When changing propellers recently on my Evinrude E-TEC 3.3-liter V6 225-HP engine, I was out of new BRP OEM unused cotter pins. I resorted to re-using a cotter pin for a short term test run. Normally I just just buy a few more OEM cotter pins the next time I visit my favorite Evinrude dealer, LOCKEMAN'S HARDWARE and BOAT in Detroit. But the problem was I was about 290-miles northwest of Lockeman's, and even the closest local Evinrude dealer was going to be a 70-mile round-trip. Driving 70-miles to buy a cotter-pin for $1.05 (that is the OEM price for Evinrude part number 0306394 for a stainless steel cotter pin, the specified cotter pin for my application) just did not make sense.
A trip to the local hardware store, less than a mile away, and carrying a sample of the correct cotter pin, allowed me to find that a typical hardware store cotter pin of dimensions 1/8-inch x 1-1/2-inch was a good match for the OEM part, other than it was not stainless steel but just galvanized steel. For freshwater boating, particularly cold, northern Great Lakes freshwater boating, I think galvanized steel in the cotter pin will probably endure long enough for me--which will be until the next propeller test comes along.
Regarding cotter pin dimensions, the 1/8-inch value is the distance across the pins themselves when the pins are held tightly together. The 1-1/2-inch value is the distance of the shorter pin, measured from the end of the pin to beginning of the bend for the eye at the other end. I carefully measured an OEM cotter pin and determined to my own satisfaction that it was, indeed, a 1/8-inch x 1-1/2-inch cotter pin.
My local hardware store had a drawer of these in stock at the outrageous price of $0.19 each. For one dollar I got five new cotter pins.
For purist that wants a stainless steel cotter pin, there are three options:
- find a hardware store bigger than the local shop in my village of 500 residents, a store that sells stainless steel cotterpins;
- get the OEM cotter pin from an Evinrude dealer for $1.05; or
- buy a lifetime supply of 50 to 100 from a big supplier like GRAINGER or HUYETT (see below).
Here is a link to HUYETT's on-line store:
https://www.huyett.com/products/fasteners/pins/cotter-pins?fs_material=Stainless%20Steel&fs_finish=Plain&fs_type=Cotter%20Pin&fs_inchmetric=Inch&fs_effectivelength=1.500%22%20(1-1%2F2)&fs_outsidediameter=.125%22%20(1%2F8)
Note that they are out of stock until about November 2021.
A fella with a bag of 100 cotter pins would have nearly a lifetime supply for just $16. That quantity ought to cover a lot of propeller changing and testing.
GRAINGER sells these same cotter pins but with a price mark-up.