Folding prop or Feathering prop?

[therobesons]

Hi all

Currantly we have a cruising 3 blade 18x17 RH 1 1/4" prop on our boat.

I am looking at maybe exchanging it for a folding or feathering type prop.

Has anyone installed one on a 40' plus Hunter and would you recommend it and why.

Better performance in light aior or ?
Better backing or less prop walk?
Faster or better stopping disttance?
Better speed at the same RPM?
Better top speed?
Less fuel or better fuel milage?

I know we had a folding prop on our Catalina 36 tall rig, and we did notice most of the above.

But the Hunter is a whole differant boat and looking to see if anyone has really noticed a differance with a folding or feathering prop.

Which do you think is better, the folding or the Feathering and why?

Thanks

 

[VINN]

i purchased a flexofold 2 blade folding prop for racing the h34 over the feathering mainly because of price and simplicity. there are no settings that have to be adjusted before installation or disassembly, and there less likely to catch on a lobster pot while sailing. mine is a 16x12 vesrus a 15x13 fixed that i had original. expect a least a 1/4 knot increase below hull speed in your mid range sailing. thats doesnt sound like much until you remember thats a 1/4 mile ahead of the same boat in 1 hour... 6 knots comes allot sooner in the rpm range too. like 2200 versus 2850 originally. if your just a crusier a 3 blade is smoother for motoring but a 1000$ more.

 

[Rick D]

Dealer's Choice

I went with a geared Slipstream two blade folding prop from Martec in Long Beach, CA. Geared so it won't hang a blade down and for a bit better backing. Folding two blade because it had a two blade to start with and it was about a grand less than the Autostream feathering prop. I wasn't worried about reverse. Having said that, I think reverse is great. Just a bit more RPM, but it's just fine. The Slipstream is Australian and Martec is the distributor. I do notice Martec is now making their own geared folding props.

As satisfied as I am with my choice, I suspect you may want to carefully consider a three blade feathering prop for your boat. I think it's more in its character and would be an asset at sail time which I doubt a folder would.

BTW, any headway on the windlass?

 

[Don Lucas]

My last boat, a Cal-39, had a MaxProp 3 blade feathering prop

My current Hunter 410 has a 3 blade Flex-O-Fold folding prop

My Hunter motors faster and has less prop walk than my Cal did. And it does it at lower rpm and uses less fuel to do it than my Cal did.

And the Flex-O-Fold was almost $1000 less than the MaxProp and requires 0 maintenance.

2 blade props are faster in flat calm water, but 3 blades are better in choppy water which is where one really may need it.

PS - the 420 and 410 I believe have the same hull

 

[quadrille38]

Just put a 3 blade max prop on my Hunter 38 and what a difference.
Backs with authority and stops right now!
Sailing without the transmission whirling in a treat too.

 

[therobesons]

I went with a geared Slipstream two blade folding prop from Martec in Long Beach, CA. Geared so it won't hang a blade down and for a bit better backing. Folding two blade because it had a two blade to start with and it was about a grand less than the Autostream feathering prop. I wasn't worried about reverse. Having said that, I think reverse is great. Just a bit more RPM, but it's just fine. The Slipstream is Australian and Martec is the distributor. I do notice Martec is now making their own geared folding props.

As satisfied as I am with my choice, I suspect you may want to carefully consider a three blade feathering prop for your boat. I think it's more in its character and would be an asset at sail time which I doubt a folder would.

BTW, any headway on the windlass?

Yea it was a Martec 2 blade folding on my Catalina 36 tall rig. We set that boat up for peak performance.

But the Hunter is a lot larger heaver boat, needs all the push it can get, plus as little drag as posibel when under sail.

I am sure I am looking at a 3 blade, now it is folding or feathering. Leaning towards feathering because of the reverse performance.

Windlass update. So far I can not find a chian to fit the gypsy or a replacementment gypsy for it. Looks like maybe the Sprint 1500 is that same one but they also only list the chains as 8mm or 10 mm. I need 5/16 g4.

I am looking at a new windlass, the anchorlift Dolphin 1000 for about $700

 

[Tantor]

I installed on my H410 in the spring Flex –O-fold 18x14, 3 blades and I am very happy with it.
Very good performance 8.5 +kn at 3550 rpm (50hp Yanmar), min prop walk no maintenance etc.

 

[Mikem]

A good friend of mine had a H460 with an 18 x 17 fixed three blade and put a max prop on it. He loved the performance of that max prop but didn't like the $1500 price to rebuild it after some corrosion issues. He eventually sold that and put a 20 x 15 flex o fold on it and thought it was even better than his max prop...for a lot less money.

 

[Don Lucas]

I am sure I am looking at a 3 blade, now it is folding or feathering. Leaning towards feathering because of the reverse performance.

When I got my Flex-O-Fold last year I read all the prop reviews and tests, even the one in French because graphs are graphs. The Flex-O-Fold had less prop walk in reverse and better performance in both directions that all the feathering props.

But in the begainning I was only looking at the feathering because of the so called better reverse performance.


Since I've had both a 3 blade MaxProp and a 3 blade Flex-O-Fold if there is a difference between the reverse performance I sure can not tell. But I can tell the forward performance of the Flex-O-Fold is better.

Save yourself the maintenance and cash and get the much simpler folding prop!

 

[carefree]

In march of 2011, we put an Autostream full feathering on our 410. Love it. Boat goes faster under sail and power and stops on a dime. Lube it once a year and that's it. Highly recommend.

 

[therobesons]

In march of 2011, we put an Autostream full feathering on our 410. Love it. Boat goes faster under sail and power and stops on a dime. Lube it once a year and that's it. Highly recommend.

How do you lube it under water?
Does the diver take a grease gun down to a zerk fitting or something?

 

[carefree]

Diver with a grease gun. See photos.

 

[SEMIJim]

Hmmm... Abracadabra had a regular Martec two-blade folding prop. We've had issues with the prop, the prop shaft, the A4's reversing gear, etc. for three out of the five seasons we've had the boat. This spring, after having had the prop shaft and cutlass bearing replaced, we decided we weren't going to take a chance, and put the two-blade Michigan Wheel on. We're disinclined to put the Martec back on next spring.

I had my sights set on a Gori folding racing prop, but those Flexofold props look interesting. Just sent them off a RFQ for a two-blade folding racing prop.

We'll see...

To the OP,

When things were working correctly, we didn't see a big difference in performance under motor, either in forward or reverse, between the two-blade fixed prop and the Martec racing folding prop, but there was a big difference in light air performance under sail. We got 12 seconds added to our PHRF rating for the fixed prop and, in light air, it wasn't nearly enough.

Jim