Thoughts on Governors

[rocketman1988]

Hey, all!

My BPE 540 was just delivered and now I am deciding on a governor.

Opinions?

I am going with the MT prop. I know a bunch of MT governors have been recalled, and several failures. Not sure if I want to play the odds on that...

For those of you that have the MT governor, would you use it on another aircraft?

The others I have looked at are the PCU5000 and the Hartzell. Anybody have any issues with those?

Your insight will be greatly appreciated...

[Auburntsts]

My personal opinion is go with the cheapest option. I think the current MTs are OK and won't suffer the failure a few of us had. Having said that I opted to replace my MT with a PCU5000X (great customer service BTW).

Whichever brand you choose, just make sure you get the right model for your 540 deck model -- narrow vs wide. The reason is the prop gov drive ratios are different between the two 540 versions: narrow deck is 0.895:1 and wide is 0.947:1.

[rocketman1988]

Yeah, I thought about that (cheapest). Then I thought about what that BPE 540 cost and I am thinking that a couple of hundred either way on the governor just isn't going to matter.

Just wanted some opinions from users as to how they like their current choice and if they would use that brand again.

Sounds like a lot of people are using the PCU5000...seems like not as many Hartzell users but Van's is stocking them...

[rleffler]

I received a Hartzell from Van's as part of my FWF kit. I've been flying for over three years with no issues with the governor.

bob

[MIKE JG]

Sorta related, but we just put a MT composite prop on our club's C-172 via STC and I think our old Hartzell governor made for the original Hartzell prop, isn't going to work with this new light weight prop.

Just out of curiosity, what are prop governors running price wise these days??

[Bavafa]

From what I have gathered, the MT prop was the same as Jihostroj (the original Czech governer) with the MT tag on it and now most of the parts are provided by them. The advantage that I see with MT/Jihostroj governor is that you can change the pitch at low RPM, this is part of my emergency landing procedure, but Harzel prop is unable to change the pitch below 1400 RPM or so. One disadvantage with MT brand governor is that they have a 72 month overhaul or 2400 total time and the overhaul cost is about 2/3 of a new. The Jihostrog does not have the 72 months limit, only the 2400 hours total time. So if I was going to buy a new governor, it very most likely would be Jihostroj.

The PCU5000 is also based on the same design/parts as Jihostroj and they do have the 72 months overhaul requirement. Harzel does not require the 72 months overhaul and only 2400 total time.

http://www.propellergovernor.com/governor-models/

[elev666]

Can anyone here share any insight if my McCauley governor will work with a Hartzell prop from vans , it came with my I0-360 with only 12 hrs on it and I was hopping to run with it !
Any insight would be greatly appreciated

[BruceW]

I think the one in California sucks. (Governor) ;^)



I've had no problem matching a McCauley with a Hartzell.
Back in the day, Van's sold McCauley until they got too expensive.

[rvdave]

I'm using a McCauley governor with Hartzell BA but haven't fired it up yet.

[bob888]

Todd's comment about different gear ratios for narrow vs wide case engines got my attention. I have a narrow case engine and an MT P-860-3 governor from Vans. I can't find the ratio in the documentation that came with the governor. Anyone have more info on this issue?