Propeller shaft cutter

If you just want to have extra insurance against rope entanglement for one trip, investigate SALCA at Sacrificial Anode Line Cutter Assembly Zinc | Sea Shield Marine

DDW said:

... I've cruised the length of both coasts - nothing compares to Maine. In Maine there are more than 3 million lobster pots, more pots than people.

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I totally agree. And with about 3000 miles of coastline, it equates to about 1000 pots per mile. Its fun to say the least, but my wife and I HAVE gotten used to it. I used to worry if there were more than even a few in sight at any one time. Now if we miss it by at least 10 feet I'm happy. But with twin props and no kind of protective pocket - no night cruising in Maine for me....

Ken

Lou, for winter I keep my boat at YCPAA and for this year I am your neighbor. Jacques

Submerged floats mostly happen in high current areas. You can usually avoid them by staying out of those areas when the tide is running hard. I say usually because I have snagged two trap lines in 25 years. Both were submerged by current. It also helps if you understand how the lobster fishers set traps. If you look around you will notice clusters of traps with completely open areas 100 yards away. It pays to look ahead and adjust course accordingly.

I was planning to go see a cousin living in the Cap Cod area, Falmouth. I think I won't go, too many lobster trap.

DDW said:

That's my video, shot from my sailboat. This is no where near the thickest that you will find there, when they are really thick there is no time at all to be holding a video camera. Believe me, the pots in California a very few and far between in comparison. I've cruised the length of both coasts - nothing compares to Maine. In Maine there are more than 3 million lobster pots, more pots than people.

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WOW!

And we have the nerve to complain about the proliferation of crab trap floats around here!

Our Crabtrap floats are an insignificant problem, with the exception of those ignorant crabbers who use a floating line. Most use a sinking line and all you see is the float, which, unless hit dead on, will bounce away, at trawler speeds. At greater speed, you need to be maintaining a proper lookout to a much greater degree.

MVW, sent you a PM.

koliver said:

WOW!

And we have the nerve to complain about the proliferation of crab trap floats around here!

Our Crabtrap floats are an insignificant problem, with the exception of those ignorant crabbers who use a floating line. Most use a sinking line and all you see is the float, which, unless hit dead on, will bounce away, at trawler speeds. At greater speed, you need to be maintaining a proper lookout to a much greater degree.

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In Atlantic Canada there are some around NB, PEI, and NS. But there they tend to be in a limited depths, and there is a legal season outside of which you don't see them. Not a real problem. In Maine, year around and in depths from 10' to 400'. I've tangled with one 15 miles offshore, 300' didn't really expect to see them but they were pretty thick (and it was 4 am making landfall from Cape Sable, couldn't really see them).

The the PNW the only real problem is the idiot amateurs who drop their crab and prawn pots all around an anchorage making it unusable for anchoring.

DDW said:

You'll have no more trouble in the ICW and Bahamas than you do in the Thousand Islands with crab and lobster pots. Unless you plan to go through Maine - that is a whole different universe.

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Chesapeake, Delaware, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Gulf side of Florida

If you do install them make sure to shorten any tow line before you back down on your anchor (even if you do think the line floats). Ask me how I know!

We have Prop Proprotector. We cruise about 5-7k miles every year. With that many miles you are likely to miss one or two every now and then, and generally it is only when you are in a place with few pots and you tend to let down your guard. . Since we installed it 6 years ago we have randomly tested tested the Pop Proprotector on LI Sound, Delaware Bay, Chesapeake Bay, Albemarle Sound and St. Johns River FL. So far we know it has cut potwarps on each of those bodes of water. So far have not had to dive to clear the prop.

Just a quick reminder that those lines being cut (and the subsequent loss of traps and catch) are tools that support very hard-working families.

Yes, there are lots of traps and buoys in the Gulf of Maine and in the maritimes. Probably way too many. But every single day during the summer months when I'm on the water working or playing, it is a very common occurrence to watch some fool navigate a straight line, far too quickly, through a stretch of water peppered with buoys. Of course, the chance of entanglement increases. A little common sense and a reduction in speed and a lot more respect for people who work on those waters-- and have for generations-- would eliminate most entanglements.

