Line cutter question

[Lostsailor13]

Getting ready to be hauled out and intend to put a line cutter on the shaft,which type you guys have on your boats,which type is recommended

 

[BCRyan]

This may be one of those "which religion is best" kind of questions. If you search for this, I think you'll find votes for several different types of cutters.

I have Spurs and have had zero problems with them. Some different cutters can be installed by a diver, but since you're hauling, that's not a problem. Spurs have a piece that needs to be secured to your prop shaft strut, but out of the water I found it to be a pretty simple DIY install.

Good luck with whatever you choose.

 

[catalinajack]

This may be one of those "which religion is best" kind of questions. If you search for this, I think you'll find votes for several different types of cutters.



I have Spurs and have had zero problems with them. Some different cutters can be installed by a diver, but since you're hauling, that's not a problem. Spurs have a piece that needs to be secured to your prop shaft strut, but out of the water I found it to be a pretty simple DIY install.



Good luck with whatever you choose.

I have both, a disc cutter on one shaft, a Spurs on the other. Long story, but I don't believe one is demonstrably better than the other.

 

[bshanafelt]

Spurs here, they work as evidenced by the bits of line that are found when I haul.

One time I did manage to snag a commercial crab pot line and I managed to put it in neutral just as it started to wrap around the shaft.
That pot acted like an anchor in about 3 knots of current, so no movement of the boat for a bit as we sorted out the strategy to disengage.

As is was, I was able to unwrap it by slowly bumping into reverse.

At the next haulout, the Spurs actually was broken - still on the shaft, but loosely spinning, so the cutting ability was gone.

I have an extra, so easy to replace.

moral: line cutters good

 

[MacPhid]

I've always been curious how well they work, don't have them so can't really comment from personal experience, but the recent thread about the VivieRae (Nordhavn 96) said they had line cutters and were rendered dead in the water by their tender tow line on one shaft and a fishing net on the other. Line cutters were not effective in either case? Engines were rendered inoperable and because of sea conditions they were unable to dive.

James

 

[mvweebles]

I had Spurs for years and had to replace them a couple times due to bearing wear and corrosion. Worst part is that you don't know they've failed. I recently went with shaft shark disk line cutter. No moving parts and tests show its equal to scissor action.

https://www.yachtingmonthly.com/gear/propeller-rope-cutter-test-30012

Peter

 

[Ken E.]

I've had Spurs and presently have Sharks. Are either of them effective? I honestly don't know since I don't know what may have been cut without me being aware of it. It's a little like chicken soup with these cutters.....they may not help but won't hurt. If they get you out of a bad situation even once they are worth it.

 

[SoWhat]

Spurs. Ran over 3/4" dock line on 2 occasions. Spurs cut through, sort of, but wrapped shredded line around shaft both times. Reverse freed me once, diver second time. Probably would work better on 1/2" pot warp but I don't plan any experiments.

Agree that diving on prop offshore is very dangerous. Ran over pot years ago in rough water. Line was like iron. Finally managed to hook it with spare anchor and winched it up with main winch. Then dove to cut line. Not something I would or could do now.

 

[DrissZougari]

I had Spurs for years on all my boats unfortunately it seems that I am using them more often than I like down here in NC. I always check my gear at the beach whenever I suspect a hit and OfCourse everything is always hanky dory.
I guess my spur is doing its job well for me.

 

[garbler]

I might just warn you guys if you cruise Downeast Maine with cutters you could feel the wrath of loberstermen. They don’t like cutters chopping their gear and more than once a boat owner has found some unfortunate consequences. Parts of Nova Scotia I’m told are even more hostile.

Rick

 

[kchace]

That’s funny because I was told exactly the opposite. I was told that the lobstermen prefer their line to be cut than to have a boat drag their gear. If the up line is cut, they can still retrieve their gear either from the buoy at the other end or using a grapple since they record the gps location of their traps. If the gear is dragged they will never see it again. I can say for sure that well over 50% of boats in my marina have some sort of line cutters installed.

Ken

 

[rslifkin]

I might just warn you guys if you cruise Downeast Maine with cutters you could feel the wrath of loberstermen. They don’t like cutters chopping their gear and more than once a boat owner has found some unfortunate consequences. Parts of Nova Scotia I’m told are even more hostile.

Rick

They'd much prefer you just don't run their gear over in the first place. Moved gear or damaged gear are both ways to make them pretty unhappy and no matter what you've got (or not) on the shafts, one of those is likely to happen if you snag their lines.

 

[jleonard]

I had spurs on my old Mainship. They were easy to install, and they worked great. In 13 seasons I only had to change the plastic bearing once. I changed the zinc annually.

I know of 3 lines I cut; all were submerged (by the current) lobster trap lines. Just a loud "thunk" and I could turn around and see the buoy floating.

I had a plain disk on the Albin, but I don't think it ever cut anything, and I never wrapped a line.

 

[catalinajack]

I might just warn you guys if you cruise Downeast Maine with cutters you could feel the wrath of loberstermen. They don’t like cutters chopping their gear and more than once a boat owner has found some unfortunate consequences. Parts of Nova Scotia I’m told are even more hostile.



Rick

And how would any lobsterman know if any boat is equipped with line cutters?

