Just say NO to Prop Speed!

[Drinky Crow]

How about Rust-Oleum® Professional Cold Galvanizing Compound Spray.

Or.....?

[AA3JY]

Tried Prop Speed..wasn’t very impressed. Been using Velox..a bit cheaper and easier to re-apply ..overall have had better longevity results.

[Drinky Crow]

Thanks after further research teh $7 cheap stuff it is.

[rslifkin]

I've been just priming my props and using bottom paint on them with good results. It has held up better than expected and does just fine at keeping growth down.

[Thomas1985]

why are you painting a prop at all?

[Hobiehobie]

I use prop speed but some guy in Scotland told me cow udder cream works great!!

[capt jgw]

Last spring I painted the props on my motor yacht with cold galv spray and hauled out in the fall after 6 months mostly on the Illinois River. The props came out spotless, better than the Micron CSC applied at the same time on the hull. I'll definitely be doing that again.

[mvweebles]

I say YES to prop speed.

Screen shot from a short video of me brushing away barnacles from my prop that has prop speed professionally installed a year prior. This is in Chiapas MX with water temps close to 90F. Same barnacles on the hull take a purry knife to scrape.

Correctly installed, prop speed works well. I'm a buyer.

[JPA Cate]

We have been using Prop Speed, or Prop Gold, or a very similar home made concoction, since at least 2003, and with good results from all.

@Thomas 1985: If you have a bronze prop, and if you use the boat in salt water, it really does seem to me to be the best. We've already done the experiment with priming and bottom paint: the bottom paint comes off the tips of the blades. [note, we use a FlexOFold folding prop.] Your boat may have come with a fixed 3 blade. We see many fixed 3 blade props using Prop Speed or something similar. If you're using the boat in brackish water, we've never done the experiment with a can of cold galvanize, and I don't know about its adhesion to bronze, either, as it is designed for iron-based use. You get to try it if you want, but I would recommend learning about Prop Speed by using it, but pay close attention and follow the instructions carefully. Mistakes in application can cause failure.

Ann

PS: Just saw <mvweebles>' post--great pic. Thanks for that.

[Thomas1985]

I feel like it would be just as easy to polish that baby every year, but I’m getting ready to find out for myself lol

In fresh water at least…

[fxykty]

Originally Posted by mvweebles

I say YES to prop speed.

Screen shot from a short video of me brushing away barnacles from my prop that has prop speed professionally installed a year prior. This is in Chiapas MX with water temps close to 90F. Same barnacles on the hull take a purry knife to scrape.

Correctly installed, prop speed works well. I'm a buyer.

You have a motorboat, correct? That’s a completely different use case from a sailboat, where the prop is spinning for very short periods of time and most of the time is not spinning at all. On your boat the prop is spinning all the time when you’re underway.

We’ve used PropSpeed on our props the first two bailouts with our boat and it failed within 6 months both times - hard growths start to adhere that can’t be removed with going through to bare metal. After two attempts using it we now prime the props and paint them with the same hard ablative we use on the rest of the bottom. Generally the antifoul comes off of the tips and edges first, but the primer seems to stick well. A soft ablative won’t work.

[mvweebles]

Originally Posted by fxykty

You have a motorboat, correct? That’s a completely different use case from a sailboat, where the prop is spinning for very short periods of time and most of the time is not spinning at all. On your boat the prop is spinning all the time when you’re underway.

We’ve used PropSpeed on our props the first two bailouts with our boat and it failed within 6 months both times - hard growths start to adhere that can’t be removed with going through to bare metal. After two attempts using it we now prime the props and paint them with the same hard ablative we use on the rest of the bottom. Generally the antifoul comes off of the tips and edges first, but the primer seems to stick well. A soft ablative won’t work.

These conversations are difficult when location is ommited. If you look at the picture I sent, there is a fair amount of hard growth on the keel deadwood. Paint was about 8 months old and has had regular diving. But from Ensenada - where the ablative paint and prop speed was installed, we transited from water temps around 60F to regularly in the low 80sF by La Paz and Mazatlan, then into the low 90s by Chiapas (near Guatemala border).

To say the least, these are heavy fouling waters.

I don't know that the use case is all that different. We kept s fairly brisk pace so while we motor 100% when underway, we spent under 10% of the time underway. Best I can tell, sailors motor close to 50% of the time so 5% of their cruising time - that doesn't include the time sailors spend not going towards their destination.

I wish I could post videos here. I have two showing growth sloughing off the prop - one showing my prop heavily fouled as the boat had not moved for 9-months and yet the growth was easily wiped away with a gloved hand.

Prep and install is key. Done properly, prop speed works well. Whether it's worth the expense is a judgement call. But it does work - much, much better than bottom paint or the other spray-paint stuff (which I've also tried).

[Fore and Aft]

I see hundreds of props every year and Propspeed generally works. There is the occasional badly fouled prop which makes me wonder about the applicator not the product. We get the yard guy to apply Propspeed to our Autostream feathering propeller and get good results here in Queensland.
Velox has never worked on the few boats I have surveyed in Queensland. I haven't seen it used enough, but every time the prop was full of barnacles.
Cheers

[wholybee]

Propspeed isn't even comparable to the cheap stuff. Honestly, it works pretty amazing and you should get 18 months from it *IF* it is applied correctly and *IF* you do not over protect your prop.

Propspeed is a silicone based product that growth doesn't adhere to. But it is also somewhat soft. Hard scrubbing will shorten the life. But when it is working, you don't even clean it. Any growth will fly off as soon as the prob goes into gear.

People that suggest rattle can zinc based galvanizing spray don't understand what propspeed is or why it works. A zinc based spray will be no different at all from a spray enamel. The enamel might even be slightly better because of the glossy finish. At least for a week or so.

[BAIA]

I had propspeed (and foulfree) professionally applied last October. In May I'll lift the boat out of the water and see how she looks. According to the shipyard it's amazing stuff.