I'm climbing down off of my soapbox now!

maineman said:

Just a quick reminder that those lines being cut (and the subsequent loss of traps and catch) are tools that support very hard-working families.
Yes, there are lots of traps and buoys in the Gulf of Maine and in the maritimes. Probably way too many. But every single day during the summer months when I'm on the water working or playing, it is a very common occurrence to watch some fool navigate a straight line, far too quickly, through a stretch of water peppered with buoys. Of course, the chance of entanglement increases. A little common sense and a reduction in speed and a lot more respect for people who work on those waters-- and have for generations-- would eliminate most entanglements.
I'm climbing down off of my soapbox now!

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I understand your viewpoint, but there are plenty of lobstermen who are more than willing to blanket a channel with pots. And there are times in rough seas when I can't possibly see the pots until I am on top of them. Common sense and speed reduction make no difference. I keep my spurs sharpened.

I trust any lobsterman keeps a grapnel on board and should be able to pick up his string very quickly if the buoy is cut.

How much do you want for a set of the cutters?

boatpoker said:

Chesapeake, Delaware, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Gulf side of Florida

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Yeah, been there (except Georgia). There are no pots there in comparison to Maine.

I'd show a lot of restraint in cutting lobster pot rodes if the lobstermen showed even a little in where they placed them. But they don't.

You've gotten a number of alternatives and a load of stories behind each choice, some without any experience in use.

You can spend a bucket of money on a line cutter, multiplied by 2 if you have twin shafts.

Go to Google and type in SALCA.

You will get a return of a line cutter/anode.

I've been using them for 6yrs on the Chesapeake with a plethora of crab traps up & down the bay and partway around the Loop. I even cut up a 1" line that part was around the strut, that's how I knew.

The great thing is that they are inexpensive. 1.5" shaft, about $50.00 each.

I can get 2 yrs out of the anode, which you put on your shaft(s) anyway.

Just a little more to think about.

Nepidae said:

You've gotten a number of alternatives and a load of stories behind each choice, some without any experience in use.

You can spend a bucket of money on a line cutter, multiplied by 2 if you have twin shafts.

Go to Google and type in SALCA.

You will get a return of a line cutter/anode.

I've been using them for 6yrs on the Chesapeake with a plethora of crab traps up & down the bay and partway around the Loop. I even cut up a 1" line that part was around the strut, that's how I knew.

The great thing is that they are inexpensive. 1.5" shaft, about $50.00 each.

I can get 2 yrs out of the anode, which you put on your shaft(s) anyway.

Just a little more to think about.

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My SALCA chewed up what appears to have been a ball of that nasty plastic/nylon strapping which every cardboard box from China seems to be bound up with these days. I felt the boat drop off plane as I heard the grinding going on. There were still a few scraps of that melted stuff around the prop hub a week later when I had the diver look, and the SALCA was gone. It apparently did its job - can't imagine what the mess would have been had I not had it. 58 bucks later and my new 1.75 inch shaft had a new SALCA.

TDunn said:

25 years boating in Maine without any type of line cutter and I have never had to go over the side. I have snagged two lines. Both floats were pulled under by current. A little work with the boat hook freed me up. The trick is not to run over lobster gear.

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The secret to not making mistakes is to never make mistakes.

I never realized it was so simple!

Regarding the Salca, it looks like the SS cutting plate is an integral piece with the anode? IE, when you pull off the spent anode, the cutting plate comes off as well and gets tossed?

Fletcher500 said:

Regarding the Salca, it looks like the SS cutting plate is an integral piece with the anode? IE, when you pull off the spent anode, the cutting plate comes off as well and gets tossed?

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I already had new zincs on my 2' shafts, so when I put the Salca's on I put them on over two coats of bottom paint (Micron CSC), so the Salca zincs are not really active and should last several years. Been very pleased with the Salca's so far, at about $60 per shaft. Hard to beat.

And I have an extra set - when I first ordered them they never arrived, so I ordered a 2nd set. My neighbor texted me weeks later when we were on the TN river and said he found a small cardboard box with my name on the address, in his hedge - had some weird metal things in it. Porch pirate must have snatched it, then tossed it when he had no idea what it was.

Hi


Rope cutter test video






NBs

Razors vs. Spurs

The shark relies on the line becoming stationary against the razor wheel at some point to saw through it. The prop can wind up 10-20ft. of slack line before the trap below puts a load on it slowing the line enough to be sawn through. On the other hand, spurs are like scissors - cuts anything caught between it, no line tension necessary. Even so, the same prop can wrap up the same slack before the line comes within reach of the spur to cut it.

I’ve owned & operated boats with both. IMO, the unpredictable nature of a line entanglement makes it difficult if not impossible to say one is better than the other.