crack in prop

stainless steel protester prop on 175 HP mercury

It has a crack at the base of the blade near the manufactures weld. I have been watching it grow.

Can this be fixed or should I call it a dead horse?

Re: crack in prop

far as i know. All stanless steel props can be fixed.
My plade has missing pieces all over and it was fixed =)
Previous owned driven boat too close to anchor chain.

Re: crack in prop

Prop shops are magicians. Go for it.

Mark

Re: crack in prop

Get it fixed now don't wait. Imagine that blade flying into your anti-cav plate then having to idle back to the launch ramp, if it doesn't punch a hole in the upper gear case.

Re: crack in prop

Called 2 prop shops and niether recommend repair because of the location of the crack. Its down at the base of the blade.
Hell of it is the frist shop that that told me that just repaired a spun hub on that prop few months back. I noticed the crack when I took it in. Although I had not talked about the crack at the time I would think they might have mentiond it. At that time it was very small at about 1/4 inch long. Today I see its better than an inch.
More than the spun hub dings and dents were repaired on the blade edges.

Guess I am looking for a new prop. I bought a solars as a spare that dose not preform nearly as well as the protester.
both are 14x24. any suggestions as protestor not longer makes props.
The solars has a terrible hole shot. tough to get on plane. bad enough I think the engine is over worked. No way I would tow a skier.

Re: crack in prop

It can be repaired, but the time needed to do makes more cost effective to just buy a new prop. Stop using it NOW! If the blade snaps off, especially at high speed a damaged gearcade is really the least of your worries. There is about a 50-50 chance the blade will exit the water becoming a projectile.

Re: crack in prop

I am considering it junk. In the scrap pile it goes. Off to the shop to try on props.