fixed prop or folding prop

[Izikalvo]

how durable are the folding propellers?

last week i chopped 50 kg jelly fish with my fixed blade propeller hearing and feeling big bang and i was thinking, are the folding propellers are build to take hits from huge jelly fish, logs, and all other floating waste that sometimes get under the boat?
we know they are better in performance but are they trusty enough hitting hard objects?

[Delancey]

Originally Posted by Izikalvo

how durable are the folding propellers?

last week i chopped 50 kg jelly fish with my fixed blade propeller hearing and feeling big bang and i was thinking, are the folding propellers are build to take hits from huge jelly fish, logs, and all other floating waste that sometimes get under the boat?
we know they are better in performance but are they trusty enough hitting hard objects?

Or are folding propellers more durable in that the blades are able to deflect away when they hit hard objects unlike those on a fixed blade propeller which can not?

[AD28]

I recently replaced one of my Gori propellers. The sales guy thought it might be original to the boat, that would be from 1992.

And I only replaced it because the newer models have a 'collar' zinc, which the older model did not have

[Iaangus]

Originally Posted by Izikalvo

how durable are the folding propellers?

last week i chopped 50 kg jelly fish with my fixed blade propeller hearing and feeling big bang and i was thinking, are the folding propellers are build to take hits from huge jelly fish, logs, and all other floating waste that sometimes get under the boat?
we know they are better in performance but are they trusty enough hitting hard objects?

So you hit a jellyfish the size of a small person? And it was hard? Care to explain more about these jellyfish.

[SteveSails]

I have a 3 blade Max Prop that works well but any prop can be damaged if you hit it hard enough.

What I really want to know is where where you when you hit a 50Kg jellyfish? We have plenty of jellyfish in the Chesapeake bay but thankfully nothing like that.

[Tayana42]

My MaxProp 3 blade feathering prop is from 1989 and has about 3,000 hours on it. No problems so far. It has had normal encounters with kelp, fish line and nets. Although, I'll admit it never had to deal with a 50kg jellyfish.


S/V B'Shert

[msanderson]

We have a MaxProp on Wanuskewin, and love it. We find that we are often sailing when others are motorsailing, and I think that a lot of that has to do with drag. Also, we've sailed over a lot of fishing nets and traps in Central America, and (knock on wood) we've never had them tangle the prop (since it's not turning). It's nice because you can set the pitch to match your engine and boat, and the boat really handles reverse well (since the blades "flip" over). We have a grease fitting installed under the zinc so that we can grease it while its in the water. Also, it is really sensitive to coral and other growth buildup, so it needs to be scraped frequently. We've also hit logs, and other floating debris, but due to the location of the prop behind the keel, so far (again knock on wood) those things don't hit the prop as the keel pushes them off to the side.

[singlespeed]

I have a pair of Kiwi props on my catamaran. Three years ago, we hit something big at night off the north coast of the Dominican Republic. Bad vibration, so I shut down the engine. Continued onto Boqueron, Puerto Rico, anchoring over a sandbottom in shallow water. Dove under the boat and found a large mess of fishing line, palmfronds, foam and rope, wrapped around the prop. After cutting it away, the leading edges of two of the three composite blades had geep gouges and grooves in them. I pulled the prop (easy to do, even underwater), replaced the blades and reinstalled the prop. After a couple of weeks of movement, used an epoxy/micro ballon mix to repair and fair the damaged blades. Pulled the prop again and re-installed the repaired blades. No vibration. We have over 200 hours on the engine since with no problems from the prop.

[reed1v]

In theory, folding and feathering props will be weaker than a fixed bladed prop, all else being equal. However, if you hit something hard enough to break a folding, you probably hit hard enough to also break a fixed blade prop. The advantages of a folding outweigh using fixed blades.About the only common problem seems to be fouling of the blades. We got billions of lobster buoys up here and folks from away keep getting snagged on them. A line cutter attached to the shaft takes care of most snagging situations. Prop cages work best.

[Captain-Avenger]

I invented a folding prop once...I called it a Frop. I also invented a folding box, and called it a Fox. Don't get me started on my folding bucket idea. (sorry, could not resist)

[barnakiel]

It is hard to say which kind is 'stronger'.

I think most props are pretty strong.

I could have some preference for fixed props in heavily fouled areas, but I would not go nuts about it otherwise.

b.