Here are a few tricks you may want to remember during the procedure to remove or install the propeller
1. When getting started with the task, don’t take the prop shaft nut all the
way off. Just loosen it enough to give an eigth inch clearance from the prop.
This will keep the prop from popping back into the rudder when it finally
breaks loose from the shaft. The break loose event can be quite violent and
forceful, enought to ding the prop. When the prop is loose, then take the nut
off.
2. If time is on your side, and it is really tight (puller is bending), put a
penetrating oil on the shaft/prop interface and try it the next day.
3. If it is really stuck on, tighten the puller bolt, and then apply heat to
the prop hub from a butane torch. Be careful not to scorch your strut bushing.
4. Never apply the puller and then beat on the other end of it with a hammer.
Think about what is resisting the impact: the transmission. I once saw a
dealer doing this, pretty scarey.
5. The OJ guys told me that when installing a prop, give it a good strong slide
onto the prop shaft. When it pilots on and seats correctly, it will make a
solid thunk. If you try to squeeze it on all the way with the nut, it can go
on skewampus.
6. Make sure that the shaft key doesn’t end up at the end of the keyway on the
sloping part, or it will hold the prop from seating on the shaft. I make a
little gauge out of wire, showing the maximum the key can be forward in the
keyway, with respect to the end of the shaft. When the prop is on, I verify
the key’s position by sliding the wire in the keyway.
7. I like to put some 2×4′s between a blade and the hull, and the a blade and
the ground when tightening the nut to distribute the force.
8. I re-torque the nut after the first few outings. As a final measure, I put a
dob of red paint on the nut/prop interface to use as a quick visual check for
loosening.