I mentioned earlier that I know a Paragon transmission expert. I just called and asked him (1) whether you can lock the prop shaft by shutting down the engine in gear (I know someone here just wrote that they do this, but it doesn’t work on my boat), and (2) whether freewheeling will damage a Paragon transmission. Here is what I learned:
1) Mechanical Paragon’s, which some of the really old models are, can be locked by shutting off the engine in gear. The hydraulic Paragon, which is what I have, will not lock. That explains why some of you can lock yours and some of us cannot.
2) Over time, freewheeling will damage a Paragon transmission. This is because the propeller is turning the transmission’s output shaft, but not the input shaft. As a result, the lubricating oil is not circulating and the moving parts inside the Paragon will suffer wear. My expert went into more detail than this, but the bottom line is as summarized.
This Paragon mechanic (pun intended) recommends installing a shaft brake. Ergo, I’m feeling better now that I went to the trouble and expense of installing a Shaft-Lok on Silver Heels last year. For a while there I was feeling like maybe I’d done all that in vain.
Tor
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Silver Heels, P-424 #17
http://www.SilverHeels.us
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