or teeth.

Edited by IanD
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10 minutes ago, IanD said:

 

The fixed bit would have to bolt to the side of the stern tube, if this is long enough -- which it probably will be in my case, I want to get the prop well clear of the hull to improve water flow into it and reduce prop walk.

 

As I said it won't clear everything -- but the vast majority of the prop fouls I've had haven't been metal, they've been rope or cloth or sacks or weeds/roots. And if it clears those it'll greatly reduce the number of times I need to contort myself down the weed hatch... 🙂

 

 

Yep I see all that and agree it may well reduce that BUT -my worry about fitting anything like this is if anything metal (barbed wire for example) got jammed in , could it bend that sticky out bit and go under making an already really hard to get off object really hard.

Ive had one rope cutter fail and break (presumably because of what hit it) -that luckily wasnt that bad -I just had several days with a clicky sounding prop shaft.😀

Sometimes you cant beat simple.

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13 minutes ago, PaulJ said:

Yep I see all that and agree it may well reduce that BUT -my worry about fitting anything like this is if anything metal (barbed wire for example) got jammed in , could it bend that sticky out bit and go under making an already really hard to get off object really hard.

Ive had one rope cutter fail and break (presumably because of what hit it) -that luckily wasnt that bad -I just had several days with a clicky sounding prop shaft.😀

Sometimes you cant beat simple.

 

It could in theory jam if something tough and just the wrong size got in, but the gap between the blade and spool is very small (the manual says 0.4mm) and it would be able to cut anything which can get into here, even wire -- barbed wire should present no problem, like many of the other cutters. The blade holder is pretty robust and bolted/epoxied to the stern tube, it would take a lot to bend it or break it -- they claim this has only happened once when the Falmouth pilot boat picked up a chain. And if you get a chain wrapped round the prop when it's turning, I imagine that damaging the cutter will be the least of your problems... 😞

 

I'm not suggesting it's perfect or indestructible, but it looks like a more robust (and less risky to hands) solution than all the others on the market. Like anything else you have to balance the pros (fewer weed hatch excursions) with the cons (not cheap or especially easy to fit, small possibility of jamming).

 

Still not saying I'm going to get one, I'm certainly not all gung-ho in favour of it. But if I'm going to fit a rope cutter (TBD) this looks like the best option... 😉

Edited by IanD
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4 minutes ago, IanD said:

 

I'm not suggesting it's perfect or indestructible, but it looks like a more robust (and less risky to hands) solution than all the others on the market.

 

I'll give you that one. It does look alot less painful than some of the others Ive discovered occasionally..😀

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6 minutes ago, nicknorman said:

These days we rarely find rope on the prop. More normally it is items of clothing. We call it the Primark Plague. Not sure that the small cutter you’ve linked to would have any impact on a large item of clothing.

Clothings or things like sacks or bags is most common for me too. I don't know if it will cope with these either -- which is one reason why I don't know if it's a good idea or not... 😉

 

(and the scissor/blade cutters which might be better at shredding clothing will also be much better at shredding fingers, as pointed out above...)

Edited by IanD
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50 minutes ago, IanD said:

 

I've tried it and indeed it's not easy, you have to lie flat on the deck and get your arms/shoulders/head into the "chute" (which is pretty big (a couple of feet wide) at the top, see attached photo), and the prop is a long way down. But then a conventional weed hatch is often also difficult to actually get down to on the boats I've been on, you typically end up doubled up with your head between your knees, your back digging into the cross-member, and your arse digging into the gearbox. There isn't any ideal solution, both have good and bad points.

 

 

The fixed bit would have to bolt to the side of the stern tube, if this is long enough -- which it probably will be in my case, I want to get the prop well clear of the hull to improve water flow into it and reduce prop walk.

