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Difficult to change prop bushing

T

tomf

Regular Contributor
"Hi,

Does anyone have expe

"Hi,

Does anyone have experience replacing the rubber bushing on a 9"x9" aluminum prop? The safety bushing on the propeller that came with my '93 15hp Merc is totally gone, but the prop itself appears to be in decent shape.

The guy at the local boat shop told me that the part is available, but that the amount of work involved probably would not make it worth replacing. However, I'm assuming he was referring to high $/hr work done at the shop. I wouldn't mind attempting this myself at leisure if the part is inexpensive and the work doesn't require any specialist tools or techniques.

It just seems like a pity to throw out a decent prop because of a cheap rubber part that's busted... If it's possible to squeeze or tap in a replacement, I'd like to use the refurbished prop as an extra backup spare for longer trips.

Cheers,
Tom"
 
"Tom, replacing the "hub&#

"Tom, replacing the "hub" is not something most guys can do in a garage with normal tools you would have laying around.

If you happen to have a hydraulic press handy you can pop it in, in less than a minute.

You may be able to worry it in yourself with a vice, but then again you may turn the prop into junk - it's just aluminum and somewhat fragile when you get it around steel tools...

Find a real "prop shop". A new hub is usually about 35 bucks, including the install, an OEM prop is over 100 bucks, so well worth fixing..."
 
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