Cracked Hydromotive
 

Yesterday I came in from a couple hours of not-too-hard running and looked twice at my prop as I was cleaning the boat. To my surprise, one of the blades has about a 2-inch crack across the face, from the trailing edge forward, about a quarter of the way up from the hub (in the thick part of the blade - crack goes all the through the thickness). Is this common? There's absolutely no sign that I hit anything. Just lucky I didn't lose the blade.

I haven't seen a cracked blade before. If there are no signs of hitting anything, I would be contacting Hydromotive about a replacement. Couldn't hurt to try.

Exactly what I plan to do later today. Just as soon as my friend sends me the digital pictures we took. At best, I get a new prop. at worst, my mechanic sends the cracked one out to be repaired.

Good luck.

Jana,

I've heard of hydro's with improper heat treat having stress cracks. These can develop into a major crack like you describe.

I'd be hesitant to run a repaired prop with this symptom.

Push Hydro on this subject. I believe they now routinely heat treat Q IV's above a certain pitch. Inquire if your prop received this procedure.


Mark S.

Yep...give Hydro a call and ask for Gary or Tom. They will give you the scoop on the heat treating stuff. I think they heat treat everything above a 24P now. They're a good company and I think they will do you right. Good luck.

It's good you found it before it broke off...could have caused some real damage.

Well, I spoke to Hydro this morning and they won't really do anything because I'm not the original owner. They'd repair it, but they don't guarantee it won't fail again. Since I'm not convinced that the 24P is the right prop for my boat anyway, I think I'll be trying a few that my mechanic has to find something better. Might get this one fixed and keep it as a get-home prop. Yeah, SeaDated I'm feeling very lucky that I didn't actually lose the blade.

Here's a picture of the crack:

Jana,

I've got a 24" Q IV (LH) brand new in box. I bought it for my 27' to see if I'd gain 1-2 mph in cooler weather. It's been used once (boat was a dog getting on plane).

If you're interested, make an offer.


Best Regards,

Mark S.

Breathe Later - Thanks for the offer. We'll see. Right now, I think I want to go up in pitch, though mine's a bit of a dog with the 24 too. What do you have on your 27 instead?