4x4 HILL MARINE BE AWARE!!!!!!!!!!!

oscar1

During the inspection of my 4x4 Hill marine prop, I notice my port Rear prop has a internal CRACK in the end corner of two blades and my starboard Front prop also has a internal Crack at the bottom section of one blade, NOT a single visual of any damages by impact.  These prop was install in jun of 22 with only 38 hour until today. I  am going to call hill marine to see what will be their explanation about it. So you may inspect your before it is too late. 

YYZRC

Wow @oscar1 that’s disappointing! Will take a good look at mine. 

laureniac1

Omg I’ll look at mine in morning!! Please keep us posted on the response from Hill Marie 

oscar1

I am really glad to never give away my original Mercruiser 4x3 prop. It look like metal stress fracture is happing at the tip of the blades and the bottom heel of the blades too. I believe it was another comment about a damages hill marine prop, But i could not find the post. 

captkevin

Wow thats not good.

aero3113

WoW!!
Sorry to see @oscar1 . 

I hope this isn’t a product wide issue, I love my 4x4’s!!

Formulaben

Pardon my possible ignorance here, but why are the props so abraded/scratched?

oscar1

I used a 3M Scotch-Brite Ultra Fine Hand Pad to clean prop, Before using the polish wheel. I normally take the prop off for cleaning with a mix of On and Off plus water to do the trick, but because I only run the boat for 38Hr lasts season I was not going to remove the prop. anyway I have to take this prop off now. I hope Hill Marine do the right thing. 

oscar1

After another inspection of the starboard prop, I found a small crack in another tip of a blade. I also spoke with hill marine and they told me to sent the bad prop back and they will sent me a new set of rear prop. I am glad they stay behind their product.  

YYZRC

That’s good news @oscar1 - in the end they did the right thing for me as well but it was a long process. 

aero3113

Great news @oscar1 👍🏻⚓️

oscar1

I am glad I notice before I paint the propeller with very expensive prop speed paint.

Lake_Bum

I'm glad they stood behind their product.  They are obviously very well respected, and backed it up.  Hopefully it was only a casting issue, and isn't widespread for others. 

oscar1

Yes, they didn't ask any question, it only took few pics and they agree to sent me two new rear props.

captkevin

There has to be something with the steel they used. Good chance they are already are aware of the issue.

raybo3

I would be very skeptical about using those props, Seems many people are having problems with them....... Just say'n

J3ff

Will take a look at mine. Havent ever sen any issues

dalek

Dye penetrant detection spray is not expensive. It will find the tiniest of cracks.Props need to be clean before you start.

MH342

Wow, good catch!  I’ll be looking closer at my props from now on!

J3ff

Both sets of mine are all good. Will be putting the 20p 4x4 up for sale soon. They made the 270 faster but then I ended up making friends and it was a struggle with 6 people on the boat. 

JimGuy341

Just check mine yesterday and found a similar crack forming at the back of a blade.  Emailed Hill.  Hopefully they will replace.

aero3113

I love my Hill props! I hope I don’t find any cracks!

Lake_Bum

Wow.....just judging by the amount of cracks found on our Rinker site, I can't even imagine how many they've sold industry wide.  Really NOT good! 

oscar1

I go the new set from Hill marine, which i am going to use until the season is over, but definitely I don't trust this manufacture product. 

JimGuy341

I heard back from Hill.  They say it's not a crack but a wax inclusion from the casting process.  They said with over 10k props in the market, they have seen less than 10 actually cracked.

YYZRC

@JimGuy341 maybe hit that spot with muriatic acid to make it easier to tell exactly what you are dealing with?

TonyG13

Even it's an inclusion, shouldn't it have been caught in the inspection process, filled, filed, and polished.

I'm not an engineer but any "inclusion" in that area would be a red flag for me.

Can you take it to a prop shop to get their opinion?

aero3113

I would think a prop shop is going to want to fix it either way to make some business. I would stick to Hill, you reported it and now if it becomes a bigger issue you have it in writing.

TonyG13

aero3113 said:

I would think a prop shop is going to want to fix it either way to make some business. I would stick to Hill, you reported it and now if it becomes a bigger issue you have it in writing.

Sounds like Hill was saying it's not a problem. I think @JimGuy341needs a second opinion he can take back to Hill if an independent shop says it could be a problem.

I know if I took something like that into my prop shop and explained to them I need an expert opinion to present to Hill they'd at least give me an opinion and estimate.

LaRea

The best second opinion might be hi-res photos with a millimeter scale, followed by taking the same photos halfway through the season.  Otherwise, it's all speculation.  

JimGuy341

I'll clean it up and get a second opinion.  I asked if it was safe to run and Hill said yes.  But I agree with @TonyG13, an inclusion like that is a defect either way.