Classic Crack...

[Ron Hill]

Greg Foster has had this prop on his boat for five years....he loaned it, it got knicked, and like magic a crack appeared....

On thin performance props it is SO IMPORTANT to sand out knicks.

I will "T" weld this. (Run a bead down the sharp, leading edge, then run the weld up the crack. I will not dress off the weld)...it will be a "PATCH"...

[Bezer222]

Ron,
Will you heat-treat the prop again after you weld it?

[Ron Hill]

I won't and I'm not sure why, except, I've never done it. These props have rubber hubs and I never liked going to extra expense on a "patch", but most props now have a removeable hub...

Also, they never seem to crack along the weld...with the "T" weld, you spread the load to another part of the blade...usually the weld out lasts the other blades....these props are so thin it is "Crazy", but they are FAST!!!!

Bottom Line, I guess we should heat treat, but never have...

[Ron Hill]

WELL, here is a picture of the "FINISHED" Product... She ain't pretty, but..

The "T" weld on the leading edge is designe to not flew, therefore spreading out the stress to each side of the weld by about an 1/8 of an inch...

I don't remove the welds, as the prop is too thin already...and I can't remove the weld without removing metal from the blade...So, the welds stay...Sometime, a welded prop will last for years...sometime, the prop last 5 minutes...or other blades break...This time, becasue, I feel it cracked because of the nick in the blade...I think it will hold for a while...

How much will I charge Greg??? I'll get even with him!!!!

ADD GREG FOSTER PROP STORY:

Greg was about 18-19 racing E Runabouts...(Rich kid)...I'd done some props for him and he ran well and drove well.. They, the family, were going to the kios and Greg brings his GOOD E Flat Bottom prop, that I'd made him, over and needs a "RUSH" job to repair a blade...He'd done something and bent the blade on the trailer, it needed welding....but didn't bring it, until he needed it..

I told him I could have it by tomorrow (When he needed it)... He shows up with a Crane Rental Check sticking out of his shirt pocket (Greg's family owns Crane Rental)...Greg wants to know if the props done... I say, "SURE." And he looks it over and approves...He says, "How much?"

I say, "How much cash you got?" Oh, he says, "I've got a check." I say, "No how much cash do YOU have have?" He looks in his pockets, he's got may be $22 bucks.....I tell him I want all of it... He says, "No, I'll give you a check for fifty bucks." I say, "No, I want YOUR MONEY." Greg says, "I've got a check, I give you a hundred.".. I say, "No, it isn't about money, it is about props."

I make him give all his money, including his change....I tell him, "You take better care of my props...or it will cost YOU more, not your dad." That was 25 years ago, Greg and I talk on the phone weekly or more...He and his wife and kids were in Mammoth Snow Boarding this week, but we talked....

Greg left my shop that day realizing, I made props, not money. Greg uses my props now and then....He's still a "RICH KID", but he's a great father to his kids....and a great guy...and we understand each other.

ADD FOSTER: I pick up the paper one morning and see a picture of this big mother crane tipped over...I start reading and it was Greg Foster who had tipped the damn thing over...I call Greg, he'd jumped off the crane at the last minute...had some stitches...The wind had caught and big cement wall and just like a boat, over she went...Old man Foster wasn't too happy, but he was glad Greg was fine!!!!