Spun prop on Bigfoot 60hp

[haganjeff]

Hello all,

Heading back from a beautiful day on Percy Priest Lake, I hit something in the water. I was in the channel and depth read around 12'. Motor banged and I came to a stop. Wasn't going fast thankfully....Maybe hit a log or something submerged. I was able to idle or slightly above and go slowly, but anything more resulted in a lot of engine rpm's, but not much movement. Got back safely, but slowly to our slip and have some questions:

Is this something I can do myself? Is the inner hub the only thing that normally has to be replaced? I have never removed the prop and don't know much about it or replacing the hub.

Another question that may seem silly. It would be hard to trailer since I can only crawl along. How do I do this at the dock? I can climb onto the motor pod, but can't reach the prop. What if I spin the boat around in the slip using the trolling motor? I could probably reach from the dock that way.

I can't find much in the way of videos or instructions for my motor on Youtube. Any helpful thoughts would be appreciated! 2006 Mercury 60hp 2 stroke Bigfoot. Cannot read the prop code by the way.

Thanks,

Jeff

[MH Hawker]

Thats what the wench is for.

[Hawk_308]

Yep spin it around or if you have a nice sandy beach or other soft bottom near by trim the motor all the way up and beach it where you can just walk out to the back . I always keep a spare prop and wrench in the boat , I learned when fishing bass tourneys that you will always loose a prop at the most inopportune times .My spare was normally a different pitch so I could also swap them for the water I would be on for the day . It only takes a minute or 2 to swap a prop out . Another thing is to keep a spare pin for the trolling motor prop .

If it was me I would just spin it around to get the prop info after getting a new prop or hub stick it on at the dock .


One of the worst prop changes I had to do was on the nottoway river in Va , some idiot or mean asshole had run a trot line ACROSS the river and a log had drifted through it pulling it down and under . I hit the submerged log and the trotline wrapped itself up in the prop . After cutting myself free and surveying the damage my fishing partner used the trolling motor while I held on to the log to pull it out the channel since there were another 40-50 boats inline behind me . Where we were at there are no real banks on either side so just swamp so no where to get out. ended up having to back the boat into the swamp and stand on a cypress knee with one foot and one on the transom changing the prop with my fishing partner holding on to another knee to hold the boat very still along with 3 lines tied off to trees .I was glad to get that prop swapped out , the whole time on that knee all I could think of is the news paper headline Bass fishermen impaled on cypress knee .

On a side note we had two men drowned this weekend near to where this happened.

[killerkernrich]

why did they drown?

[Hawk_308]

http://wavy.com/2014/05/10/search-to-re ... es-county/

Here's the article

[haganjeff]

Thanks Hawk for the great information! Looks like I was running a 14 x 13 Black Max on the Bigfoot 2 Stroke 60 according to SunTracker. Numbers are on the inside of prop apparently.

I just ordered a Solus Amita 3 Aluminum 14x11 from a local marine repair shop. Hope to gain the 400 rpms I am missing at WOT. (Now I hit 4800 rpm at 18.5mph) .The manager said he would swap to a 13 pitch if that didn't work for me. I paid $133 for the prop which was way cheaper than the $190 my local Tracker dealer wanted for the Black Max. However, I see the Solus is only $95 or so online.

I am going to try your idea of beaching it with the trolling motor and swapping out in shallow water. I ordered a prop wrench for $15 as well. The Solus does not have a replaceable hub. Not sure how I feel about that, but am going to order a $50 hub kit for the old prop for backup purposes.

Hope my installation goes smooth. My first go at anything other than spark plugs!

[curtiscapk]

I am sure you will be fine. DON'T FORGET A PIECE OF 2 X 4! Wedge the board between prop and anticavitation plate and you'll have no issues loosening your nut.

[GXPWeasel]

If you can change 3 spark plugs without issue, you can change a prop, no problems.

Good luck.

[haganjeff]

Update: Prop change went relatively smooth. I blew up an air mattress and slid under the lower unit in the slip while I worked. Good thing since then old hub sleeve fell onto it. I knew I would drop something in the water!

The change from 14 x 13 to 14 x 11 seems to suit my Bass Buggy well. Acceleration and handling felt great. I was able to get my rpm's up to 5,600. The engine sounded nice and smooth and I actually increased by top speed by 1.5mph to 20.67mph.

The only downside is it seems that I have a little more chatter at idle and low speeds. Might be the result of not having a rubber hub in the Solas Amita 3, but I can live with it.

Thanks for the help and suggestions!

[curtiscapk]