W

wizard

Active Member
Hi all. Trying to torque the prop nuts on my Hartzell blended airfoil prop and having a bear of a time. I even have a crows foot and am having no luck. Anyone have a solution besides going out a buying the $400 wrench?
 
Go buy a flat combination wrench the size to fit on the nuts (is it 3/4"?). Then go to Home Depot and buy some nuts that fit in the closed end of the wrench. Buy a couple of those nuts, and the appropriate size bolt, and the same size washers. The bolt doesn't need to be long - just long enough for a couple of nuts and the washers. Bolt a nut into the open end of the wrench, with a washer on each side. Now you have a wrench extension that is open on one end, and has a bolt head on the other. Use the right size socket on your torque wrench, and do the math to compensate for the extra length.

And give the credit to Larry Bowen - I learned the trick from his site! :)

Paul
 
Sorry!!:(

I know there are "engineered" options out there but I really didn't find anything that worked and worked so well except the Snap-on open end and special torque wrench...to do it "right". Check with a local A & P and even some EAA chapters, you might be able to borrow one, heck every chapter should own one, hit the membership up for $10 buck a head and stop 30 guys from lying about the torque on their prop attach nuts;)...other than that...?? Some others will have an alternative...but heck, it's only the prop nuts..they don't matter much:D Not trying to be sarcastic, I'll buy one in the near future, I managed to borrow one for the install...bought me a little time before I had to shell out the cash.:mad:
 
wizard said:
Hi all. Trying to torque the prop nuts on my Hartzell blended airfoil prop and having a bear of a time. I even have a crows foot and am having no luck. Anyone have a solution besides going out a buying the $400 wrench?
Click to expand...

Strange, I got a crows foot off the SnapOn or Mac truck and it worked perfect with a standard high quality Craftsman torque wrench. If you put the crows ft at 90 dregees from the torque wrench you can use the same torque numbers (no need to calculate anything).
John Adams
 
Thanks for the suggestions!

Thanks guys. I'll try the Home Depot version first and see what happens.
 
McMaster:
5347A23, which is 15 to 75 ft-lbs, $148.85, or
5347A24, which is 30 to 150 ft-lbs, $182.21

plus whatever size open end crows foot you need, around $50 bucks.

 
Snap-On Torque Wrench

I don't know the model number, but Snap-On has a small-head torque wrench that fits in there with a crow's foot. Last time we torqued Louise's prop on up in Virginia, a hangar neighbor stopped by with one, and it worked great! Of course, if you're going to spend that kind of money, then buy the Hartzell tool.....;)

I still like the home-made extension, which is essentially mechanically identical to what you can buy.
 
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