Prop maintenance - bling

Jul 7, 2004
8,402
Hunter 30T Cheney, KS
I was reinstalling my batteries this weekend in the boat yard and contemplated my folding prop. Gori just recommends using white lithium grease on the teeth when it's on the hard. Nothing more.
The prop sure looks grungy for such an expensive and important part. Does anyone who pulls their boat every year ever clean and/or polish your prop to restore it's like new look? I'm in freshwater so growth isn't really an issue. Purely cosmetic question really. Seems like boat owners' approaches to maintenance vary...

Keeping Barnacles Off Your Propeller
 
Oct 22, 2014
20,992
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
Why not if you have the boat on hard. A clean prop will improve your power experience.
 

DJAY

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Apr 16, 2018
38
Hunter 31 Saylorville Lake
A year ago, while on the hard I sanded the hard deposits (calcium salts of some kind?) off my Gori. All pretty and shiny. Greased the gears before launch. At haul out last fall the deposits had returned. This after six months in a reservoir that drains farmland. Lord only knows what the chemical makeup of that water(?) is. The deposits are quite thin and smooth, although not as smooth as the bare metal and they do not have a perceptible edge. I'll probably do it again.
 
Jul 7, 2004
8,402
Hunter 30T Cheney, KS
A year ago, while on the hard I sanded the hard deposits (calcium salts of some kind?) off my Gori. All pretty and shiny. Greased the gears before launch. At haul out last fall the deposits had returned. This after six months in a reservoir that drains farmland. Lord only knows what the chemical makeup of that water(?) is. The deposits are quite thin and smooth, although not as smooth as the bare metal and they do not have a perceptible edge. I'll probably do it again.
You sound like you are on a watershed lake just like us .
 

RoyS

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Jun 3, 2012
1,739
Hunter 33 Steamboat Wharf, Hull, MA
In salt water here with a max prop. I have been having good results with applying paste automobile wax after polishing.
 
Jul 7, 2004
8,402
Hunter 30T Cheney, KS
Well, I think in the Spring before launch I'll be taking my metal polishing stuff with be out to the boatyard. I have a kit with 4 levels of compounds. I may try to wax it afterward. Since it's a boat, should I be using "turtle wax" ? :doh:
 

Gunni

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Mar 16, 2010
5,937
Beneteau 411 Oceanis Annapolis
I’ll be trying Osbourne’s Barnacle Dissolver this spring.
https://store.pyiinc.com/products/barnacle-dissolver

Previously scraped and sanded my extremely expensive Italian propeller. Switched to a brass wire wheel...that got the job done quick and I figure is less abrasive. A dusting of zinc chromate spray seems to keep the prop cleaner through the season.
 
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Jun 14, 2010
2,081
Robertson & Caine 2017 Leopard 40 CT
I’ll be trying Osbourne’s Barnacle Dissolver this spring.
https://store.pyiinc.com/products/barnacle-dissolver

Previously scraped and sanded my extremely expensive Italian propeller. Switched to a brass wire wheel...that got the job done quick and I figure is less abrasive. A dusting of zinc chromate spray seems to keep the prop cleaner through the season.
That stuff is just as toxic and dangerous as acid barnacle cleaners, but more expensive. https://www.pyiinc.com/downloads/barnacle-dissolver/barnacle-dissolver-msds.pdf

I just use a fine wire brush wheel on an angle grinder. No chemicals needed, just wear eye protection and dust mask. The whole job takes about 15 minutes and the machine does most of the work.
 
Oct 6, 2007
1,023
Hunter H30 1982 Chicago IL
I just get tarnish and a white scale build up on the prop and shaft. Have been cleaning it off in the spring with a wire brush, fine emery cloth and Brasso. I do that because I get satisfaction out of seeing a shiny bronze prop go in the water on launch day, not because I think I am getting any big performance improvement.

I looked at a few prop coatings, but was unimpressed. Basically very expensive paint IMO and not all that critical here. A few years ago I tried putting a heavy coating of Lanocote on the prop. It was a chilly day, so I warmed it to liquid with a heat gun and brushed it on. It was kind of a gooy mess, but an interesting experiment. The prop stayed bright the first half of the season, then started to darken and scale, but there was much less scale at haul out.

I think I’ll try auto paste wax this spring and see how that works.
 

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Mar 20, 2004
1,729
Hunter 356 and 216 Portland, ME
I use a brass wire brush to clean my autoprop every year. As has been said, a clean prop will perform better, and I'm greasing the autoprop bearings anyway
 
Jul 7, 2004
8,402
Hunter 30T Cheney, KS
I cleaned my prop this weekend. Used a brass wire brush to get the scale off. Then I used a drill and buffing wheel with metal polish to try and get the gloss back. It's shiny now but it doesn't have that mirror-like finish I see in the how-to videos. Still some black "spottiness" all over. I wonder if I should call it good or take it to the next level with a more aggressive polish. I tried the compound sticks i.e. black, brown and white compounds.
Meant to take pics :(
 
Jan 4, 2013
269
Catalina 270 Rochester, NY
I use Brass cleaner on my Flexofold and it comes out looking new.
I use Collinite 925 to wax my hull. I wonder how that would do, on the prop, in fresh water?
 
Oct 2, 2008
3,807
Pearson/ 530 Strafford, NH
Don’t get too crazy with that expensive piece of bronze hardware, smooth and some zinc spray gets the job done.
I've done that for seven years and wonder if the zinc spray isolates the bronze from the prop zinc.
 

Gunni

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Mar 16, 2010
5,937
Beneteau 411 Oceanis Annapolis
I polish and mask the prop anode attachment as well as my shaft anode attachment. Butt the shaft anode to the rear of the prop which is also shiny bronze.
 
Mar 18, 2019
16
Irwin 32 Corpus Chiristi, TX
Grease isn't going to last much, cleaning as suggested is the way to do.