angus99
Guru
Thinking of having them installed on our Lehmans while we’re out for a bottom job. Any thoughts—pro or con? Are any brands considered better than others . . . or to be avoided?
Thanks in advance.
Thanks in advance.
Thanks, guys.
RT, I may be mistaken, but think they only “work” when they shatter after you hit something. . Just to add another wrinkle which won’t relate to drive savers, do you get much vibration in the boat when idling?
Menzies, are yours mounted to Lehmans? Do you have the “soft” engine mounts and can you tell if they’re actually reducing vibration?
I have a Federal Flexible Coupling on Sandpipers single FL 120.
It made a slight improvement in reducing vibration. Not a huge amount.
New motor mounts reduced the vibration a lot.
The biggest vibration reduction was installing a 200# flywheel.
There are a number of prior threads on drivesavers.
I have run over pot warps on boats with and without. Engines stopped in both cases. Drivesaver turned into a potato chip. Maybe a 'soft' stop instead of a 'hard' stop?
I think spurs or some type of skeg extension would provide better protection.
I have hit hundreds of things from rocks to logs to sunken boats working commercial salvage boats and think shaft savers are really not needed.
No commercial boat I have ever operated had them....almost all workboats that are in way more danger of hitting things than a recreational vessel.
If you hit something hard, they don't save your props and only maybe your shafts. Who here has had a tranny disabled from hitting something? I will bet some, but not more than half.
At least East Coast cruising....regular river driving, I can't comment on.
We have/had them on our boat. I removed one on the port engine last winter when I had the engine out and will remove the starboard one this winter when I have that engine out. They don’t allow a good engine alignment and I don’t trust them if I hit something. YMMV...
syjos wrote;
“The biggest vibration reduction was installing a 200# flywheel.“
Some cars could use that treatment.
syjos how did you get a 200lb flywheel? Off the shelf I assume but if you modified a lighter fly (added to it?) or what? If it’s not off the shelf how’d ya get it?
Could be interesting. Like maybe there was a straight eight Lehman.
Do these sacrifice themselves, like other drive savers, with heavy impact or are they just to dampen vibration?
I have drive savers. I put them on. One of my engines had been removed for fuel tank work and when it went back there was some wobble. I adjusted and got rid of the wobble. I added the shaft savers as insurance. They are soft enough to deal with minor misalignment. I consider them flexible couplings. They would be a good addition to any boat.
Thanks, Scott. Still pondering this.
Good to hear your experience but I’m guessing most commercial boats have bigger maintenance budgets than mine. Also, I’m wondering if tranny damage is always instantly apparent?
I should have mentioned, I have new motor mounts, but there is significant vibration when the two engines are idling and possibly working against one another. It mostly disappears when I engage the synchronizer, so I’m guessing drive savers wouldn’t have much impact on vibration one way or the other. The engines are due for a valve adjustment and possibly injector service, so maybe that will help with vibration.
New motor mounts? Have you aligned the engines after installation? I would think this needs to be done.
If you have them, carry a spare.