Propeller Recommendations

[ecurbjk]

Hi Folks,

I currently have a bronze Sailor 15RH10 prop on my Catalina 36. It’s a bit banged up and I’m thinking of purchasing a new prop. Doesn’t anyone have any recommendations, my motor is a Universal MX-25P RPM 3400, Ratio:2-1


Thanks,

Bruce.

[Pat T]

Bruce,
Lots previously written on props. Not sure if you want a replacement for your fixed prop or you want some added performance found in a folding or feathering prop. If you search the old web site under "props" or "fixed props" you will find 20 pages worth of good reading.
My experiece is with the KIWI feathering prop which you can read about in various post on the old and new sites.

[Steve Frost]

I just hauled my boat after 32 months of ownership, I had installed a Kiwi feathering prop on the boat during the prepurchase haul out and thought I would update the rest of you with a long term report on this prop.

I have made several posts regarding this prop and did not go back to those posts as I did not want to take the time to find them. Maybe we could set up folders for specific topics on our forum as it looks as though we have many many related posts under different headings, just a thought.

Mean while back to Kiwi props. I have been delighted with mine, after haul out
and inspection I found two issues. First I found the reverse stop roller studs had partialy backed out and the studs were slightly bent. The second issue was the blades had more play on their shafts than I remember. I was able to sraighten the studs for the reverse rollers and reinstall with Lock Tight. I contacted John Blundell at Kiwi and he offered to send out a new set of rollers and studs no charge. Mind you I had suggested that my boat may have been over proped in reverse after initially installing it and John sent me a shorter set of blades for free. I now need to come up with an issue with the hub on my prop, after he send me that for free, I will have a complete spare prop. I sure can not fault Kiwi for there customer support. As for the play in the blades John thought that was not an issue and that it should be corrected after lubing the prop. He was spot on there as well as after I lubed the prop it felt like new again. I also checked my blade pitch as I had adjusted it in the water to increase max engine rpm, this is easily done by turning the pitch stop screws on the blades, my last adjustment was about a 1/2 turn on each blade. Upon checking the pitch with a blade protractor I found one blade out of pitch by about two degrees and corrected the adjustmet, it will be interesting to see if the prop gets even smoother. The water was cold when I made the in the water adjustment and I was not wearing a wet suit, my adjustments in the water may not have been as precise as they could have been.

I have done about 200-250 hours of motoring (hour meter inop) since installing the Kiwi, it has been smooth and reliable. The hub and blades show no wear or corrosion issues. The only concern I have ever had regarding the prop is the over pitch in reverse. The reverse thrust is terrific but it limits initial rpm to about 1200 and I did set the idle up a bit as the engine would sometimes die when reverse was engaged. I doubt this would be an issue for those of you with the M35 engine. This reverse issue has no longer become an issue for me as I have adjusted to it, I have never felt the need for more reverse thrust and the boat feels like it will hit hull speed going aft ( hang on to that wheel), I also need to get the rpms all the way to idle to unload the prop going to neutral, this should be normal operation for any engine.

All in all I am most pleased with the prop and can not say enough about the great support from the manufacturer, as the economy slips this is becoming a rarer occurance as vendors squeeze those warranty pennies harder.