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New prop question

N

NATBF

New member
Hello-

I need a new prop, somewhat unexpectedly, and would appreciate any advice.

Considering:

Feathering/folding 3-blade prop (either Flexofold or Maxprop; Gori is too pricey for me)
or
Campbell Sailor 3-blade fixed prop (much cheaper, but more drag).

I would appreciate any thoughts -- the boat was already out of the water when the problem with my previous prop (Kiwiprop) was discovered, and time is a bit short for me to inform myself.

Planned use: hopefully SSS races, and eventual Hawaii/SHTP (hence my presence on this board), but: I qualify as more "adventure cruising" than serious racer. Most sailing inside the bay. I do want reliable upwind thrust in case I need it in the GGate approaches during casual sailing or an emergency. Boat is an Ericson 34 with a Yanmar engine.

--> Is there strong SSS advice on prop choice? Do any of you use fixed props -- i.e., is the decision obvious?

Many thanks for any suggestions/comments/advice. And Happy New Year!


PS: Kiwiprop:
For those wondering, the Kiwiprop worked more or less fine for me (though not a ton of thrust in forward into high wind and bay chop)... until it didn't. Broken part is only $16, but fixing requires boat to be hauled (if it isn't already), and meant prop was working poorly/unreliably without prior notice (was serviced 18 months ago; prop cleaned w/bottom regularly). Talking with a friend (who also had a kiwiprop) it turned out he experienced something extremely similar in terms of symptoms (in his case due to fouling (inside prob action, not on blades -- diver could not get at it). The prop has lasted a long time, and run fine until now, and many like them, but... I am thinking of changing and my friend already shifted to a fixed prop.
 
NATBF said:
...Feathering/folding 3-blade prop (either Flexofold or Maxprop; Gori is too pricey for me)
Click to expand...

What diameter, pitch, shaft size and taper? I know where there is a used Gori three blade: 16.5 x 12 RH for 1" SAE shaft, taper 1:16.

It had too much pitch for my boat and was overloading the engine.

Bob J.
 
PM Sent!

For any other thread observers, I am still interested in opinions. Folks on my class (cruising) website are suggesting a 3-blade fixed. Curious if many SSS people do that, or if folding/feathering is ubiquitous here (and if so, what preferences/considerations are -- not generically; I can read the web/product literature. Rather, personal experience/local considerations for SSS-type use.)

Best, & thanks!

PS: Prices seem to vary surprisingly widely:

Gori ~ $4.6k (is Gori that much better for some reason?)
Maxprop ~ $3.3k
Flexofold ~ $2.5k (I think Kiwiprop is in this range too)
Campbell Sailer ~ $800 ish (simpler, so not surprising it costs less)

(all for 3-bladed for a 30 Hp Yanmar)
 
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Hi NATBF, I'm also an adventure cruiser but have gotten a lot of racing with SSS. My Freedom has a 27 HP Yanmar. I upgraded to the 3-blade MaxProp about 5 years ago. Most bay racers, I have heard, also have MaxProps. What I like best about it is I don't get that whining sound as the prop spins in neutral once the boat gets moving. The feathering is probably not as streamlined at the folding types but I'm also not trying to eek out an extra 3/100s of a second per mile. In reverse, the three blade is not going to give you as much oomph as a fixed 3-blade but my previous prop was a fixed 2-blade, which I have found was comparable in its bite in reverse; same power going forward. The process to go from engine to sail is to drop the transmission into reverse after shutting the engine down to make sure it goes into feather mode, and then bring the shifter back to neutral so it is ready for starting the engine back up. This is another benefit as I had found that I had to put my boat in irons if I wanted to get the fixed blade out of reverse and into neutral while under sail because there was too much pressure on the blades (or my transmission gears are going bad - hope not!).
 
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I have a MaxProp and the greasing thing is a problem. You have to have the diver stick on a tiny grease fixture and then get the grease gun on it. Then reverse the process. If anything goes wrong and the fixture snaps, you probably have to pay for a haul out just to fix the problem. I did. I don't know if every feathering/folding design has this issue. I'm still learning that everything you think is great for a boat usually has a not so great side.

>> if I wanted to get the fixed blade out of reverse and into neutral while under sail because there was too much pressure on the blades (or my transmission gears are going bad - hope not!).

Not quite sure what you mean here but I maybe had a similar issue … I have a MaxProp and I never used to have a problem shifting my ZF/Hurth V-drive, at idle, low speed or full speed, but it gradually got "sticky" in that it wouldn't always change into reverse for example unless I "threw" the shifter quickly. I'm at Svendsens at the moment and they took a look and its basically either (a) (more likely) shift cable throw adjustment or (b) transmission wear. Easy test is to disconnect the cable and see what happens. If you can shift by hand, its the cable throw. In my case, I just need to change the cable throw which they check when it goes back in the water.
 
I've had a 2 blade Varifold for about seven years. It seemed to be near the top in some English magazine's comparison test, the price wasn't too bad, and the distributor in Virginia was responsive and helpful. I'm happy with it; the only slight disappointment was that the version for my Saildrive doesn't fold into quite as sleek a shape as the shaft versions in the photos.

I've heard it said that a folding prop more than compensates for the rating credit that you get for a fixed prop.

Max
 
Have been using a 3 blade Max prop for 18 years now. Great power forward and reverse. Takes practice to get it to feather just before start of a race (do not as suggested throw it in reverse to get it to feather as that will often lock it in reverse... like dragging a bucket... follow the instructions...). Not sure what the diver and grease story is about... doesn't need any in the water maintenance other then putting a new anode/zinc on the hub as needed (a bit of maintenance when you haul the boat every 2 to 3 years).
 
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