Propellor removal Hunter 34

Mar 24, 2012
63
Hunter 34 531 East Patchogue NY
I am having a heck of a time trying to remove my prop. Before I do any damage I thought I'd ask first. I have two nuts on the shaft , one twice as wide as the other and the little round thing that the cotter pin goes through. Is that little round thing a separate entity from the locking nut and has to be removed before the nuts can be removed? Thanks for any advice!
 
Sep 23, 2009
1,475
O'Day 34-At Last Rock Hall, Md
Remove cotter pin, get a socket 1/2 inch drive and remove outer nut that should be the thick one wedge prop with block of wood, then loosen but do not fully remove inner bolt. Buy, rent or borrow a prop puller, may have to heat hub, nut keeps prop from flying off. Then remove nut and prop. Maine Sail has a great tutorial on his blog on lap fitting the prop to the shaft correctly. Also make sure key is fit correctly. To refit, you can use thick nut to run prop home but then remove it and replace with thin nut against prop hub, outer nut should be the thick nut, use a torque wrench, and finish with cotter pin. Lots of good videos on YouTube but Maine Sail blog details it much better than my ramblings. If you plan to have the prop inspected by a prop repair shop they will lend you the prop puller.
 
Feb 26, 2011
1,428
Achilles SD-130 Alameda, CA
Is that little round thing a separate entity from the locking nut and has to be removed before the nuts can be removed? Thanks for any advice!
"Little round thing"? No idea what you are talking about. The cotter pin simply goes through a hole drilled crossways through the end of the shaft. .
 
Jun 3, 2004
890
Hunter 34 Toronto, Ontario Canada
Sounds like the "little round thing" is the nut with the slots in it that fits on last and has the cotter pin thru a slot and thru the hole in the end of the shaft. That locks that slotted nut in place and holds everything behind it. Some of us do know what you are talking about.
 
Feb 26, 2011
1,428
Achilles SD-130 Alameda, CA
Sounds like the "little round thing" is the nut with the slots in it that fits on last and has the cotter pin thru a slot and thru the hole in the end of the shaft. That locks that slotted nut in place and holds everything behind it. Some of us do know what you are talking about.
Really? So you're saying he has a jam nut, a king nut and a castle nut? Are you sure you know what you're talking about?
 
Mar 24, 2012
63
Hunter 34 531 East Patchogue NY
I have the wide nut on first, followed by the narrow nut, followed by what appears to be some other type of nut. I don't believe it is the shaft. It has a small hole at the end that I first thought was an Allen key hole but after cleaning it up as best I could it seems it's jus a small round hole. I'll post a picture next time I get there. I tried removing it with channel locks but it won't budge. I shot the whole thing with WD40 before I left so will see if that helps. So, this prop is pressure fit on? Every power boat I've owned had a prop that just slid off the shaft easily after the nut was removed.
 
Nov 6, 2006
9,885
Hunter 34 Mandeville Louisiana
Prop has a taper fit on the shaft and if it was installed properly, it will not come off without a puller..
when ya go back on, small nut is first after the prop is seated, like NJ Larry says.
 
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Mar 24, 2012
63
Hunter 34 531 East Patchogue NY
Thank you! That article was exactly what I needed! Donation made!
 
Jan 22, 2008
1,654
Hunter 34 Alameda CA
Prop has a taper fit on the shaft and if it was installed properly, it will not come off without a puller..
when ya go back on, small nut is first after the prop is seated, like NJ Larry says.
I use a steering wheel puller plus the part I made for my cutless bearing remover to get the prop off. You can see the nut is left in place as it can come off with a bang. I actually only load the puller a little at a time and rap on the side of the prop with a plastic mallet. That has been enough for mine to pop loose. When I reinstalled the prop I just make the large nut snug, not extraordinarily tight then put the small nut on first and jam the big one against it without increasing the torque on the prop.

I've beefed up that saddle part with a 1" pipe flange as the thin one tended to distort. With these parts and the wheel puller the task of removing the prop and cutless is quite easy.

The little round thing referenced above with the hole in the end is just the tip of the machined prop shaft I believe.
PULLER.JPG
Puller Pieces.jpg