Yanmar requires that the tranny be in neutral when sailing. This is problematic for those of us with feathering props, like Maxprop and Autoprop since you need to put the tranny in forward when sailing to stop the shaft from turning, so that the movement of the water will "feather" the prop blades. Any suggestions?
Yanmar and feathering props
- Thread starter GWG
- Start date
Props
I have owned 2 Hunters and always when sailing have put them in reverse with stock 2 blade and 3 blade and my Flex O Fold said to put in reverse so my blades fold back.
When ever I did leave prop in neutral it would spin like crazy and noisey too and stopped that and now with flex O fold I always put it reverse and never had a problem since new in 2007 .
Nick
I have owned 2 Hunters and always when sailing have put them in reverse with stock 2 blade and 3 blade and my Flex O Fold said to put in reverse so my blades fold back.
When ever I did leave prop in neutral it would spin like crazy and noisey too and stopped that and now with flex O fold I always put it reverse and never had a problem since new in 2007 .
Nick
With my folding prop I just have to pop it into reverse momentarily to get it to fold. Then back to neutral and all is well. Not sure how that translates to feathering props.
Not a problem. My Maxprop usually feathered in neutral but on those rare occasions it didn't, we'd put the transmission in fwd to feather it and then back to neutral so as to eliminate the possibility of starting in gear (if you forget). Note that it makes no difference to the engine and transmission with a feathering prop if you keep the trans in fwd as it feathers precluding prop/transmission rotation
I have a Maxprop and the 2GM20F with KM2p transmission....I kill the engine in forward, Maxprop quickly feathers, then I shift to neutral....seems to work.... I think!!
It is not a requirement but a recommendation. Yanmar indicates it is also acceptable to place the transmission in reverse to stop the shaft. With the shaft stopped the feathering prop will not know, nor care, wether the transmission is in forward or reverse. Yanmar recomendations are based on fixed props.
What??....I have a hunter356 30gm yanmar 3 blade 15x13R cruising prop. Was told by the dealer,hunter,and yanmar that it does not hurt the transmission while in neutral for the prop to spin. Its been "quitely" spinning for ten years. What Problem?...None..... Lose of speed practically none.....and because I know how to work the prop walk ...I often get accused of having bow thrusters when making tight docking manuvers.
A couple of years ago nervous US Yanmar agent worried that damage could occur to the clutch in the gearbox if the transmission was left in gear and he would end up with the warranty bill. So one day he recommended that Yanmar transmissions should be left in neutral and if the owner didn't like the prop spinning then he should fit a shaft lock.
This approach was adopted by Yanmar world wide and so now thousands of users who previously followed their advice to leave it in reverse now have spinning props.
ALL THIS ONLY APPLIED TO FIXED PROPS. But they omitted to mention this.
Fixed or feathering props exert negligible torque when feathered or folded and one usually needs to stop the shaft rotating to ensure feathering or folding. So putting it into reverse seems the way to go.
BTW:- Make sure the engine really has stopped turning before selecting reverse because it only takes the slightest reverse rotation to cause a feathering prop to go iinto full reverse pitch and then you have all that drag again.
This approach was adopted by Yanmar world wide and so now thousands of users who previously followed their advice to leave it in reverse now have spinning props.
ALL THIS ONLY APPLIED TO FIXED PROPS. But they omitted to mention this.
Fixed or feathering props exert negligible torque when feathered or folded and one usually needs to stop the shaft rotating to ensure feathering or folding. So putting it into reverse seems the way to go.
BTW:- Make sure the engine really has stopped turning before selecting reverse because it only takes the slightest reverse rotation to cause a feathering prop to go iinto full reverse pitch and then you have all that drag again.