What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

Catto Spinner Fit Question

pilot28906

Well Known Member
I have the Catto 3 blade prop with their carbon fiber spinner. I also have a 20 lb crush plate. I can not get the spinner to fit with the front spinner bulk head from Catto. I have the prop, then crush plate, then front bulk head. The spinner at the rear bulk head is short (does not reach the screw holes). If I put the front bulk head behind the crush plate, the front bulk head flange hits the prop blades. How has others made this set up work. I will call Catto again tomorrow but I must be missing something. Thanks for your help.
 
I have the Catto 3 blade prop with their carbon fiber spinner. I also have a 20 lb crush plate. I can not get the spinner to fit with the front spinner bulk head from Catto. I have the prop, then crush plate, then front bulk head. The spinner at the rear bulk head is short (does not reach the screw holes). If I put the front bulk head behind the crush plate, the front bulk head flange hits the prop blades. How has others made this set up work. I will call Catto again tomorrow but I must be missing something. Thanks for your help.

You will have to make cut-outs in the front bulkhead flange to clear the prop. After that it should fit fine.
 
Thanks Mel. So the front bulk head goes behind the 20 lb crush plate? This would make sense with cutouts for the blades in the front bulk head.

Thanks again.
 
Update

I wanted to give an update on the spinner fit. After talking to Nicole at Catto, I added a 5/8" aluminum crush plate from Saber behind the front spinner bulkhead and all fits well. I haven't ran it yet but will update if there are any problems. It looks and fits very nice now.
 
...so the order from rear to front is: rear spinner bulkhead, 3-blade prop, 5/8" aluminum crush plate, front spinner bulkhead, 20 lb. crush plate. 7" bolts w/ thin washers.
 
...so the order from rear to front is: rear spinner bulkhead, 3-blade prop, 5/8" aluminum crush plate, front spinner bulkhead, 20 lb. crush plate. 7" bolts w/ thin washers.

A single crush plate normally goes forward of the forward spinner bulkhead. As you surmised above, that's why the forward bulkhead has cutouts for the prop blades. Not sure why you would need to have two crush plates to fix your problem!!!
 
The spinner front bulkhead's outside diameter is too small to nest with the inside of the spinner without the 5/8" crush plate. The crush plate moves the front bulkhead forward into the spinner so it will mate with the inside of the spinner. Without the 5/8 crush plate the bulkhead would sit too far back and not touch the inside of the spinner, giving no support. Catto could have made the front bulk head's OD larger and done away with the extra crush plate (of course bulkhead would need cutouts for prop blades).
 
I’m having this same issue and I’m not quite understanding the proposed solution here. My Catto spinner front bulkhead is glassed in. I cut down the self centering cone to fit the extra width of the weighted crush plate but then found that the rest of the front bulk head flange is stopping the spinner from fitting.

Is it acceptable to cut it out to accommodate the width of the weighted crush plate?

My current order is rear bulkhead, prop, weighted plate (8” x 1.375”), then 7x5/8 crush plate. Should I remove the 5/8” crush plate and just not worry about the self centering lug?
 
Last edited:
I’m having this same issue and I’m not quite understanding the proposed solution here. My Catto spinner front bulkhead is glassed in. I cut down the self centering cone to fit the extra width of the weighted crush plate but then found that the rest of the front bulk head flange is stopping the spinner from fitting.

Is it acceptable to cut it out to accommodate the width of the weighted crush plate?

My current order is rear bulkhead, prop, weighted plate (8” x 1.375”), then 7x5/8 crush plate. Should I remove the 5/8” crush plate and just not worry about the self centering lug?

After sleeping on it I think what I’ll do is remove the 5/8” crush plate then use duct tape or similar to build up a layer inside the spinner so it will still have contact area nesting against the weighted plate. Feedback welcome.
 
Please please dont

Please dont use duct tape. I can see this going really bad. Somebody designed this with a proper fit in mind. It will be wise to figure out why it isnt fitting properly.
 
Please dont use duct tape. I can see this going really bad. Somebody designed this with a proper fit in mind. It will be wise to figure out why it isnt fitting properly.

I can see how at face value the duct tape proposition sounds bad. What I ended up doing was basically having to cut out the forward bulkhead, as the diameter and thickness of the weighted crush plate almost exactly matched where the flange was. With this done the spinner fit properly. As best as I can tell, the crush plate is fitting into and providing a bearing surface on the inside of the spinner where the forward bulkhead was glassed in. There is no flex in the spinner when installed and all the screw holes line up.

I’ll see what the official word from Saber & Catto is, worst case scenario I have to get a new forward bulkhead. But I think it may end up working out.
 
Back
Top