Hey guys. I've got a 2013 ProDrive with 170 hours. I've never thought the lower unit on this motor was the quietest, but today i had another guy in the boat and he about flipped out when he heard it. Can yall tell me if this is normal? I have the only Prodrive that I know of anywhere around me, so I can't ride in someone else's. It a bad video, battery was dying in my phone. Any help is appreciated.


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The video on the trailer looks and sounds fine.
But its looks like you have lots of vibration in the first video. The handle was shaking pretty good, IMO

It honestly sounds worse in the water. At about mid range and WOT it's worse


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I don't have any play in the shaft up, down, out, or in. It's full of synthetic marine grease and royal purple in the gear box. I always keep it full of grease and it hasn't been abused.


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Sounds good man. Thanks for the heads up. The guy that was with me said there was no way it could make all that noise and last for any amount of time. As ocd as I am about my stuff it got me thinking.


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^^ I would check prop. Is that the prop it came with or did you recently change props?

I bought it about last summer. Has about 15 hours on it. Bought it from prodrive. May not be a bad idea to send it to LA prop and let them check it out.


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I've heard that people get some pretty unbalanced or uneven stock props from both PD and GT. Probably a good idea to get it checked out

I took the prop off today. It doesn't make a sound without a prop. I'm guessing it just out of balance. Will be sending it to LA Prop this week.

Anybody got LA Props phone number? I don't think my pm's are working. I've seen it on here before but can't find it now.


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Perfect. Tha ks


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Well.... Had my prop worked on from LA Prop and the noise was completely gone. Great guy to work with by the way. Then we went down to the Lake Seminole poker run this weekend and this sh** happens. Running deep water in the middle of the channel on my way to Big Jims. Lost my prop with literally less than an hour on it. How big of a PITA am I looking at to fix this? It broke off clean right at the first thread.

Looks like you will probably just need a new shaft and prop.
Check your seals and bearings, and replace if needed.
also, while trailering, don't put your motor in reverse and put it up against the transom like that, it will mess up the back of your boat right there.

It's a pretty easy fix. Hardest thing about pulling the shaft is getting the skeg bolts out. Start spraying them with penetrating oil, today.

You looking at $400 + shipping for a new shaft. Don't forget to get a new prop nut, too. Not that they are needed...


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Is this a common problem for the threaded shafts? It sheared off clean like you cut it with a band saw.


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If the prop was unbalanced, it could have weakened it. That would be the easiest point for it to break if it were wobbling.

An unbalanced prop can cause a fatigue failure of the shaft. It will fail at the unsupported area (outside the shaft housing).

Any nick or scar on the shaft in the area between the prop/tapered bushing and the outdrive seal nut can and will initiate a crack over time. With an unbalanced prop, a nick in the surface will cause it to fail sooner.

Don't leave any tool marks on your shaft, use plenty of Never-Seize, keep the area clear of fishing string, weeds, anything that left there could cause a surface imperfection.

An unbalanced prop will create a shaft failure. Plain and simple fatigue. No different than taking a paper clip and bending it back and forth a bunch of times....it will break.


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I'll take another one when I get to the house but this is the best I've got on me


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I'm just guessing from here...but, that looks like failure initiated at the threads.


....which are big time notches...LOL

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Agreed. I wouldn't be as bothered if I ran stumps and such very often. For most of my uses, an outboard would suffice.


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Just tips to minimize failure "opportunities" at the threads:

If you change your prop, change your tapered bushing with it....and ALWAYS...run the bushing up over the shaft first...then, thread the prop over the bushing. If not, this can and will cause a failure at the threads.

Just to reiterate...LOL...DO NOT THREAD PROP ONTO THE SHAFT WITH THE BUSHING IN THE PROP!!

Clean the threads up good....shaft AND prop threads. Use a thread cleaning brush...bottle brush....to clean the prop threads. Remove any old Never Seize from the bottom of the hub taper.

Use PLENTY of marine grade Never-Seize for the re-install...yeah, it's 3x's the price of the regular nickel based...but, way cheaper than a new shaft and removal is easier than with the Nickel based. Put that stuff on VERY liberally! Put it on each side of everything....shaft, bushing, prop and prop nut. Don't be scared to get dirty with it!

If you're like me and change out props a lot, get you some spare bushings just for kicks and grins. They're cheap insurance..

Finally, VERY important...when removing your prop(s)...make sure you are applying equal torque around the hub. If 2 blade or 3 blade, make sure whatever you are using is contacting the back of all blades and fits snugly over the shaft to distribute the torque evenly.

Good luck!


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As stated, not that hard to swap out. Hardest part is getting skeg bolts out.

I would order extra prop even if you are going to try and find old one. Order extra bushings as noted and get extra skeg bolts. Depending on how long since last removed will probably have to drill one or more out.

As far as crack goes, it happens. Not a real common problem, but does happen. May have hit something a long time ago and it just took this long to break. It is confusing cause it usually won't break immediately and often breaks in clear water as you run the rpm's up.

Other issues discussed could also have caused failure.

I appreciate the help fellas. I'm going to tear it down this evening to see what all I'll need to order. What does the other end of this shaft look like? Meaning how does it attach on the gearbox side?


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Just fits in. No issues. When you snug down the outdrive bolts onto the back of the knuckle, you may have to turn the shaft a little to get the gears to fall into place. It's easy.



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I am going to ask this question to be sure...
before the shaft broke, how much of it was exposed between the seal nut and the bushing. If everything showing in this picture was exposed, i dont think your prop was on far enough.

It was on as far as it would turn, with the bushing on first of course. I had a guy look at the shaft today. He said that it looked like it's had a crack in it for a while before it broke. I guess when I put that out of balance prop on, it hurt it pretty quick because I didn't run it long. I took the skeg bolts out today, they all came out really easy. I got tied up on something else and didn't break it all the way down.

I just got everything tore down and ordered. That 30 minutes of riding at Seminole this weekend cost a fortune. Here is a better pic of the break. I can see another hairline crack about an inch long running parallel to the shaft right near the break.


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Got one just a little more in focus of the break?


Most liberals seem to suffer from the same mental condition....it's called stupidity!

On the bright side, your bearings look pretty good! LOL


Most liberals seem to suffer from the same mental condition....it's called stupidity!

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i'll bet that your shaft was bent or you didnt install the prop bushing right