Bent tracking fin & prop

[AaronWhitt82]

Well yesterday was a perfect day until I hit a big rock in the river. The water was up a bit and I was on part of the river I was unfamiliar with. I was in about 18ft of water then it went to 3ft and BOOM!!!!!
Luckily I was only at idle speed.
I knew I had hit something, but wasn't sure what it was. I wasn't exactly sure what part of the boat hit.
After I had hit it I went to get the boat up on plane and got a terrible vibration. I knew right away I had hit the prop.
Well after I got the boat out of the water I inspected the bottom right away....
The prop was bent up a bit and the front tracking fin was bent pretty good the the right side.
Thank god there was no damage to the gel coat.
I already have a prop lined up to buy and I'm probably going to send this one to OJ and have them fix it if they can.
Does anyone have any idea how much a tracking fin is and how hard they are to remove/install???
I'm assuming I'll have to order it directly through Skier's Choice.
Thanks

[Razzman]

Sorry to hear that but unfortunately it happens. Tracking fins are not hard at all to replace, in fact i'll bet you can have that one fixed. Call a local dealer and ask, it doesn't have to be a Moomba dealer. They are through bolted so you'll need to remove whatever is above the nuts on the inside of the hull if you have no access. They are also sealed to the hull with marine sealent and that's where it becomes kind of a pain because you have to break the seal loose, remove the fin and all the old sealent and reinstall the same way.

[02Outback]

If you were feeling vibration, couldn't that also mean a bent shaft possibly as well?

[AaronWhitt82]

Sorry to hear that but unfortunately it happens. Tracking fins are not hard at all to replace, in fact i'll bet you can have that one fixed. Call a local dealer and ask, it doesn't have to be a Moomba dealer. They are through bolted so you'll need to remove whatever is above the nuts on the inside of the hull if you have no access. They are also sealed to the hull with marine sealent and that's where it becomes kind of a pain because you have to break the seal loose, remove the fin and all the old sealent and reinstall the same way.


If you were feeling vibration, couldn't that also mean a bent shaft possibly as well?


Yeah I know it happens, But after 3 years without hitting anything I guess it was my time LOL.
As for now I think I just might wack it a few times with a rubber hammer and a piece of wood to see if I can get it to bend back any.
I haven't looked on the inside to see where the nuts are for it. Hopefully there are somewhere that I can access easily.
I am going to call Skier's Choice tomorrow to get a price on a new one just to get an idea on how much it will be.
I'm crossing my fingers and hoping the driveshaft isn't bent, but that will be something I will have to check out.
As of now I'm not going to turn it into the insurance unless it turns out there is more damage.
I checked the rudder over several times and it appears to be fine.
I also want to thank forum member TL7 for the prop I just purchased from him!!!!!

[phospher]

Yes, be sure to check shaft alignment.

[kaneboats]

Be sure to report the event to your insurance co. Tell them you aren't making a claim at this time. But, if you read the policy you usually have a duty to report an occurrence or you can get ripped for the delay in reporting it if you do have to make a claim down the road. You may find out you need a strut, shaft, propeller, tracking fin, etc. and need to make a claim.

[AaronWhitt82]

Be sure to report the event to your insurance co. Tell them you aren't making a claim at this time. But, if you read the policy you usually have a duty to report an occurrence or you can get ripped for the delay in reporting it if you do have to make a claim down the road. You may find out you need a strut, shaft, propeller, tracking fin, etc. and need to make a claim.

Kane - That is a very good idea. Never thought of that...
I checked everything over again today very carefully. Looks to be just the prop and tracking fin still. I have to get the drive shaft checked out yet and the strut. I went to rotate the prop with the boat in neutral and it moved fine. Didn't appear that it was binding or anything like that. I don't know if that would tell me much if the strut/drive shaft was damaged.

[kaneboats]

No, it's not an absolute, but it's certainly a good sign if the shaft will turn OK by hand without binding.

[MEDIC151]

I hit a tree in 28 ft of water when my boat was 1 month old. Prop, shaft, and strut were bent. The only indication that the shaft was messed up was the shaft was barely touching the bushing in the strut. My first moomba, never hit a thing. Got this one and bam, 3800.00$ the first month. Hope all works out.