Propeller Removal

At purchase, our boat didn't have an engine, but she did include the prop, drive shaft and coupling.

Since the boat was neglected for so long, I suspected the cutlass bearing, probably the drive shaft and certainly the propeller would need to be replaced.

At first I tried mounting a block to the coupling to prevent the shaft from turning while trying to remove the prop.

The block approach helped in removing the prop nut, but corrosion and aquatic growth prevented the prop from moving at all.

I tried chipping away at the growth and hammering on the propeller, but to no avail.

I finally decided to simply cut the prop off the shaft.

Even without the prop, I was having a difficult time removing the shaft from the bearing.

The next logical step was to remove the shaft log and cutlass.

That proved almost as challenging. Now I had to chip away paint along with the aquatic growth and corrosion.

Here is a video showing the process. Enjoy.