 

As I said it won't clear everything -- but the vast majority of the prop fouls I've had haven't been metal, they've been rope or cloth or sacks or weeds/roots. And *if* it clears those -- which is what I was looking for feedback on -- it'll greatly reduce the number of times I need to contort myself down the weed hatch... 🙂

 

lockers stern.jpg

So that is a no you have not used it in anger and can't reach prop shaft or bottom of blade.

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I think that cutter could be good against rope or cord or electric flex which might wind itself around the propshaft, but I'm not sure it would be very effective against larger items like clothing or plastic bags which tend to wrap around the blades (rather than the shaft) and which turn your highly tuned bronze mover of water into a flailing dish mop.

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2 hours ago, Tonka said:

So that is a no you have not used it in anger and can't reach prop shaft or bottom of blade.

Obviously not, since the boat is not finished yet. I reached down it to where the prop would be -- if it had been fitted -- and decided that it was a stretch but reachable.

 

Since you're so against this type of weed hatch, have you used it in anger and found that it doesn't work? Thought not... 😉

50 minutes ago, David Mack said:

I think that cutter could be good against rope or cord or electric flex which might wind itself around the propshaft, but I'm not sure it would be very effective against larger items like clothing or plastic bags which tend to wrap around the blades (rather than the shaft) and which turn your highly tuned bronze mover of water into a flailing dish mop.

That's my feeling too.

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Thats probably the least intrusive such device i’ve ever seen, all the others just seem a great way to lose fingers when reaching into the murky depths.

That said, i don’t feel its designed for typical canal debris. Get in touch with them, they must have a test rig they can throw a sleeping bag, duvet, feed sack, bicycle, cratch cover etc. at to see how it copes?

I’d save your cash for other things.

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1 hour ago, Hudds Lad said:

Thats probably the least intrusive such device i’ve ever seen, all the others just seem a great way to lose fingers when reaching into the murky depths.

That said, i don’t feel its designed for typical canal debris. Get in touch with them, they must have a test rig they can throw a sleeping bag, duvet, feed sack, bicycle, cratch cover etc. at to see how it copes?

I’d save your cash for other things.

That seems to be the consensus -- good for ropes, but probably less use on the crap more likely to end round the prop on a canal.

 

Plenty of other things on the boat to spend the money on instead... 😉

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My boat has a Protecta Prop fitted, which is like a small circular saw fitted about hands width behind the prop.

 

It is very effective, even on the lesser used reaches of the BCN, in fact the only thing that defeated it was when I somehow managed to collect someone's catch cover around the prop, which stalled the engine and took me over an hour to remove.

 

As long as you are aware that it is there (the weedhatch has a prominent sticker to remind you) it is no problem keeping your hands away from it.

Edited by cuthound
To unmangle the effects of autocorrect.
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On 11/11/2022 at 17:07, IanD said:

I know there have been a lot of scathing comments about rope cutters/prop protectors in the past, both the fact that they don't deal with some of the crap that you get round the prop on the canals and the fact that most of them have sharp edges or teeth which are a major hazard if you actually have to get your hands down the weed hatch -- and please let's not reopen the weed hatch/shaft debate, most boats nowadays (including mine) have one. Mine is one of the Tyler Wilson "chute" ones which have the advantage that they're big and can't let water in or in extreme cases sink the boat, but the disadvantage that you have to reach all the way down from the deck -- which at least means you don't have to contort yourself into a space under the deck your body doesn't want to fit into... 😉

 

Anyway, while poking round the web like you do (and having found the Yachting Monthly cutter review which didn't test it), I came across this cutter which seems like it should both work better and be much safer for hands, not having any sharp rotating blades, just a small semi-guarded one fixed to the hull/stern tube:

 

http://www.h4marine.com/QuicKutter01.htm

 

What's particularly encouraging is where it's being used, including RNLI lifeboats and other commercial boats where it has replaced scissor/blade cutters. I've had lots of stuff caught round the prop over the years (ropes, fenders, bags, trousers, bras, coats, nets, weed...) and I'm under no illusion that this would deal with all of it, but it would probably have dealt with a lot of it.

