Prop Installation/Removal

[The Dog House]

I had a lot of difficulty removing my prop to have it reconditioned. When I reinstall it, is there anything I should do to make it easier to take off the next time? With my sterndrive and outboard props I would grease the shaft. Is that not recommended for an inboard? Thanks for letting me know.

[prowlersfish]

You don't want it to come off easy . Having it tight on the shaft takes the load off the key . The key is not designed to take the full load of the engine to the prop .

[Big D]

+1
There's also very little out there that will actually stay on there long enough until you decide to take them off again. Having said that, Merc 101 grease always amazed me at it's ability to stay on underwater parts. Unfortunately I don't think they make the stuff anymore but I used to put that s%^t on everything!

[yorklyn]

i was told by the shop that checked my shafts and struts not to put any grease on.

[The Dog House]

My current plan is to clean the shaft really well and use a new key. My old key had corroded effectively attaching the prop to the shaft. Using a clean shaft, key, and prop and removing the prop annually will hopefully prevent the battle I had this year removing the prop.

[Big D]

Removing them every year will certainly make removal easier. Those nuts get distorted slightly when installed properly so if I were to remove the props that often, I'd be replacing the nuts periodically before it got to a point where the props loosen themselves up during the season.....and remember, the small nut goes on first. Oh no, not that again!