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Message board > Care & maintenance > Prop and shaft repairs and rebalancing

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Posted by member Steve Russell on Sunday 22 December 2024

As this message board is all about spreading useful tips to fellow boaters I want to share this nugget with you, as it might otherwise remain a little obscure. Many of you will, at some time or another, want to repair or balance a propeller and or its shaft. I recently had mine checked to investigate why one of my cutlass bearings was wearing so rapidly.

My boat lives afloat on the Solent with a handful of local firms apparently offering the services I was looking for, however by making a few phone calls I found an engineering company based in Little Staughton, Bedfordshire. The quality of the telephone conversation convinced me that this was a firm to try. On visiting them I was astonished to discover that, despite being miles from any salt water these guys were making the new shafts for some prestigious brands of boats - (brands you always see at the boat shows). On their factory floor, I was surrounded by new props, shafts and P brackets in various stages of machining. I am not naming names but future HOC members will find this firm's product in their brand new boats.

Not only that, It became clear that these guys really do know what they are talking about and insist on using the best grade of material stock. As soon as I arrived they picked the shafts and props out my car and led me onto the shop floor and let me watch as my shaft was set in roller-centres, measured with a DTI, inspected and passed as being well within the specified tolerances. The props were spirited away and returned with notes to show that they too had been checked, were also within spec and in balance.

Within an hour I was back in the car taking my hardware with me.

Total cost - No Charge.

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