prop on SD20 - how tight a fit?

[Sailorman Ed]

I have 3 blade aluminum props on my SD20 saildrives. The splines in the hob are only 1/2 of the hub, seem Ok. But how tightly should they fit wo the nut on it? There is clearly some movement laterally but not rotational. Any movement is gone once the nut is on and tight.
thanks

[tkeithlu]

Do you mean by "laterally but not rotational" that you can rock the prop on the splines before you add the nut? That's not a problem if the nut is truely tightening the splines together with no play whatever, and excessive torque was not necessary to achieve that.

The question becomes why the prop is not seating before the nut is added. My being rather type A on such things, let me recommend that you clean both the prop shaft and the inside of the hub carefully. Inspect both, looking for anything that would block a tight fit. Then add a tiny amount of clean grease and expect a firm seating.

Hmmm. My answer is "no problem, now go solve the problem." Not really satisfactory, but the best I can do with a stomach full of pumpkin pie.