Manatee issue,,bow thruster

[silentfaith]

A month after having the bow thruster motor rebuilt I ran over something in the water that got stuck in the thruster tube (a palm fron I think) and killed the gears inside the hub......ruined......My Manatee is at Whiticars boat works getting a new thruster installed. The old wesmar t8e 5hp thruster is no longer made and the replacement is a double prop wesmar 5hp which they say is more powerful than the old unit,,,hope so..the issue is the tube which has to conform to the new thruster so they are ripping the old tube in order to fit the new thruster. This Expensive repair is close to new engine prices and very glad insurance is covering it. I asked them to save all t8e parts for me to looksee if it might be repairable to sell. No parts to this model either..What do you think? cpt.craig

 

[healhustler]

Man...what a bummer. I still have the old Vetus 5 HP unit in my Manatee and have sworn if it ever goes down, I’d re-tube the hull for a 7.5 HP unit. Replacing the three blade prop with the new 6 blade didn’t help (they claimed it would). These boats are too windy for 5 HP units. If I were in your shoes and the Insurance Company was laying out the green for a new thruster and tube, I’d throw in the difference for a higher horsepower thruster. When I saw the difference it made on the original “Fat Chance” manatee while staying at my dock, I became convinced. When he fired that 8 HP thruster, the initial kick made you hold onto something. My two cents.

 

[Comodave]

While I don’t have a bow thruster but I do have an 8hp double prop stern thruster that really works well moving the stern even in high winds. I would pop for the extra to go to an 8 hp double prop. You can never have too much thrust but you certainly can have too little thrust.

 

[HeyJude]

I agree 100% with Larry. I also have a very old Vetus 5hp. What helped its performance recently was adding a dedicated battery in the lower galley equipment area vs running from the house batteries in the aft section of the engine room. It reduced the electrical distance by 2/3rds.

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Might it be prudent to put some sort of screening over the tube ends? I can see weeds caking up over the opening but a quick shot in the opposite direction should clear them. What am I missing?

 

[OldDan1943]

Greetings,
Might it be prudent to put some sort of screening over the tube ends? I can see weeds caking up over the opening but a quick shot in the opposite direction should clear them. What am I missing?

Any screening you put over the ends of the tubes will reduce the efficiency of the bow or stern thrusters and perhaps the screen pieces will be sucked into the thruster, based upon my experience. Oh, I have broken off parts of the plastic prop of the bow thruster too.

 

[silentfaith]

The new thruster is installed and now waiting the splash after a bottom job. Didn't get the bigger thruster but will let you know if the double prop improves the power or not. It was just a freak thing that happened with hitting the object and needing to use the thruster at the same time.

 

[Comodave]

Hope that it is better performing than the old one, keep us updated.

 

[silentfaith]

There is a slight improvement with the new 5hp thruster , quicker response I guess due to smaller tube and props more to the outer edge of hull.