Chuck Gibson
Petty Officer 2nd Class
- Joined
- Apr 13, 2005
- Messages
- 123
After breaking one of the blades off of my 1998 trolling motor I was shocked to see that props are no longer available... they havent been for 7+ years.
Ther model number for this unit is HBFL2G. 99. Not only is it not available, but it is a right hand propeller which makes it even harder to find a substitute.
I found and bought OMC propeller # 0116437 which is a right hand propeller of the same size except for the hub which is a little bit larger in diameter and longer. At the rear of the propeller (the side against the motor) I removed 5/8" off of the length of the hub using a dremel tool and diamond impregnated small cutting wheel. I bought these cutting wheels off of Amazon several years ago for dirt cheap. Most likely regular dremel cutting wheels would work as well since it more or less melts through the plastic rather than cutting it. I marked the cutting line with a silver permanent sharpy and wrapped a small strip of duct tape around it with the edge butting up against the cutting line to make the cutting line easier to see. I used a 6" or longer 3/8" bolt and two nuts sandwiching the propeller at the end of the bolt and clamped the bolt into a vise to make it more accessable for cutting. After cutting the 5/8" off of the hub, the melted flash breaks off easily using your fingers or pliers. After it was cut, I bolted the prop on the motor backwards, just tight enough to keep it from slipping and turned the motor on while it was still mounted to the boat. At that point, I CAREFULLY used the motor to spin it like a lathe, and using files, I cleaned up the cut. I finished it by CAREFULLY using sandpaper to slick it up. I then turned the prop around and installed it facing the right way, turned the motor on to check for clearance.
It works and looks great!
I hope this helps some one.
Happy boating!
Chuck
Ther model number for this unit is HBFL2G. 99. Not only is it not available, but it is a right hand propeller which makes it even harder to find a substitute.
I found and bought OMC propeller # 0116437 which is a right hand propeller of the same size except for the hub which is a little bit larger in diameter and longer. At the rear of the propeller (the side against the motor) I removed 5/8" off of the length of the hub using a dremel tool and diamond impregnated small cutting wheel. I bought these cutting wheels off of Amazon several years ago for dirt cheap. Most likely regular dremel cutting wheels would work as well since it more or less melts through the plastic rather than cutting it. I marked the cutting line with a silver permanent sharpy and wrapped a small strip of duct tape around it with the edge butting up against the cutting line to make the cutting line easier to see. I used a 6" or longer 3/8" bolt and two nuts sandwiching the propeller at the end of the bolt and clamped the bolt into a vise to make it more accessable for cutting. After cutting the 5/8" off of the hub, the melted flash breaks off easily using your fingers or pliers. After it was cut, I bolted the prop on the motor backwards, just tight enough to keep it from slipping and turned the motor on while it was still mounted to the boat. At that point, I CAREFULLY used the motor to spin it like a lathe, and using files, I cleaned up the cut. I finished it by CAREFULLY using sandpaper to slick it up. I then turned the prop around and installed it facing the right way, turned the motor on to check for clearance.
It works and looks great!
I hope this helps some one.
Happy boating!
Chuck
