prop blade broke off!?(picture) didn't hit anything
 

i was cruising in deep water,and all the sudden my boat started vibrating like crazy. i stopped dove in and saw that we had lost one out of the four blades. I just got a new prop, and i defiantly didn't hit anything. None of the other blades were damaged. Is is possible for a blade to come of due to bad welding or hairline crack? Since the blade is new could it be under warranty?

Wow that's crazy, I've never seen anything like that. I would for sure contact the company you bought it from. They should warranty it, specially since there is no damage to any of the other blades. If you did hit something there would be damage to at least another blade.

That's crazy! I would hope they cover it under warranty.

I had the same thing happen to me two years ago. I was driving about 30 and had the same vibrations. Unfortunately the vibrations also cracked the shaft so that had to be replaced too. Dealer said they had never seen something like that happen.

Apparently it happens:
http://www.mastercraft.com/teamtalk/...ad.php?t=41649

This was a long time ago but similar story. The guys played golf in the morning and the wives were out on the water and supposed to pick us up after golf. We are waiting for about an hour and finally we see them being towed in. I ask what happened and my wife says the boat just stopped going! There story (the wives) was that they were cruising along and the boat just stopped moving, no loud noises associated with hitting something or anything like that. The engine was fine but the boat wouldn't move. They were right the engine was fine but the boat was going no where. I put the boat on the trailer and the prop is gone! The shaft is sheared off just behind the strut. When you looked closely you could see that the shaft had a hairline fracture for a while as part of the break was discolered. Not sure if it was a defect in the original manufacturing process or if it was a result of a fouled prop at some point earlier. I did have a spare prop but there was nothing to attach it too and this was the first day of our vacation!

So the end of the story is, my buddy who was with us works at a fabrication shop about 90 miles from the lake we are camping on. We head back to his shop that evening. Pull the boat in the shop and go to pull the prop shaft out. It won't come out on the trailer as it is hitting the prop guard. Luckily the boat (Nautique 2001) has lift rings and his shop has a heavy duty lift so we are able to get the boat far enough off the trailer to get the prop shaft off. My buddy does some calcs on the spare prop and broken shaft and machines a new prop shaft for me. Several hours later I have a new prop shaft and now have something to attach the spare prop to. Get it all re-attached and then head back to the lake. We get back there around 7:00 am and the boat is back in the water ready to go. The beauty of the all-nighter assisted by a few cold frosty's! Skiing and boarding the rest of the week with no issues.

Moral of the story, hairline cracks can give way at any time. Just hope the water sports gods are with you!

Kris

Wow crazy stories about props. I have bent my share buy never seen one loose a blade. Your very lucky it didn't hurt the hull. Also be careful getting under your boat while on a lift. I know they stay up for weeks at a time but u just never know what could happen. I have been quilty of getting under mine aswell but I don't think we should. I would send the prop back for sure.

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Someone on another forum recently had an issue like this with an OJ. Don't quote me but I think it was fairly new and not reworked. The one on the MC forum was reworked which could contribute to failure, so I can't fault OJ for that one. What about this prop? How old? Ever repitched or repaired from hitting anything? Was it an OJ? Also note I've only seen people have this type of failure on 4 blade props so far. Doesn't mean much as I've never seen one in person, only what a couple people have posted on watersports or inboard forums.

Let us know how this works out and if/how they take care of you. I understand things happen, but at the end of the day customer service after a failure or defect can make or break a life long customer.

Also, has anyone heard of these types of failures from ACME or any other prop manufacturer? Anyone know of one on a 3 blade?

Just happened yesterday to us. It happened to us with a reconditioned prop that we threw on the demo boat to play around with pitches. Any 4-blade that has been recon'd can be more prone to this kind of incident.

brand new,and not reworked. I'm not sure what kind of prop due to my dealer ordering it and putting it on. Its maybe a month old.

^happened to us 4 weeks ago. 2008 MC XStar, original prop, no kind of work done to it.

It has happened to every prop manufacturer - including airplane props and turbine blades. Any casting can have an invisible seam in the metal. It works fine - it looks fine - until the usage fatigues metal enough to throw the blade. There are tests for it that are somewhat effective, but the cost of the test typically exceeds the cost of the prop.

Also, some hits do not show up as a ding if it strikes the face of the blade. We see that on slalom boats with magnet strikes.

you're not alone!
this happened to our 08 x-30 last memorial day weekend & when I had posted, no one had ever heard of that happening either. But Chris Johnson of OJ Props told me to contact him & he sent me a brand new one free of charge (which was incredibly nice of him.)
Luckily, we did not have any damage to the hull, but you better check to be sure you don't, as this type of thing can cause stress fractures or worse: put a big slice in the bottom of the boat. Even luckier is that you weren't towing anyone--imagine the reality of THAT!

best of luck & safe boating!

looks like I'll be checking my prop for stress fractures tomorrow

The prop in the picture is not brand new, at least 4 years old. Give me a call and we can talk about what we can do.

Eric Johnson - Johnson Propeller/ OJ PROPS - 800-359-9730

I called my dealer today, and they told me the prop was reworked and polished (thats why i thought it was new). Eric you are right. The prop is 4 years old. I really appreciate the good deal. I know you didn't have to do anything.

buy oj props! great customer service!

It actually happens a lot more than you think.

At least you got back to the dock without driveline damage.

Wait, did you order a new prop and they put that one on?

Correction
 

I meant to say Eric Johnson, not Chris Johnson as the one who contacted me & replaced broken prop last year--apologies!!

When I took my boat in they said they might be able to bend it back, but if not they would order a new prop. When they called me they said they had ordered the prop(not really sure what happened there). Long story short they didn't fix the original problem so i didn't get a bill.

This is very strange. Your prop has all of the NC tooling marks. I've never seen a reworked prop that doesn't have significant smearing/buffing of the tooling marks.

Identical thing happened on my brother's 2003 X-star a couple years back.