 

[jleonard]

I might just warn you guys if you cruise Downeast Maine with cutters you could feel the wrath of loberstermen. They don’t like cutters chopping their gear and more than once a boat owner has found some unfortunate consequences. Parts of Nova Scotia I’m told are even more hostile.

Rick

I'll take a pi$$ed off lobsterman to a disabled boat in a cold rip current any day.

 

[SoWhat]

I might just warn you guys if you cruise Downeast Maine with cutters you could feel the wrath of loberstermen. They don’t like cutters chopping their gear and more than once a boat owner has found some unfortunate consequences. Rick

Thanks for the warning. I will keep my eyes open for any lobstermen swimming around my stern trying to see if I have cutters mounted or not.

 

[LovetoBoat]

I have a full keel - I had a line cutter. I took it off about 6 months ago when I bent a blade in FL - they needed to remove it to get the prop off. I have not missed the line cutter yet. I will be bringing the boat up to NJ in the next few weeks. But I don't expect to replace it. I am a diver and I have spare masks and fins if needed - but so far so good...

 

[backinblue]

I installed a Shaft Shark last season as cheap insurance. Easy to install in minutes. Not sure it will ever get used, but it can't hurt being there. I've come close to some lobster pot bouys. In rougher weather, especially if they don't have multiple bouys, they can get dragged beneath the surface and invisible till you just about hit it.

 

[rgano]

Disk here and on my former trawler. I KNOW they worked a few times.

 

[Keysdisease]

I'm a fan of the KISS principle. 2 piece scissors cutters like Spurs, or 1 piece disc cutter ?

This line cutter test was done by a magazine 14 years ago. Best I can tell it's pretty much a draw between the 2 types

 

[mvweebles]

I'm a fan of the KISS principle. 2 piece scissors cutters like Spurs, or 1 piece disc cutter ?



This line cutter test was done by a magazine 14 years ago. Best I can tell it's pretty much a draw between the 2 types

And this is why I switched from Spurs to Shaft Shark (or whatever the serrated disk is called). Over the course of 20-years, I found the Spurs inoperable upon haul twice (once a bearing failure, the other time the keeper anvil to hold half the scissor in place had shifted). 100% due to install or maintenance, but still, for a period of time i thought I had a line cutter when I did not. Spurs require prop removal to install. When I saw that same test video, I went with the disk style.

I chose Spurs originally because intuitively, made more sense. But if the tests are to be believed (hard for me to ignore given they used several different fouling media), intuition is out the window. Decision to replace Spurs with serrated disk was easy for me.

Peter

 

[backinblue]

Spurs also requires some drilling to mount the pieces. I know that they work well for many boaters, but to me one of the things I worried about is that they have to be aligned like scissor blades and a misalignment (over time) could damge them or make them less effective. I agree with Peter after watching the videos and other online research, the Shaft Shark is less expensive to buy and easier to install and likely just about as effective.

 

[Bkay]

I had 2 spurs on my current boat. After discovering one inoperable upon haul out (with no indication there was a problem) I removed it from that shaft and left the other one in place. The second one started making noise when underway at low speed, apparently in addition to the anode maintenance there is a "silencer" kit that may be required for periodic maintenance. At my last haul out I removed that one as well. I will go back on with Shaft Shark like I had on my last boat. I like the simplicity, lower maintenance, fewer "parts".

Although I know the Spurs worked once. I don't know if my old Shaft Sharks worked, but the both test about the same in lab conditions.

 

[Keysdisease]

The Razor has serrated blades around the perimeter plus froward facing serrated blades, 2 piece so no need to pull prop

 

[BCRyan]

Spurs require prop removal to install.

While this may have been true when you installed yours, it is not the case with today's product. I installed them myself last year with the props in place (but on the hard).

 

[Grahambda]

shark cutters for me

Getting ready to be hauled out and intend to put a line cutter on the shaft,which type you guys have on your boats,which type is recommended

I just put a pair of these shark cutters on my trawler, not cheap at 700.00 each, but the locals here in the north Tampa area, crab pots everywhere, swear by them.

https://ab-marine.com/shaft-shark/

 

[Jeff F]

I just put a pair of these shark cutters on my trawler, not cheap at 700.00 each, but the locals here in the north Tampa area, crab pots everywhere, swear by them.



https://ab-marine.com/shaft-shark/

I have that unit on the recommendation of locals in Nova Scotia. It seems to work.

See https://www.trawlerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=60999

 

[fgarriso]

Spurs.

 

[North Baltic sea]

Hi,

I have amasador line cutter, i think it is very strog build system and i belive this cutter can cut strong ropes, cloths, fishing nets or whatever is expected in the sea, at least I believe.

Here's a video that illustrates what kind of problem it is to encounter something at sea that clings to propulsion.

https://youtu.be/mftNvcKv3jE

NBs

 

[Mischief Managed]

Shaft Sharks for me. I'm 99% sure they work because I boat in New England, have never had to remove a line since installing them, and I believe it's not possible to avoid lobster trap lines all the time here. Some areas in Maine are utterly ridiculous in the trap congestion. I have seen traps set smack in the middle of one of the navigable channels of a swing bridge.