Welding Tips and Tricks

a friend wants me to to weld his aluminum boat prop. (he is really cheap) its dug up pretty bad,
is 4043 aluminum rod ok? how should i prep it before welding?

it might be cheaper for you to offer to buy him a new one. I have welded a bunch of them,

if its not worn too bad, 4043 will work fine. but will most of the time have some porosity. 4047 works better ...less porosity

good luck,

jody---admin

The problem with repairing boat props. is the balancing act at the end. The prop has to be perfectly balanced or it will damage the seals of the outdrive and could eventually damage internal gears. Final calibration is essential to proper performance. Hope this helps.

ive done boat props with 4043 and 4145. 4145 seems to be good when you find porosity, it melts at a lower temp

I might try it just for practice or something but ebay has a million of aluminum props for cheap,and like metafos said it will be out of balance and shake the seals out of the lower unit...Especially anything over 25 hp.
Gary