Behind the Design: The Story of ImpelPro and Its Inventor
Updated: 16 hours ago
The impeller on the Scania 6SY would not come out. By the end of the job, Eddie Protzeller's new puller was at the bottom of the ocean and the impeller had come out in pieces. ImpelPro started that day.
Who invented the ImpelPro impeller puller?
Eddie Protzeller, a marine mechanic with 15+ years on tugboats, yachts, and marine generators, invented the ImpelPro impeller puller. He started building it after a store-bought puller failed on a seized impeller in a Scania 6SY. Development took about a year and a half and more than 10 iterations. He built the Large puller first, then the Standard. The tool is patented under U.S. Patent No. 12,467,478.
The Day on the Scania
Eddie was working on a Scania 6SY with a port-side impeller that was stuck tight. He went to a marine supply store and bought a puller made for the job. It cost about $180.
It slipped. He reseated it, and it slipped again. The impeller didn't move.
After two or three hours of that, the puller went in the ocean. Eddie cut the vanes off by hand to get the impeller out.
"Imagine sitting crisscrossed with your head under the exhaust, wrestling with tools that simply don't work," he says.
He was done losing to stuck impellers. He decided to build his own puller.
Building It After the Kids Went to Bed
Eddie had a full-time job and three kids, so the tool got built at night. Once the kids were in bed and read to, he headed back to the shop and worked late into the night.
He taught himself to run a lathe. He went through more than 10 versions, and most of them didn't work.
"I have a box of broken or unusable pieces that didn't quite work," Eddie says. "But every failure brought me closer to the final design."
About a year in, he landed on the bearing. The bearing carries the load. You turn the 9/16" top nut with a wrench, and the impeller winds straight out along the shaft. From there he built the mockup, started the patent, and got the tool pulling clean.
What the Tool Had to Do
The Scania job gave Eddie a short list. The puller had to:
Grip the impeller with teeth that bite into the rubber, so it can't slip off the way the store-bought one did
Fit inside real engine compartments, between the hoses, mounts, and bulkheads
Wind the impeller out in a straight, controlled pull, with nothing to pry against the housing
Run on a 9/16" wrench, which every boater and mechanic already carries
Why the Large Came First
The Scania ran a large impeller, so the first ImpelPro was the Large puller, with nine teeth. Once the Large was right, Eddie developed the Standard, with six teeth, for smaller pumps. For a feature-by-feature comparison with other removal tools, see What Makes ImpelPro Different from Other Impeller Removal Tools. To watch the Large on a stuck impeller, see ImpelPro winding a stubborn impeller out step by step.
The Customer in the Engine Room
For about five months, the tool was just part of Eddie's kit. He used it on real jobs.
Then he was servicing a customer's boat with the owner down in the engine room beside him. The owner watched the impeller come out clean on the first pull and asked about the tool.
That owner was Yami's father. He called his daughter, and the three of them, Eddie, Yami, and her father, founded ImpelPro together. Eddie is the inventor. Yami runs the company as Managing Partner.
Who Eddie Is
Eddie has spent 15+ years as a tugboat and yacht mechanic, working on inboard engines, workboats, and marine generators. He's also the one friends and family call when their cooling system runs hot or an impeller won't come out.
That work shaped the design. If a tool doesn't fit between the hoses, it stays in the toolbox. If it slips, you end up prying against brass.
Eddie has been the guy on his side in the bilge with an impeller that won't move. ImpelPro is the tool he wanted that day.
Where to Go Next
Step-by-step removal in a cramped compartment: How to Remove an Impeller in a Tight Engine Room
How the cooling system works: How a Boat Raw Water Cooling System Works
Sizes and specs: ImpelPro impeller puller specifications
More about the company: About ImpelPro
Questions About the ImpelPro Story What engine was ImpelPro invented on?
ImpelPro was invented after a job on a Scania 6SY. A store-bought puller kept slipping off a seized impeller, so Eddie Protzeller cut the vanes off by hand and decided to build a puller that would grip the impeller and pull it straight out
Why was the Large ImpelPro puller made first?
You did not buy a boat to sit at the dock. A failed impeller should not be the reason you head back early, or never leave at all. ImpelPro was built by a boater who got tired of the alternative, to take the dread out of impeller removal and give you the confidence to handle it yourself when it matters.
How long did it take to develop the ImpelPro puller?
Development took about a year and a half and more than 10 iterations. The bearing design came about a year in, and Eddie used the finished tool on real jobs for about five months before ImpelPro was founded.
Who founded ImpelPro?
ImpelPro was founded by three owners: inventor Eddie Protzeller, Managing Partner Yami Bryan, and her father. Her father watched the tool work while Eddie was servicing his boat, then called his daughter.
About the Author
ddie Protzeller is a professional marine mechanic and inventor of the ImpelPro® Impeller Puller, with 15+ years working on tugboats, yachts, inboard engines, and marine generators. He specializes in boat cooling systems and impeller maintenance.
For more information about Eddie, please visit About Us.
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