Tools for clearing the prop

[Neil2]

I've never found it easy to get my hands/arms down a weed hatch, some boats are easier than others but lack of flexibility as I get older, and the depth of the weed hatch tunnel on the current boat means there's no way I can reach down and get my hands on the vast array of material that finds it way to the prop.  

 

I do have a weed cutter on the prop shaft which does seem to work - with weed, but I doubt it will cope with the poly bags, towels, tights, etc.

 

I think you can still get the Prop Mate and IIRC there was another more expensive device which had several cutting surfaces, I know some folk use those things you get weeds out of patios with as well.   

 

Though I can't reach down the hatch I can get directly above the prop.

 

Does anyone have any suggestions? 

 

 

 

 

[alan_fincher]

Neither of our historic boats has a weed hatch, but even if they had no tool would have helped with what I had to deal with trwo evenings ago.

 

The  dreaded "tyre over the blades", (in this case I think from a motor cycle).

 

A defintite "get in the cut" job.  Fortunately it was a baking hot evening, and the cut wasn't that cold.

[rusty69]

[frangar]

1 minute ago, rusty69 said:

That's what I use....after some attention with an angle grinder to sharpen the edges up....I also have a few hacksaw blades with one end wrapped in tape to act as a handle....

[Sea Dog]

Last week I removed about a metre of 1/4" steel reinforcing bar (as used in concrete) which had wrapped like a coiled spring around my stern tube, shaft and prop.  I used a junior hacksaw to cut it into pieces, which was quite challenging in itself underwater) then a goat chain and a mooring pin to lever the shorter coiled pieces apart just far enough to remove them.  After that, I had to dress the prop with a half-round smooth file, which copes well with dinks in phosphor bronze which otherwise can cause nasty vibration.  About 3 hours work just before the second top Garrison Lock, and the boat ran smoothly thereafter.  Just after the top lock, I was down there again removing a bag made from nylon webbing - another 45 minutes with a plasterboard saw and a bread knife.  Those are the 4 tools I would highly recommend, but the bread knife is probably the one which would see most action. 

 

(This on a boat which picks up virtually nothing a quick burst of backwards doesn't shift and it was the first (and then, almost immediately, the second!) time I'd been down the weed hatch in 2 years.)

[Boater Sam]

A slate ripper is super for defoliating a blade.

[BEngo]

A cabin shaft with a sharp point to the hook is good for poly bags/ tights/ clothing and tough weed. Mine even ripped a foam mattress into manageable (by 3 people) pieces.

The J MacDonald patent prop clearer is excellent at rope and other tough stuff.

Bargee Bills prop cleaner is a useless gimmick.

A bread knife is essential and a wire type Commando saw will tackle just about anything you can thread it through.

Bolt croppers tend to be an " in the water" job.

 

N

[X Alan W]

A good number of working boaters used a shunters coupling pole with th curly pigs tail sharpened to an edge on the inside of the curl

Edited August 9, 2018 by X Alan W

[Mike Tee]

Second thumbs up for the wire commando saw - this will (quickly) cut through most items round a prop.

(Although you might have to google ‘survival saw’ to find one)

[alan_fincher]

11 hours ago, BEngo said:

A cabin shaft with a sharp point to the hook is good for poly bags/ tights/ clothing and tough weed. Mine even ripped a foam mattress into manageable (by 3 people) pieces.

The J MacDonald patent prop clearer is excellent at rope and other tough stuff.

Bargee Bills prop cleaner is a useless gimmick.

A bread knife is essential and a wire type Commando saw will tackle just about anything you can thread it through.

Bolt croppers tend to be an " in the water" job.

 

N

It would be great if someone could start a small production run of the Jim MacDonald patent prop clearer.

Having been rescued once by someone who had one, I'm very convinced of its effectiveness on certain types of fouling.

[Jerra]

5 minutes ago, alan_fincher said:

It would be great if someone could start a small production run of the Jim MacDonald patent prop clearer.

Having been rescued once by someone who had one, I'm very convinced of its effectiveness on certain types of fouling.

If it is really patented that might need some careful negotiation.

[alan_fincher]

1 minute ago, Jerra said:

If it is really patented that might need some careful negotiation.

I doubt it is.

[Jerra]

1 minute ago, alan_fincher said:

I doubt it is.

I did wonder.

[BEngo]

Knowing Jim, and that he made and gave away several of his prop clearers, I doubt that much negotiation would be needed over a production run, even if the device was patented. (It isn't AFAIK).

 

As an aside the rules on Patents allow you to use any patent to make one item for your own non-commercial use.  

N

[BEngo]

12 hours ago, X Alan W said:

A good number of working boaters used a shunters coupling pole with th curly pigs tail sharpened to an edge on the inside of the curl

They can still be bought, though you will have to sharpen it yourself!  Boaters would have 'acquired' them of course fronm exchange basins and railway served loading and unloading points but Google "shunters pole" and you can pay money for one!

[X Alan W]

5 hours ago, BEngo said:

They can still be bought, though you will have to sharpen it yourself!  Boaters would have 'acquired' them of course fronm exchange basins and railway served loading and unloading points but Google "shunters pole" and you can pay money for one!

Quite a few were "Acquired"through the shaft breaking & although the lines men were supposed to hand in the metal end to get a replacement some were exchanged for a packet of 'Fags" or the price of a couple of pints you always had to sharpen to an edge a short boat shaft made a good replacement handle if you only got the metal partr

[Neil2]

Anyone got a picture of the MacDonald device?