Fishing line wrapped around prop

tunaeater · Post by **tunaeater** » Thu May 24, 2007 4:26 am

Had some fishing line get caught in my prop of my Mercury 4 stroke 60 ..couldnt pull it out as it went inside...could this damage anything..or is it nothing to worry about..any help would be appreciated

bassindon69 · Post by **bassindon69** » Thu May 24, 2007 4:43 am

If you took the prop off and the line was inside of the seal, then I would take her in to check it. I do believe they pressure test the seals to make sure they are not leaking. That is much cheaper then a new lower end.

Don.

185vsfrog · Post by **185vsfrog** » Thu May 24, 2007 6:21 am

Fishing line behind your prop (in the seal) could really cause problems. This could cause water to get into your lower unit oil and eventually blow your lower unit. Check your lower unit for water in the oil (milky oil) and maybe have the seal checked for leakage.

gt5bass · Post by **gt5bass** » Thu May 24, 2007 7:35 am

Hey Tuna,

Fishing line behind the prop can be real bad news...it gets around the shaft a slowly burns through the seal allowing water into your lower unit. REAL BAD NEWS when that happens. You need to take your prop off and get the line off the shaft. If it looks like it got down into the shaft and into the seal, you should have yer 'chanic check it out. Cheaper to have it checked than let it blow!

I pull my prop after every few trips to lakes or areas that have lots of bank fisherman, as this is where I usually pick up most of the "stray" line, to make sure I have not collected any behind the prop. If you use yer boat regular, it is just good practice to pull it off and inspect it every couple months. I found a crack in one of my blades during one of my regular inspections whilst up a h'Oroville last Christmas time. I was ready to sling a blade...that can get messy depending where it flies!

ironmanlu377 · Post by **ironmanlu377** » Thu May 24, 2007 11:21 am

if the line is left in to long it can also wear a groove in the shaft. so then you gotta replace the shaft.

gabuelhaj · Post by **gabuelhaj** » Thu May 24, 2007 1:54 pm

You wont need to replace the prop shaft, just put a speedy sleeve on it. And, I think you have two seals there, not just one. But I'd do a pressure test and if it holds 14 lbs for 10 minutes, you're good to go!

Good luck!