Is my Martec olding prop seated on fully?

[4lane]

I just put on a Martec 2-blade folding prop and I noticed it sits about a 1/2” back from where the old 2-blade fixed prop sat on the driveshaft. At the time I assumed that’s how they sit, but now I’m questioning if I torqued down the nut more, that it would have slipped on another 1/2”??

Anyone have experience with Martec’s how to tell when it’s fully seated?

 

[fstbttms]

I just put on a Martec 2-blade folding prop and I noticed it sits about a 1/2” back from where the old 2-blade fixed prop sat on the driveshaft. At the time I assumed that’s how they sit, but now I’m questioning if I torqued down the nut more, that it would have slipped on another 1/2”??

Anyone have experience with Martec’s how to tell when it’s fully seated?

Props of different types/manufacturers will seat on the shaft differently, so it's no surprise that the Martec sits in a different spot than the fixed-blade prop did. You should have done a "dry fit" (checking how far up the shaft the Martec sat with no key in the keyway) before you actually installed it but in all likelihood, you are fine.

 

[4lane]

@fstbttms You're right. I think I'll give the prop a couple of taps on the end and see if it moves up at all (Martec design allows this since the nut is encased in the prop hub). If it needs to go up 1/2" I should see it slide up easily with some lighter taps.

 

[fstbttms]

@fstbttms You're right. I think I'll give the prop a couple of taps on the end and see if it moves up at all (Martec design allows this since the nut is encased in the prop hub). If it needs to go up 1/2" I should see it slide up easily with some lighter taps.

Did you torque the nut at all? If you did, you aren't likely to get anything approaching half an inch more.

 

[4lane]

I did tighten the nut originally, although it's a bit hard to really torque it since you only have the hub to use to stop it from turning. I gave it a couple good taps and it went in about 1/8". Didn't bother retightening the nut - seemed fine as it was.

 

[fstbttms]

OMG Now there is a 1/8" gap between the barrel nut and where it is supposed to seat inside the hub. You must torque the nut down. Not doing so means risking losing the prop. Immobilize the the hub by inserting a scewdriver (or similar) into the pivot pin holes and holding onto that while torquing the nut.

Since you obviously haven't read the installation instructions, I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume that you used regular stainless cotter pins in the hub and blade pivots?

 

[dLj]

I did tighten the nut originally, although it's a bit hard to really torque it since you only have the hub to use to stop it from turning. I gave it a couple good taps and it went in about 1/8". Didn't bother retightening the nut - seemed fine as it was.

I put a brake inside typically on the hub that connects to the engine. By brake, I mean some kind of wrench or C clamps or vise grips or - whatever - in order to not induce any damage to the shaft and create a solid connection so the shaft cannot rotate. Whatever that is will depend on the boat, and the internal constraints.

You need to torque the prop nut correctly.

dj