Hunter 380 owners with Flexofold folding propellers, diameter and pitch?

[M_Michaels]

Hello All:
I am hoping to get some feedback from Hunter 380 owners who have installed a three blade Flexofold prop. I have a 2002 Hunter with a Yanmar 3JH2E engine and the transmission is stamped (2.61). I believe I need a right hand rotation prop.
If you have a three blade Flexofold prop, I would like to know the diameter and pitch of your prop. Does the prop work well in forward and reverse? Are you happy with the diameter and pitch of your prop? Does the prop fold as designed when you are sailing with the transmission in neutral? Thanks for responding.

 

[seadaddler]

I have 2007 H-36 and even thought different and added the flex O Fold prop 2nd year of owner ship love it's
improved sailing performance and at one time when kept my boat in Marina back in all the time and so easy
to do in reverse and I fly in power mode and can hit 7.5 Knots motoring,light air was great improvedment and just sailing is great.
With gear shift in reverse is what FOF tells how to fold when sailing and yes need to keep prop clean and only had 1 time a problem when left boat unused for over 3 months in hot summer in Florida when prop would not work well motoring.
I gave FOF my info and they gave me the proper pitch and you will not be unhappy with FOF and no real maintance other than keep clean from heavy barnacles and replace Zinc when needed.
Nick

 

[M_Michaels]

Thanks for the information. Much appreciated.

 

[Patrik]

I have a H356 2002 with saildrive and Flexofold 16"LH/11" 3-blade propeller. Works fine.
Patrik

 

[MitchM]

i have the flexofold on the Yan 3JH4E 39 HP as an OEM boat manufacturer and am very happy with it. at haul out each year we grease the folding joints with lithium marine grease and the prop has never 'frozen.' PS - you will need the custom flexofold prop ruler if you need to take it apart. most yards don't have one so i bought my own to carry with me...

 

[M_Michaels]

Hello Again Seadaddler:
Can you tell me the diameter and pitch of your prop? Is it a right hand rotation, 2 blade or 3 blade? Also, what model and HP of your engine? And do you know your transmission reduction ratio? That is the info that will help me with getting the best fit for my H-380.
Thanks everybody for you help. Mike

 

[M_Michaels]

I contacted Flexofold and they recommended a 17 x 11 three blade prop. But I also saw a post where one Hunter 380 owner installed a 17 x 14 three blade and he was happy with it. (Same engine and gear ratio as my boat). So you see there is quite a difference there. Mike

 

[seadaddler]

2007 H-36 with 29 HP Yanmar
16X11RH -3 blade and 1'' shaft
Sorry off hand I don't remember the tranny ratio
When I got my new sailboat I always had trouble reach hull speed and max was around 6knots and if I pushed it would spew out black smoke and complained to my dealer but they never agreed and since changing to FOF I can now do 7.5 with out any black smoke.
At the time I went on here and checked with other 356/36 and went to the boat owner info list and emailed many of them asking what size prop they had and found out my dealer installed the wrong prop.
FOF told me if the size was wrong they would exchange the fin parts,I would ask them if they still do that.
I would think your specks different and prop would be different.
Nick
+

 

[seadaddler]

MitchM
What is this FOB ruler that you say you use,Every 3 years I do a bottom job and take my FOF prop
apart and clean with wire brush and add some grease but no special ruler and never new about this ruler.
I have never had a problem and only one time after leaving boat sitting in water here in Florida for over 3 months went to leave my slip and would not go very well at all and so checked and found the prop very badly build up with barnacles.
Nick

 

[Ron20324]

...380 owner installed a 17 x 14 three blade and he was happy with it. (Same engine and gear ratio as my boat). .... Mike

My 2 cents... If "he was happy with it" may be because he did not know what he should be getting in terms of max rpm or speed.

 

[M_Michaels]

Here is what the gentleman wrote:
Flexofold for a H380
Update on Flexofold. New 3 blade (17x14) was installed by a diver. Reached 3550 and change on the tach with no smoke. Best news is we averaged 7 knots at 3k rpm in chop and 17 kt. headwind. Also our prop walk has decreased by over half compared to our 2 blade fixed. Prior, my boat's stearn would move 3' to port before moving aft, now it may move 1 to 1 1/2'. At 3300 rpm, we recorded 7.5 kts with the wind and sea on our beam. Not bad for a WL of 32'. All speeds were COG with GPS, little or no current.

 

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[M_Michaels]

Hello Everyone:
I am still hoping to hear from an owner of a Hunter 380 that has a three blade Flexofold prop installed. I would like to know the diameter and pitch of your prop and also if we have the same engine (Yanmar 3JH2E). Are you convinced that the prop you have (pitch and diameter wise) gives you best performance? Or would a different pitch make an improvement?
Thanks, Mike

 

[marcham]

For historical purposes.... they recommended me a 17x11 3 blade. My engine is a 3JH3E (40 hp) with a kanzaki 2.61 gear box. Sailboat is a Hunter 380.

I was not happy with the performance. In a 15 kt headwind, I was only making 3 kts to 3.5 kts at 3300 rpm.... no fun! I did notice a large fuel consumption reduction from my previous prop though. I'm normally burning 2.8L/hr with my 3 blade max prop (17 x 11.7). With the flexofold, I was only burning 2.2L/hr and could rev to 3900 rpm (max RPM is normally 3800, prop should be sized for 3800 to 3850 RPM as per Yanmar. Engine was under loaded with the Flexofold. (Note: these are tach numbers from the flywheel, as the gauges are +- 200 RPM at higher numbers. Mine is bang on at 2500 rpm).

My dealer and flexofold were great to work with. They've offered a blade swap to try 18x11 ... hopefully that does the trick. I'll report back once it's in the water and we have some numbers.

 

[Tally Ho]

You might want to consider the MaxProp feathering prop. Excellent FWD and ReV thrust, and for me, the ability to tweak the pitch is very important. I have had mine for 2 seasons, and made some small tweaks over the winter. Improved rev thrust even better and just about have FWD dialed i. To match my engine/trans performance.

just a thought.