Rebuild a prop?

[Steverino74]

A local place offers a rebuilding service for props. I understand the rubber in the hub gets old and may slip? Have you had a prop rebuilt? Do they also work over the blades? I have a slight ding in one of the blades. The rough estimate to do this was $75. Sound right?

 

[Tnstratofam]

I had a stainless prop reconditioned last year. I roughed up the blades hitting a rock. They repaired the blades, and rebalanced the prop. I don't think they had to rehub it, but they may have. My cost was $110.00. I had it done through a local marina who sent it to a shop in Knoxville. Took about a week to get it sent down and returned. It turned out great.

 

[Tnstratofam]

I want to clarify a bit. I did some research on having my prop rebuilt before I simply handed it over to my local marina. Having your prop redone by a professional who will repair the blades, and make sure the pitch is correct is very important. An inexperienced person can really mess one up in a hurry. I found the company in Knoxville by doing lots of online research, and chose them in the end because of their reputation as well as from customer reviews. The reason I sent mine to them through my local marina is because shipping was cheaper as the marina was sending some props for reconditioning anyway. So do some research yourself on the local shop. They may be cheap, but that doesn't mean they are the best choice. Good luck.

 

[steelespike]

While most stainless props are cost effective to repair. A person needs to try to determine the quality of the shops work.
Can they get the best out of the prop.
While aluminum props cost less to repair the extent of the damage or a well worn older prop may warrant replacement.
Some older aluminum props clearly are less sophisicated than say the latest Solas,Michigan,Turning point and perhaps other aluminum props.
I believe both Solas and Turning point use "squeeze cast"technology to produce thinner but stronger blades.

 

[Scott Danforth]

I have a VP DP290 with thin alumium props. I have had both a rehub and broken blades fixed at General Propeller in Bradenton Florida. I have also had broken blades repaired at Green Bay Propeller in Suamico Wisconsin.

yes, the bonded rubber hubs can slip, and rehubbing these is an art requiring special equipment. very few prop shops redo hubs anymore (I found 3 in the US). The props found on many OB's and I/O's with the replaceable hub inserts has made repairing bonded hubs a specialty.

Most shops repair blades and balance them.

my last work was $86 for blade repair and about $94 for the rehub. a new VP prop is $300