Prop Guard Experiences?

BennyBoat

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Hey guys… relatively new to the forum here. We will be taking delivery of our first Bennington LX26FB w/ Merc 300v pontoon on April 16 and this will also be our first boat with an exposed prop.… as our previous boats have been jet boats.

We are extremely excited about the pontoon but the only thing that worries us is having an exposed prop and possibly damaging or hitting something as our body of water is relatively shallow. Most of the chain is less than 10 ft. I am not to concerned about some loss of top end speed as the 300 will move us just fine.

I was wondering if any of you have had either positive or negative experiences with any type of Prop guard/Hydro shield for your boats.

Any feedback you guys could give would be much appreciated. Thank you so much!
 
Hey guys… relatively new to the forum here. We will be taking delivery of our first Bennington LX26FB w/ Merc 300v pontoon on April 16 and this will also be our first boat with an exposed prop.… as our previous boats have been jet boats.

We are extremely excited about the pontoon but the only thing that worries us is having an exposed prop and possibly damaging or hitting something as our body of water is relatively shallow. Most of the chain is less than 10 ft. I am not to concerned about some loss of top end speed as the 300 will move us just fine.

I was wondering if any of you have had either positive or negative experiences with any type of Prop guard/Hydro shield for your boats.

Any feedback you guys could give would be much appreciated. Thank you so much!
I don’t really recall this coming up before. I too am on a very shallow lake, and using the depth reading on the Simrad and the Simrad lake map, along with geting used to our shallow lake, has worked well for us.

However, this post led me to start looking into prop guards because I had never really heard of them before. I would think they would negatively impact performance, potential increase cavitation and hurt fuel economy.

However, here is an interesting article about various trade offs with their various design elements. Good luck in making a choice if you go down this path. Maybe some others will have good first hand insights to assist you.

Propeller Guard Design Trade Offs
 
I don’t really recall this coming up before. I too am on a very shallow lake, and using the depth reading on the Simrad and the Simrad lake map, along with geting used to our shallow lake, has worked well for us.

However, this post led me to start looking into prop guards because I had never really heard of them before. I would think they would negatively impact performance, potential increase cavitation and hurt fuel economy.

However, here is an interesting article about various trade offs with their various design elements. Good luck in making a choice if you go down this path. Maybe some others will have good first hand insights to assist you.

Propeller Guard Design Trade Offs
Jeff,
Thank you so much for the feedback and Great article. I think we will keep things stock for now and see how things go!
 
Jeff,
Thank you so much for the feedback and Great article. I think we will keep things stock for now and see how things go!
You’re welcome. It seems like a neat idea. I just wonder about potential trade offs as quirky as just propping a pontoon can be. I am hopeful some will speak up that use them, or have other experiences with them. It would be interesting to learn more about them.
 
Hey guys… relatively new to the forum here. We will be taking delivery of our first Bennington LX26FB w/ Merc 300v pontoon on April 16 and this will also be our first boat with an exposed prop.… as our previous boats have been jet boats.

We are extremely excited about the pontoon but the only thing that worries us is having an exposed prop and possibly damaging or hitting something as our body of water is relatively shallow. Most of the chain is less than 10 ft. I am not to concerned about some loss of top end speed as the 300 will move us just fine.

I was wondering if any of you have had either positive or negative experiences with any type of Prop guard/Hydro shield for your boats.

Any feedback you guys could give would be much appreciated. Thank you so much!
If you are on the Fox Chain in Northern Illinois there are plenty of lake maps. Take it slow and learn the lakes and channels and you'll be fine. Don't be afraid to trim up in "No Wake" zones and channels. Watch others too.
 
If you are on the Fox Chain in Northern Illinois there are plenty of lake maps. Take it slow and learn the lakes and channels and you'll be fine. Don't be afraid to trim up in "No Wake" zones and channels. Watch others too.
Thanks for the feedback. Yes we are in the Fox chain. We are all good with maps, and agree that trimming up in no wake areas is a great idea. Thanks again
 
For the 25’ Bennys and up… what would you say the typical draft is from the water line at the back of the toons too the bottom of the skeg of the motor?
 
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Interesting read ....."Boating Industry Statements About Propeller Guards" https://www.propellersafety.com/propeller-guard-statements/

My buddy worked at the office of Boater Safety at the USCG HQ in DC and he was peripherally involved in this. He had to evaluate reams of boater accident data and write reports and recommendations, and basically it comes down to 1) alcohol and 2) boater education. People get hurt when they drink and do stupid stuff - not really a eureka moment but that was basically 90% of it.

OB manufacturers fight prop guards because they dramatically decrease performance and fuel efficiency, and it's arguably more effective to educate people about boating and hazards. Don't drink and drive. Don't have kids hanging off the front of pontoons (or any boat for that matter) when in gear. Observe navigation law. Perform water activities in safe areas away from other boat traffic or at lower traffic times. Don't follow other boats too closely so you have time to maneuver. Etc etc

To the OP just accept the fact that you WILL drag your skeg or hit your prop on something hard at some point. Fact of life. Learn your lake, pay attention to hazard buoys and keep a safe distance from really shallow water when running hard. Many times sudden water color changes will tell you that depth is changing so read those warning signs. When you do go shallow trim up and slow down so even when you do strike an object it'll just ding your prop or spin your hub instead of shattering your lower unit gears.

