There is a classic humor sketch in Sweden where a guy goes to the newsstand to buy an evening paper. We have two nation-wide evening tabloids to choose from, and they guy spends forever arguing about which one to choose, slowly driving the newsstand owner crazy.
So here I am with two excellent propellers to choose from. I am sure both will work well and they have about the same price. And I find myself in a similar situation. If I had to make the decision in a hurry I would just flip a mental coin and take one. But since there is plenty of time I thought it could be fun to see what You, dear reader, would choose? Or what experiences you may have of these…
To the left is the Maxprop Fast VP 3-blade feathering propeller. To the right is the Flex-o-Fold Standard 3-blade folding.
The engine is a 75hp/3200rpm diesel with a 2.32 reduction saildrive.
Comments
6 responses to “Dear Lazyweb: Propeller choice….”
Maxprop! less drag I believe…(with out sea gras of curse):)
Hello from Helsinki!
My vote goes to Maxprop. Give them finally a good reason to organize production! :)
And as far as I understood it gives better manouverabilty to JM compared to Flex-o-fold.
My experiences so far includes Flex-o-fold only as it has been easy and fast to purchase. Would be interesting to experience if Max is really better.
The Maxprop picture looks cooler. Cool is good. Go with Maxprop.
Why chose from the menu when you can cook yourself?
http://www.varipropusa.com/
http://www.kiwiprops.co.nz/
I like the kiwi
Thanks for the Kiwiprops link, that was one I had not seen before. I like the novel approach. It seems however that they do not make large enough props for Journeyman :-(
Variprop is very much similar to Maxprop, except it is American and buying from the US is much more problematic than buying from the EU.
If I wanted to go more high tech and innovative I would go with an Ewol E3 (http://www.ewoltech.com/ewol_elica.asp) but it is about double the price of the Maxprop or Flexofolds.
It if correct that the Maxprop does give slightly better reverse thrust and thus better maneuverability. But I have done a lot of maneuvering with large yachts with Flexofolds and not experienced much problems…
Also I find Rickards comment about sea weed interesting. It gave me a thought I had not had before: The Flexofold should be less inclined to catch stuff from the water when sailing, whether it is sea weed or pieces of rope or fishing line etc. Because when sailing the Maxprop is feathered, which means that it has some sharp angles and nooks where stuff can get caught.
Not sure the prop seaweed would matter much, considering the mountain on the keel……