Aluminum or Stainless Prop on Volvo Saildrive?

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njsail

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Feb 18, 2010
216
Bavaria Ocean 40 CC Forked River
What's the proper prop for an aluminum Volvo saildrive? I have a 2001 Bavaria 40 Ocean with an Aluminum 3 blade prop on a volvo saildrive. I've had a few people ask why I have an aluminum instead of a stainless prop and started to wonder what the proper prop for this saildrive? I'm looking around but can't find the documentation I'm looking for on the net. I'm going to boat tomorrow and hopefully I can find a manual with the information in it. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.
 

robgs

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May 24, 2004
26
Bavaria Vision 40 Rock Hall MD
Bavaria prop

What's the proper prop for an aluminum Volvo saildrive? I have a 2001 Bavaria 40 Ocean with an Aluminum 3 blade prop on a volvo saildrive. I've had a few people ask why I have an aluminum instead of a stainless prop and started to wonder what the proper prop for this saildrive? I'm looking around but can't find the documentation I'm looking for on the net. I'm going to boat tomorrow and hopefully I can find a manual with the information in it. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.

I have a 2006 Bavaria 40 Vision with Volvo Penta D2-40 with saildrive. The boat came
equipped with a Volvo aluminum 3 blade fixed prop. I have just purchased a Gori 3 blade
bronze folding prop and will install it soon for the 2011 sailing season (so no experience yet).
One reason that I chose the Gori is that it is the Bavaria factory option if a folding prop is
requested. The Gori prop has 2 zinc anodes for corrosion control and has a rubber bushing in the hub that provides galvanic isolation fron the shaft and saildrive leg.
I posted an earlier note about my experience with the aluminun prop suffering paint flaking and subsequent corrosion of the bare aluminum. The alum prop also has an isolating rubber bushing but no zinc anode protection.
 

njsail

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Feb 18, 2010
216
Bavaria Ocean 40 CC Forked River
Re: Bavaria prop

Thanks for the info on the folding prop. For the type of cruising I do I'm looking to stay with the fixed 3 blade. I'm just not sure what type of material I want to go with. Stay with aluminum, go for stainless or bronze. Of course I want to be extra careful since the drive is aluminum.
 

robgs

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May 24, 2004
26
Bavaria Vision 40 Rock Hall MD
Re: Bavaria prop

I'm pretty sure I read somewhere in the Volvo literature that it is very important that the prop be galvanically isolated from the shaft and saildrive leg. If well isolated the choice of prop material should not matter as far as the leg is concerned.
 

njsail

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Feb 18, 2010
216
Bavaria Ocean 40 CC Forked River
You are correct. Volvo uses an isolated system with non conductive gaskets all over since it's not bonded. Yanmar uses bonded. I think for now I'm going to stay with the standard 3 blade aluminum prop. I found a spare under the bunk (nice find). Thanks for the response.
 
C

corbin10

The first owner of my Corbin39 had a two-bladed folding prop, didn't like it, and went to two-bladed fixed prop. I like the prop, getting sufficient power around San Francisco Bay with my two cylinder 24 hp engine against 15 knot winds and maximum current conditions. Very economical situation re: fuel costs.

Aluminum prop is cheapest; stainless steel will cost a bundle. It is true an aluminum prop on a ss shaft should cause corrosion. However, there is a rubber interface between the prop and shaft; BUT BE SURE TO GREASE THE RUBBER OR YOUR PROP MAY BECOME FROZEN TO THE SHAFT. My prop is frozen, currently. Woe is me.:bang:
 

njsail

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Feb 18, 2010
216
Bavaria Ocean 40 CC Forked River
Regarding the prop I refinished the aluminum 3 blade that was on the boat. I used a wire wheel and a variable speed drill. It was a lot of work but cleaned off several coats of old paint. Then I used zinc chromate to prime the aluminum and a few coats of Trilux 33. It looked brand new and hopefully the pain holds well. Yes I did grease up the shaft real good because it was a beast to remove. On a good note the zinc is behind the prop and I need to remove the prop yearly to replace the zinc.

I like the Corbin 39 - one of the magazines just did a great article on one. Have a great summer.
 

cvj

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Oct 19, 2008
4
Bavaria 38 Ocean seattle
I have a 2000 Bavaria 38 Ocean. It originally came with a Volvo 3 bladed folding prop made of a "bronze-like" material. It had 3 small zincs that had to be replaced every 2-3 months and in spite of that electrolysis eventually destroyed it. I replaced it with a cheap Volvo fixed 3 blade aluminum prop (cost $125.-) 2 years ago - and I like it much better that the expensive folding prop. No problem with electrolysis. The prop is very light and responds instantly when maneuvering between forward and reverse. No speed penalty when using sails only - and a tad faster under engine power.

And the Volvo prop was so inexpensive that I bought another as a spare.

Make sure you get the one specified for your engine -
 

njsail

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Feb 18, 2010
216
Bavaria Ocean 40 CC Forked River
Thanks cvj - I've decided for now to keep the 3 blade volvo prop. Like you I have a spare with additional cone as well (just in case).
 
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