Volvo folding props on Yanmar saildrive? Can they be resplined?

[dennisail]

Hello. My new sailing cat fitted with 3GM30s and SD20 saildrives had some dismantled volvo 3 blade folders on board. So I done them all up ready to fit to the boat on the haulout and they seemed very loose on the splines so I had to reuse the fixed 3 blade props.

The odd thing is, if they don't fit why where they on the boat?

Is it possible that the splines are flogged out? They slide on OK but the play seems excessive to me. I could really rock them around and they slid back far enough to hit the zincs on the sail drives.

I want folders on this boat and they cost around $6,000 to replace. So I wonder if I can get them to work? I have been told they should fit.

Any suggestions on what is going on?

Also, the folders are left and right, and the fixed props are both left. But as far as I am aware its no prob to reverse the direction on a SD20?

[Savanna]

Hi There,
This sounds exactly like what I have on my catamaran. However you make no mention of the Hub which is the piece that slides onto the spline, and to which the blades are fitted. The Hub should fit snugly. If not, then you may just have the wrong size.
I had to have about 1/4 inch machined off the back of the hubs so that it would fit properly in front of the anode.

[dennisail]

That looks like them! When I say the splines may be flogged out, I mean the splines in the hubs themselves. That is where the play is occurring, and they would also need 1/4 machined off to miss the zincs.

[Jim Cate]

Dennis, if it comes down to replacing them, have a look at Flex-O-Fold props. They have tested out very well (MIT report from a few years back) and are usually a bit (big bit in 2004 when we bought ours) less expensive than either Volvo or Gori.

Cheers,

Jim

[dennisail]

Cheers Jim. I am aware of the big prop test. I already have a quote for just under $3000 delivered for BOTH flexofolds!! That's decent. I bet they work better than the 3 blade volvos anyway. Pity the Volvo props did not turn up in time for the test.

http://www.flexofold.com/upload_dir/...onthly_low.pdf

I actually have a 2 blade flexofold for Knotty Lady (our mono). The fixed blade broke, and I just happened to find one for $400 which was the right size!!! Knotty Lady is still out of the water and I have not fitted it yet.

Dennis
Yanmar 3GM30 performs 27 HP at 3600 rpm, and with the reduction ratio of 2,62:1 you should use a two blade 17x13LH Flexofold. The price per propeller complete with a hub for a Yanmar Saildrive is 946,- Euros.
Please expect 270,- Euros (two propellers) for shipping and handling with a UPS door-to-door service.

[ricb64]

Originally Posted by dennisail

Cheers Jim. I am aware of the big prop test. I already have a quote for just under $3000 delivered for BOTH flexofolds!! That's decent. I bet they work better than the 3 blade volvos anyway. Pity the Volvo props did not turn up in time for the test.

http://www.flexofold.com/upload_dir/...onthly_low.pdf

I actually have a 2 blade flexofold for Knotty Lady (our mono). The fixed blade broke, and I just happened to find one for $400 which was the right size!!! Knotty Lady is still out of the water and I have not fitted it yet.

Hi Dennis
Your flexofold price looks great ; do you mind advising where from

[2Hulls]

To answer the original question, Volvo folding prop hubs used on saildrives cannot be re-splined. There ought to be a way to do it, but I researched this a couple years ago and came up completely empty. The only remedy is to replace the hub$. A cheaper way to do this is to find somebody who switched to some other prop and offer to buy their old hubs.

2 Hulls Dave

[jaybird1111]

Typically there is a rubber coupling between the outer housing that supports the blades and the splined hub which will preclude any reworking of the splines

could be that someone just found the props somewhere and tried to use them and it just didn't work (as you're finding out)

Could be that your output shaft splines may be worn. There is a Loctite product for splines, but it would likely then require heat to remove the prop (a one-time fix, that is to say)

[DougR]

The bronze hub for the VP three blade folding prop can have a new interior rubber hub pressed in by any good prop shop that deals with stern drive props. VP sells the hub, which consists of the rubber hub and spline.

Works just the same as re-hubbing a stern drive prop.

DougR