I think it's ironic that pilots that complain about pay and the "race to the bottom" will also try and pull one over on the owner of a rental aircraft.

Also, if memory serves me correctly, most of the Aztec's (and Pipers in general) hobbs meters were run off the master switch, so flying single engine wouldn't help. If you turn the master off, however it would stop the hobbs.

In the Beechcraft products I've flown the Flap CB stopped the hobbs.