Folding and Feathering props

capta · Feb 8, 2017

I've had both. My folding 2 blade prop relied on centrifugal force to open the blades and water pressure to keep them closed. Hugely unreliable.
Our MaxProp is mechanically driven so it opens no matter what. I would recommend you go with a four blade though, as they create much less vibration than a 2 or 3 blade prop. That means a longer life on the cutlass bearing and a much quieter ride.

DayDreamer41 · Feb 8, 2017

You are correct @Billie, the more you read the cloudier it gets, I have a 3 blade Flexofold, I have only had the boat a short time but it hasn't failed me yet.

seadaddler · Feb 8, 2017

I have had a Flex O Fold since 2008 and works great and never have had any problems,it has gears and opens when put in forward and folds when put my shifter all the way back.
It does not need any maintance and just keep from getting high barnicle build up.
Best prop ever and smooth and great in reverse and great power in forward motoring and improved sailing.

Rick486 · Feb 8, 2017

seadaddler said:
I have had a Flex O Fold since 2008 and works great and never have had any problems,it has gears and opens when put in forward and folds when put my shifter all the way back.
It does not need any maintance and just keep from getting high barnicle build up.
Best prop ever and smooth and great in reverse and great power in forward motoring and improved sailing.

Any machinery including gears requires maintenance.

Gunni · Feb 8, 2017

Well, either one will be an improvement over a fixed prop!

Those of us with the Kanzaki hydraulic transmissions were pretty much pushed into the expensive upgrade to avoid that shaft rolling noise all day and night! I have the 3 blade max prop and on the Beneteau, the shaft is massively supported with just 3 inches clearance to the prop - so it is silky smooth, no vibration. Seek the advice of the manufacturer on this.

I sailed for years with a fixed blade prop and got pretty good with the typical tight confines of channels, bridges, marinas, docks and narrow, busy thorough-fares on the east coast. Learning to drive in the seat of an Oliver tractor helped. You are still going to have whatever prop walk you have now. But a max prop feathers to the same pitch in reverse as you set up in forward so you get tremendous bite and control. You also get lots of pitch adjustability, on some models you can adjust without taking them apart. Keep it properly greased and zinc'd.

Davidasailor26 · Feb 8, 2017

We just bought a 3 blade Flexofold to replace our OEM 3 blade fixed. No in-water experience yet but I'll be reporting back once we try it out. My initial impression is that Flexofold customer service is very good, the purchase process is fast and easy (3 business days from payment to delivery), and that it's very solidly built. The primary reason we chose folding over feathering was that the consensus seemed to be that folding is slightly more efficient when cruising under power. If braking / reversing power is a bigger priority for you then feathering may be the better option. I could find almost no negative reviews of Flexofold, except from users of their 2 blade models who reported high vibration.

More reading for you - http://www.yachtingmonthly.com/gear/folding-and-feathering-propeller-test-29807

Sovt · Feb 8, 2017

Beta Marine in Minnesott Beach, NC sells the J Prop. They will recommend a size/pitch/number of blades base on your boat/engine/transmission ratio. Farron is really sharp on this stuff.

Maine Sail · Feb 8, 2017

I've had them all over the years. Fixed two blade, fixed three blade, folding props and feathering even a couple of Campbell Sailors..

I was disappointed in both my Martec and Flex-O-Fold two blades on the vibration and backing fronts. My Martec could not stop wearing pins, wearing the pivot areas and becoming sloppy and more prone to vibration. It was perhaps the worst prop I have ever owned in terms of reliability. The Flex-O-Fold was considerably better engineered prop but being a two blade prop, and the fact that to fold, the prop-center is moved further aft, the vibration was intolerable. I tolerate no vibration where most sailboats I set foot on would drive me berserk in about two minutes flat. Some owners just accept that as normal, but its not.

My fixed props were 100% reliable and smooth, even the fixed two blade was considerably smoother than the two blade Flex-O-Fold or Martec. The difference between a properly sized two-blade fixed and a properly sized three-blade fixed can be remarkable in tidal rivers or against current. No comparison at all. On our old Cape Dory 27 she could hardly get out of her way with the fixed two blade and when I put the three blade on it was like I had just done a repower. Both props were sized correctly for the engine, and vessel, with correct tip clearance etc..

Considering that I work on boats, I get to use a lot of propellers. Bottom line, they all work. This means they all eventually stop the boat and they all make it move forward. Some stop very poorly, some create more vibration and some require rather in-depth routine maintenance, but they all work.

Based on customer feedback I would say Max-Prop and VariProp get the highest marks from my customers in terms of satisfaction. The VariProp is a reliable old school featherer with a massive geared hub. The Max-Prop moves the gearing aft (like the VariProfile) in order to have a more streamlined hub. Moving any prop aft can lead to more vibration, especially in vessels with longer shafts. Max-Props do seem to require more factory maintenance than a VariProp, when they wear at the blade root, but PYI does good work. All feathering & folders will eventually need maintenance and factory repairs.

When I wanted a feathering prop I was already familiar with all of them, intimately, meaning internal construction, ease of maintenance etc.. In the end I tried a J-Prop and it has been tremendous. Smooth as glass, stops on a dime, and really no major price difference between MaxProp, VariProp or VariProfile and J-Prop in pricing. I just liked the engineering of the J-Prop with easy in-water 4 second pitch changes being possible.

All that said, being in Maine, with all the lobster pots, floating line, weeds, driftwood & tides & rivers, a fixed three-blade would be the wise financial choice. When you take out a 3K prop it hurts a bit more than a $500.00 fixed prop. On average it seems at least one or two of my customers destroy a 3K +/- prop every year here in Maine. Course we all know boats are not cheap.....

