Saildrive question

[Metalcat]

Hi I have a cat with2 Yanmar SD50 sail drives and Maxprops. The book says it will be damaged if left in gear while sailing. Can someone please explain how this damage can occur?

Thanks bk

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, bk.

Many Kanzaki transmissions do not like to come out of reverse, after being locked. Yanmar used to say reverse or freewheeling, years ago, but due to damage to the cones they have changed their tune.
This was their advisory sent to dealers (2008).
MSA08-003 ➥ http://www.shaftlok.com/YANMAR_MSA08...al+Sailing.pdf

[Metalcat]

Thanks

[Captain Bill]

I doubt this applies to feathering props most of the time. With fixed props the prop is applying force to the transmission when in gear and possibly causing the dog clutch to move opposite the direction that locks it up which will cause damage to the dog or the gear. The only time this is an issue with the feathering prop is if you pick up some debris on the prop and the prop gets knocked out of the feathered position. I once picked up a piece of rope which caused my autostream feathering prop to start rotating. It kept rotating until I got to the anchorage and could dive to get it off. Since I was in neutral it was just an inconvenience with no damage. Had I been in gear it could have rotated the wrong direction for that gear. Play it safe and keep it in neutral.