 

I'm guessing that nobody on here has fitted one, but I thought I'd ask if anyone has -- or had any experience of them being used in non-canal applications like the above?

 

I'm looking for genuine feedback either positive or negative -- and it would be nice if for once this didn't descend to the usual "clueless shiny-boat newbie asking about new-fangled rubbish, proper boaters don't even a weed hatch" invective... 😉

I honestly think you have nothing to lose with this Ian, I have had some nasty tangles over the years involving blue plastic rope! This device should shred it and discard it. I would fit one and my weed hatch is a doddle in comparison to yours

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20 hours ago, cuthound said:

My boat has a Protecta Prop fitted, which is like a small circular saw fitted about hands width behind the prop.

 

It is very effective, even on the lesser used reaches of the BCN, in fact the only thing that defeated it was when I somehow managed to collect someone's catch cover around the prop, which stalled the engine and took me over an hour to remove.

 

As long as you are aware that it is there (the weedhatch has a prominent sticker to remind you) it is no problem keeping your hands away from it.

You mean this one?

 

https://prop-protector.co.uk/

18 hours ago, peterboat said:

I honestly think you have nothing to lose with this Ian, I have had some nasty tangles over the years involving blue plastic rope! This device should shred it and discard it. I would fit one and my weed hatch is a doddle in comparison to yours

 

Me too, but as mentioned above things like clothing and bags and sheets of flexible fabric/plastic seem to get picked up much more often than rope. The QuicKutter is undoubtedly very good with rope, but has a very small blade so I suspect blade cutters like cuthound uses are more effective against clothing and the like -- and fingers... 😉

Edited by IanD
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20 minutes ago, IanD said:

You mean this one?

 

https://prop-protector.co.uk/

 

Me too, but as mentioned above things like clothing and bags and shhets of flexible faric/plastic seem to get picked up much more often than rope. The QuicKutter is undoubtedly very good with rope, but has a very small blade so I suspect blade cutters like cuthound uses are more effective against clothing and the like -- and fingers... 😉

I had tracksuit bottoms around mine on the Leeds liverpool, turned prop and gradually unwrapped them! The worst is a tyre, just coming out of a lock and that was it for the day!!!

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1 minute ago, peterboat said:

I had tracksuit bottoms around mine on the Leeds liverpool, turned prop and gradually unwrapped them! The worst is a tyre, just coming out of a lock and that was it for the day!!!

A keep net is also pretty difficult to get off once all those hoops get wrapped round everything... 😞

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On 11/11/2022 at 17:57, IanD said:

- it'll greatly reduce the number of times I need to contort myself down the weed hatch... 

🙂

 

lockers stern.jpg

My boat has a hinged section above the weed hatch, it's basically the width of the back doors and the cill the doors close against are part of the hinged section, it has never leaked and gives full access to the weed hatch, no acrobatics for me, tbh I've never understood why builders make access so difficult.

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It is a safety thing.  If you can't get down the weed hatch, you can't get the lid off so you won't forget to tighten it up. 🙂

 

A cabin shaft with hook is still the easiest first try weapon and is often needed to get to the blades  on 'chute' type weed hatches anyway.

 

N

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5 minutes ago, BEngo said:

It is a safety thing.  If you can't get down the weed hatch, you can't get the lid off so you won't forget to tighten it up. 🙂

 

A cabin shaft with hook is still the easiest first try weapon and is often needed to get to the blades  on 'chute' type weed hatches anyway.

 

N

I'm confused -- are you just saying no weed hatch at all is best because you can't forget to tighten the lid up afterwards?

 

I'm well aware of the advantages and disadvantages of a chute hatch like mine, but one big advantage for me is that the stern outside the rear doors is completely watertight -- which is good if you're going down a lock with a waterfall from under a leaky gate, and the stern is full of electrical gear... 😉

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