Four years after its invention, the quicKutter rope cutter has been approved by fishermen.
Neil Young from H4 Marine, distributor of the rope cutter, tells World Fishing, "Fishermen were initially very cautious of the new cutter, as the existing designs had been around for about 25 years. But after two or three seasons working with the quicKutter, fishermen are definitely seeing the benefits."
John Townrow, a skipper from Padstow, UK, has been using the quicKutter for 18 months on his Gemini catamarans Helen Jane II and The Thomas Andrew. The vessels are equipped to fish with static nets and each have two rope cutters installed.
Mr Townrow tells World Fishing that previous rope cutters he used were not successful as they could not take the wear and tear of commercial fishing and often came loose.
"For this reason I stopped using rope cutters for some time," he said. "However, the quicKutter is very simple and has no moving parts, so it is more reliable. In the past we have experienced incidents with buoy ropes but these are now easily cut with the quicKutter and we have easily saved thousands of pounds on downtime."
With no cutter fitted, debris is caught by the rotating blades of a vessel's prop and that debris is then wrapped with every turn of the shaft, first around the hub of the propeller (if there is one) and then around the shaft until it meets the bearing carrier (stern tube or P bracket). As the engine tries to force more debris into this gap with every turn, the forces try to pull the shaft back as the debris pushes on the prop. In extreme circumstances whole gearboxes have been separated from engines, or P brackets torn out of the bottom of the vessel.
The quicKutter assembly utilises this force to push the debris against a fixed blade angled so that it shaves through strand by strand. The spool is an integral part of the cutter providing a flat surface turning with the prop for debris to wrap on to. The cutter blade runs close to the spool preventing debris reaching the bearing carrier. Hardened versions have cut 5mm ss wire as they break through strand by strand.
This new design of rope and debris cutter represents a significant improvement over other rope cutting devices.
quicKutter benefits:
• Less turbulence, less maintenance, less complex, less cost
• More power, more effective, more robust
• Available for all shaft sizes
• Also available for some outboard legs
Mr Townrow concludes: "I would not consider going to sea without them".
