Re: merc 3 blade cleaver broke
 

With mine, I thought the engine had laid down. There was a strange but faint vibration. I pulled the throttle back and it went away. I added throttle and it got worse. I pulled off plane and put it into neutral. Engine was running fine. Put it in gear and it felt fine. Went to plane off and the whole back of the boat was jumping around. Shut it down and found the blade was gone.

Re: merc 3 blade cleaver broke
 

Speed: its a 03 30 Spectre with 300x and has about 35 hours on it.
Thanks for all the posts guys.

Re: merc 3 blade cleaver broke
 

I know "Jet set " broke a bunch of Merc props . He switched to Rollas and hasn't had anymore trouble that I know . With almost 2,000 hp :D per side ,thats pretty good !

Re: merc 3 blade cleaver broke
 

Hey Matt. Maybe it is our luck, but both of ours broke behind 500EFIs. We were fortunate that you guys were there to save the day though. For those that don't know, when we broke that new prop on the Gladiator last year it was only two weeks or so before the Daytona race. We called Throttle Up and they made us a duplicate of the broken prop and delivered it to us in Daytona. Now that is service!

Re: merc 3 blade cleaver broke
 

HotDuck,

I remember that prop of yours. If there is some type of a casting flaw it will generally show itself quickly. In your case it tool less than an hour of run time. I hope the new one has lasted longer than that.

Twin engine boats are much tougher on props than singles. There are many factors that determine the longevity of the props. The thing to remember is that props flex, and like any metal they eventually fatigue and fail.

Matt

Re: merc 3 blade cleaver broke
 

Matt, your prop is still going strong!

Re: merc 3 blade cleaver broke
 

yikes, wouldnt want to be to near that when it let go. :eek:
TizBad lost a prop/shaft on one of his #3's last year on tha cat. it was a 17x31 4 blabe cleaver. that sucker took to the air for a while i heard. now that would leave a substantial skid mark if it hit anything.

Re: merc 3 blade cleaver broke
 

Did you run over any Manatee's by chance. Maybe its stuck in one of their heads.

Can you imagine the press the Save the Manatee Club would get if they had a pic of that!

Re: merc 3 blade cleaver broke
 

I would like to see the prop blade in the manatee club members head!!!! lol!!!
I am thinking about using non-lab props this time around. What do you guys think?

Re: merc 3 blade cleaver broke
 

Dont personnaly have any experience with the lab vs. non lab props. In fact, I didnt realize that the blades would sheer off on their own without even hitting an object. I would think that a non lab prop would be a little stronger cause the metal is thicker. Thats also what cuts into the performance. One prop that I thought was pretty cool is the composite one made by Piranah. You can take the busted blades off the center hub and put new ones in. The only problem, its a plastic/composite and will not give high performance. But the concept is cool.