Just basic stuff will serve you infinitely better than running any prop guard, which has questionable results anyhow.
 
My buddy worked at the office of Boater Safety at the USCG HQ in DC and he was peripherally involved in this. He had to evaluate reams of boater accident data and write reports and recommendations, and basically it comes down to 1) alcohol and 2) boater education. People get hurt when they drink and do stupid stuff - not really a eureka moment but that was basically 90% of it.

OB manufacturers fight prop guards because they dramatically decrease performance and fuel efficiency, and it's arguably more effective to educate people about boating and hazards. Don't drink and drive. Don't have kids hanging off the front of pontoons (or any boat for that matter) when in gear. Observe navigation law. Perform water activities in safe areas away from other boat traffic or at lower traffic times. Don't follow other boats too closely so you have time to maneuver. Etc etc

To the OP just accept the fact that you WILL drag your skeg or hit your prop on something hard at some point. Fact of life. Learn your lake, pay attention to hazard buoys and keep a safe distance from really shallow water when running hard. Many times sudden water color changes will tell you that depth is changing so read those warning signs. When you do go shallow trim up and slow down so even when you do strike an object it'll just ding your prop or spin your hub instead of shattering your lower unit gears.

Just basic stuff will serve you infinitely better than running any prop guard, which has questionable results anyhow.
Thank you for the great reply. I totally agree with the feedback on prop accidents. We are highly responsible boaters, so I really wasn't worried about Prop related accidents, but probably over-worried about dinging up the prop on the new boat. We do know our lake pretty well, but will definitely be paying extra attention to certain areas much more than we did with our previous Yamaha Jet Boat
 
For the 25’ Bennys and up… what would you say the typical draft is from the water line at the back of the rooms too the bottom of the skeg of the motor?
I would say anywhere from 15 to 20 inches. I'm estimating there's about 20/22 inches from my anti cavitation plate to the skeg. The bottom of the center toon is even with the plate. Take into consideration the weight of the boat and how far it sits in the water.
For the 25’ Bennys and up… what would you say the typical draft is from the water line at the back of the rooms too the bottom of the skeg of the motor?
 
Thank you for the great reply. I totally agree with the feedback on prop accidents. We are highly responsible boaters, so I really wasn't worried about Prop related accidents, but probably over-worried about dinging up the prop on the new boat. We do know our lake pretty well, but will definitely be paying extra attention to certain areas much more than we did with our previous Yamaha Jet Boat

I've run into some gnarly stuff with my stainless steel prop and it just needs a little tune up with a file throughout the year. My skeg on the other hand has taken some pretty good strikes and looks beat up, but a prop guard will probably get torn off with those events (hitting a floating log at 45mph).

Might be worth seeing how the first season goes and decide after that? And as BK said above your draft will likely be more substantial than your previous boats with the jet drive so it just takes some getting used to. I only run hard in well-known areas that have a lot of depth, and when going shallow I'll slow down to just above planing speed (15-17mph) and trim up. Almost like driving a big truck, you have to just be a lot more situationally aware and take things slower.
 
I've run into some gnarly stuff with my stainless steel prop and it just needs a little tune up with a file throughout the year. My skeg on the other hand has taken some pretty good strikes and looks beat up, but a prop guard will probably get torn off with those events (hitting a floating log at 45mph).

Might be worth seeing how the first season goes and decide after that? And as BK said above your draft will likely be more substantial than your previous boats with the jet drive so it just takes some getting used to. I only run hard in well-known areas that have a lot of depth, and when going shallow I'll slow down to just above planing speed (15-17mph) and trim up. Almost like driving a big truck, you have to just be a lot more situationally aware and take things slower.
Really appreciate your insight and responses. This feedback is extremely helpful. Understand there will be a learning curve on how we approach these shallow area situations. (Under 4’ and so)
 
Update on the prop guard sitch.
So I did not decide to implement one for the prop while driving as I’m fully comfortable with how things are now, but I did find an amazing product to keep the prop guarded when we are in the water and anyone is swimming around it.

In my head I had this idea that I could just slip something onto the prop to protect it when we are in the water but I couldn’t really find the right thing to implement my design. Then, I found the ProPro!

This design was exactly what I was looking for and thought this was exactly what we needed to safely protect anyone in the water and not have to worry anymore. Ever since we have gotten it we absolutely love it and has totally changed things for me and my family as far as having a prop exposed in the water.
This thing stays on pretty tight, and also comes with a strap to go around the skeg to make sure it stays on

Highly recommend this!
 

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Interesting concept! It never occurred to me that a prop presented much of an exposure to people swimming. Glad you were able to find something to reduce your stress. Love that engine!!
 
Ditto Steve’s comments above on everything. Thanks for sharing back with the group.
 
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