Hartzell overhaul costs

[Bob Martin]

Originally Posted by Indigo

This subject has been debated for a long time, when do i get my propeller overhauled or looked at?

We reccomend if you are not going to have it overhauled at the manufacturers reccomended time becuase of low hours or dry enviornments is to at least have the propeller resealed and safety checked at 6 years, this will replace all the seals that have been in the propeller for the last six years and to make sure that there is not a problem that is slowly wearing out a part and getting it fixed before it cost alot of money when you bring it in for overhaul, or fix something that will eventually lead to the propeller to stop working. The reseal is cheaper than a overhaul and can help offset a huge part cost when you decide to overhaul the propeller.

James A Dean
American Propeller

James, What can one expect to pay for "resealing and safety checking"
I heard (take it as gossip) that some shops won't do anything but OH's to protect themselves.
Thanks for your perspective on this thread......very good info!

[AlexPeterson]

Reseal cost me 2 or 300 bucks, IIRC. I had Maxwell Props here in the Twin Cities do it a couple years ago (it was spitting grease on the windscreen). There is another prop shop in Kenosha Wisconsin. There are not a lot of shops that will work on props... I think one can expect, on an otherwise good prop, to spend between 3 and $600 to get a reseal.

I understand that the "old" design used O-rings to seal around the prop blades, while "newer" props use a multi-edge (can't recall its description) seal. Two different shops told me that when they do reseals, they go back to the O-ring design, as it is more robust. Also, using the thicker grease (Aeroshell 5 I believe, instead of 6) was recommended, to minimize spitting.

[RVjim]

Originally Posted by Indigo

This subject has been debated for a long time, when do i get my propeller overhauled or looked at?

The problem we see being in the propeller industry is that propellers are a very well designed pieice of equipment and will go along time with very little maintenance most times which leads people to be complacent with maintenance other than dressing rock nicks from blades.

(Stuff Cut)

The final thing i have to say is to please maintian your propeller, the result of failure is not very good sometimes.

James A Dean
American Propeller

I've heard that the blades on a new Hartzell can be overhauled a maximum of three times before they do not meet the minimum thickness requirements from Hartzell.
Is there a simple criteria that can be used to determine the blade thickness is acceptable?

I've heard that a rock ding in the leading edge of the Hartzell blade needs to be blended out to across the length of the blade to ten times the depth of the rock ding.
Is there a simple criteria that can be used to verifiy that the minimum chord width is acceptable?

Regards,
Jim Ayers
Less Drag Products, Inc.

[CE196]

Jim,

The hartzell on my 195 has been overhauled at least 5 times, I was told not to bring it back after its last overhaul.

[RVjim]

Originally Posted by CE196

Jim,

The hartzell on my 195 has been overhauled at least 5 times, I was told not to bring it back after its last overhaul.

Hi Calvin,

I have a 72" 2 blade hartzell that came with my RV-6A. 7666A-4 blades, I believe.
43 hours SMOH done 7 years ago.
There is a notch in one blade.

I should have said that I heard that this blade can only be overhauled a maximum of three times.

I don't know if this is even a servicable propeller. The blades could be too thin to overhaul again. Or the blade chord length chould be too small in the damaged area.

Regards,
Jim Ayers

[Steve N.]

After perusing the Hartzell website, it appears that since the RV's are aerobatic airplanes, that prop overhaul is recommended at 5 years or 1000 hours of service. My HC-C2YR-1BF prop with the F7496-2 blades (blended airfoil) will be 5 years old in a few months, so I called the Hartzell Service Center in Piqua, OH for basic overhaul costs. The 2009 pricing is $2460 for the basic overhaul plus any parts that must be replaced. If you take your RV to them, they will hangar it and reinstall the prop for $231 and do a dynamic balancing for $270. Turn around time is 7-14 days. 2010 pricing probably will not be available until late January.

Anyone have any current information on prop overhauls at other prop shops?

[RBD]

Originally Posted by Steve N.

The 2009 pricing is $2460 for the basic overhaul plus any parts that must be replaced. If you take your RV to them, they will hangar it and reinstall the prop for $231 and do a dynamic balancing for $270. Turn around time is 7-14 days. 2010 pricing probably will not be available until late January.

Anyone have any current information on prop overhauls at other prop shops?

I just got a quote today from a shop in Florida for my HC-C2YK-1BF/7666-4. They quoted $1,650 for an overhaul or $900 to reseal the hub and recondition/repaint the blades.

[Martin Sutter]

We had a Hartzell with F7666 blades and C2YK hub overhauled at Byam Prpeller in Fort Worth last year for just under $2000 last year. The prop was 7 years old and had about 800hrs on it. According to the technician who did the work it looked like new inside and out and showed no corrosion or wear. It had spent it's live on my RV6, always hangared in a dry climate and properly serviced. Since my 6 was a tail dragger and I rarely flew off anything but paved runways it had no stone dings or leading edge abrasion. Props living in humid environments and never hangared or flown off sandy, rocky runways will need attention much sooner. Hartzell's overhaul requirements are based on the worst case scenario.

Martin Sutter
building and flying RV's since 1988
EAA Technical Counselor

[L.Adamson]

Originally Posted by Martin Sutter

We had a Hartzell with F7666 blades and C2YK hub overhauled at Byam Prpeller in Fort Worth last year for just under $2000 last year. The prop was 7 years old and had about 800hrs on it. According to the technician who did the work it looked like new inside and out and showed no corrosion or wear. It had spent it's live on my RV6, always hangared in a dry climate and properly serviced. Since my 6 was a tail dragger and I rarely flew off anything but paved runways it had no stone dings or leading edge abrasion. Props living in humid environments and never hangared or flown off sandy, rocky runways will need attention much sooner. Hartzell's overhaul requirements are based on the worst case scenario.

Which is why my 13 year old Hartzell with 121 hrs. (not used until last year) isn't going in for a overhaul anytine soon. Dry climate, and still looks like new -- on the outside. Grease has been changed twice.

L.Adamson --- RV6A

[osxuser]

I got between 6 and 8 years. Moisture gets trapped and starts corrosion after awhile. It does happen. A reseal/inspect/replace as necessary is cheaper, and does the job of making sure moisture stays out, and fresh grease is in.

Usually runs between $1600 and $2000. Most reputable prop shops won't have a problem doing this .