Posts Tagged ‘propeller’

When boat propellers get damaged, you always wonder the same thing – should you replace it or can you save money by repairing it. Oftentimes propellers can be salvaged, but you should always be wary and make sure it’s repair worthy. An improperly repaired propeller can be ineffective and even dangerous when reinstalled.

Even propellers with bad structural damage can be repaired in the right hands. Propellers are often damaged in minor boating accidents like running aground. Even the savviest boat owners may want to consider bringing the damaged item into a prop shop to have an expert weld and balance it. The propeller is a crucial part of the boat and it’s better off in expert hands.

If the prop is badly damaged, it may be cheaper to just replace it.

It’s time to replace propellers when it fails to keep the motor in the proper RPM range, accelerates and corners poorly, or gives off excess vibration. If your propeller has any of these problems, talk to a prop manufacturer or dealer who will assist you in replacing the part. If the prop is not causing the above performance issues in the boat, dealers may push new replacement products on you anyway. Don’t give in to the pressure unless you truly need a replacement!

Performance Product Technologies sells high end propellers at competitive prices on our website including Weedless Wedge and Acme Inboard Propellers. We also offer prop parts for shops or anyone fixing a prop themselves. Visit our catalog on our website to browse available products.

Question #1: How do I select the correct gear ratio and propeller combination when upgrading my current product?

Response: There is no basic answer to this question while the reality is that nothing replaces having good data to review when making selections. No matter how much estimating and calculating is done, nothing will replace having hard facts on how the existing boat performed with a known setup in known conditions. Therefore here is the approach we recommend following.

The best approach is to use data collection of the EXISTING ENGINE/DRIVE/PROPELLER COMBINATION
1. Record the gear ratio and serial number of the current engine and sterndrive.
2. Record the pitch of the current propeller.
3. Note the condition of the engine. If you know the engine is not currently making the correct level of power this affects the data going forward.
4. Record the maximum speed along with the maximum rpm achievable with the existing setup. Is this recorded with a GPS or the standard speedometer on the boat that may not be 100% accurate?
5. Note how the boat is loaded when recording this data. Is this the normal loading condition for the boat? For example do you normally operate the boat with only 4 of the maximum rated 12 passengers on board? Do you normally fill the fuel and water tanks every time you use the boat? You have to make the choice of how you want the “performance penalty” of weight to be factored in. It could be that you want to make your choice based on running in the worst case loaded condition even though this happens very rarely, simply because it will allow you the opportunity to run at this worst case loaded condition when it happens without damaging the engine. Otherwise if you set the boat up for maximum performance/speed being configured around the lightest case loaded condition (which happens 99% of the time) you will get the best performance however if you do operate in a heavy loaded condition repeatedly or for an extended period of time it may cause damage to the engine. READ MORE on how this engine damage actually occurs.