Ted · Feb 8, 2017

Just like the diversity of sailboat designs, props come in all different flavors. There is no such thing as the perfect prop. Your selection basically comes down to how you use your boat and what characteristics you feel are the most important. Yachting Monthly did a good review of folding and feathering props that might make your decision a bit easier. Facts and figures only tell part of the story but it's a good place to start.
http://www.flexofold.com/upload_dir/docs/Test_YachtingMonthly_low.pdf

jssailem · Feb 8, 2017

I'm a cruiser and I have the 3 blade fixed prop my Hadley came with. The propwalk is my friend enabling me to maneuver the high freeboard boat in windier conditions.

My friend Steve has a Cal31 and he replaced a fixed 2 blade with a new Flex-Fold last year. He loves it. It is a 2 blade. Have not noticed the vibration mentioned by MaineSail, but MS is more tuned to that info than me.

Steve claims at least a knot better sailing and motoring speed with a big grin. Can stop his boat in a length and a bit. Less propwalk gave him greater confidence in his docking skills under adverse current and wind conditions.

Mikem · Feb 8, 2017

I replaced my fixed 3 blade with a 3 blade flex-o-fold and love it. I took an underwater video of the prop in action. It opened fully with less than one revolution and closed as soon as power was removed. Very smooth and absolutely no vibration.

gettinthere · Feb 8, 2017

One thing to keep in mind...the folded Maxprop will save you around a half knot under sail but it will also cost you about a half knot under power. They dont publish this but I got that directly from the head tech guy at PYI.

NYSail · Feb 8, 2017

Maine Sail said:
I've had them all over the years. Fixed two blade, fixed three blade, folding props and feathering even a couple of Campbell Sailors..

I was disappointed in both my Martec and Flex-O-Fold two blades on the vibration and backing fronts. My Martec could not stop wearing pins, wearing the pivot areas and becoming sloppy and more prone to vibration. It was perhaps the worst prop I have ever owned in terms of reliability. The Flex-O-Fold was considerably better engineered prop but being a two blade prop, and the fact that to fold, the prop-center is moved further aft, the vibration was intolerable. I tolerate no vibration where most sailboats I set foot on would drive me berserk in about two minutes flat. Some owners just accept that as normal, but its not.

My fixed props were 100% reliable and smooth, even the fixed two blade was considerably smoother than the two blade Flex-O-Fold or Martec. The difference between a properly sized two-blade fixed and a properly sized three-blade fixed can be remarkable in tidal rivers or against current. No comparison at all. On our old Cape Dory 27 she could hardly get out of her way with the fixed two blade and when I put the three blade on it was like I had just done a repower. Both props were sized correctly for the engine, and vessel, with correct tip clearance etc..

Considering that I work on boats, I get to use a lot of propellers. Bottom line, they all work. This means they all eventually stop the boat and they all make it move forward. Some stop very poorly, some create more vibration and some require rather in-depth routine maintenance, but they all work.

Based on customer feedback I would say Max-Prop and VariProp get the highest marks from my customers in terms of satisfaction. The VariProp is a reliable old school featherer with a massive geared hub. The Max-Prop moves the gearing aft (like the VariProfile) in order to have a more streamlined hub. Moving any prop aft can lead to more vibration, especially in vessels with longer shafts. Max-Props do seem to require more factory maintenance than a VariProp, when they wear at the blade root, but PYI does good work. All feathering & folders will eventually need maintenance and factory repairs.

When I wanted a feathering prop I was already familiar with all of them, intimately, meaning internal construction, ease of maintenance etc.. In the end I tried a J-Prop and it has been tremendous. Smooth as glass, stops on a dime, and really no major price difference between MaxProp, VariProp or VariProfile and J-Prop in pricing. I just liked the engineering of the J-Prop with easy in-water 4 second pitch changes being possible.

All that said, being in Maine, with all the lobster pots, floating line, weeds, driftwood & tides & rivers, a fixed three-blade would be the wise financial choice. When you take out a 3K prop it hurts a bit more than a $500.00 fixed prop. On average it seems at least one or two of my customers destroy a 3K +/- prop every year here in Maine. Course we all know boats are not cheap.....

Maine, what about the Campbell sailor?

Ken13559 · Feb 8, 2017

I used both kiwiprop and 2blade FoF.
if you don't haul out annually then kiwiprop may give you problem. Blades may be reluctant to flip to reverse ocassionally due to lack of greasing. 2blade FoF is good but a little higher in vibration. Not as powerful in going astern compare to kiwiprop but forward is good.

JohnShannon · Feb 8, 2017

Props to the Kiwiprop. My boat had one for 6 years no problems the prop is simple and inexpensive.

McIntoshUSA · Feb 9, 2017

NYSail said:
Maine, what about the Campbell sailor?

I had a 3 blade Campbell Sailor. It would not push my boat very well. I have a small 14 HP diesel. I have heard good comments about them but i am guessing since I have such a small engine it just was too small of a prop to push me good. I changed it and happy I did.

quadrille38 · Feb 9, 2017

gettinthere said:
One thing to keep in mind...the folded Maxprop will save you around a half knot under sail but it will also cost you about a half knot under power. They dont publish this but I got that directly from the head tech guy at PYI.

Interesting - have had a Maxprop for 6 years and I've not found that to be the case.
Not disputing the tech guy, just haven't experience that

Folding and Feathering props

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SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John

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