Prop Speed.. yes or no?

Starting to think about Fall/ Winter work list.

What is your opinion of Prop Speed. Its it worth doing or not? Do you really pick up all the advantages they say and how long does it last?

We boat on fresh water... water temp winter 36/40 degrees summer temp 80/90 degrees.

Lake Powell is infected with the Quagga mussels other than that there is normal marine growth that comes with a fresh water lake.
We pull the boat every two years and clean the hull, shafts, props.

Just wondering if it is worth putting on the punch list this fall.

Jim

I had prop-speed on my 340SDA and researched it when it was time to update. I found the process was very time restrictive (generally a two person job) as you need to apply coats within a certain time and that the materials were very expensive.

The prop-speed is supposed to make the gear "slick" so that growth will not adhere but that favors boats that run on a regular basis. Those that sit a lot will not see all of the benefits.

This year I tried the Rustoleum Cold Galvanizing treatment that was discussed here on CSR. I am seeing some growth on the top of my tabs and have not seen the gear yet. I will not know until late Oct/Nov when I pull and inspect.

I can say that 4 cans of paint was very inexpensive - compared to 300-500 - so I am hoping for the best.

-Kevin

Joint Custody said:

Starting to think about Fall/ Winter work list.

What is your opinion of Prop Speed. Its it worth doing or not? Do you really pick up all the advantages they say and how long does it last?

We boat on fresh water... water temp winter 36/40 degrees summer temp 80/90 degrees.

Lake Powell is infected with the Quagga mussels other than that there is normal marine growth that comes with a fresh water lake.
We pull the boat every two years and clean the hull, shafts, props.

Just wondering if it is worth putting on the punch list this fall.

Jim

Click to expand...

I'm a big YES on PropSpeed. We boat on the Chesapeake so I can't comment on how it will work for you in a lake. But I consider our environment pretty harsh with respect to growth. Temps remain moderate and the impact of runoff is horrible this year. We keep the boat in water year round and did the props and shafts three years ago. Divers cleaning the bottom have repeatedly said the props were clean. And after such good experience so far, I went ahead and did the rest of the running gear this spring - struts, rudders, and exhausts. It's a lot of very exacting work to ensure their process is followed to the T, but so far, so good.

PropSpeed works well if properly applied. I would get three years out of an application. I had the prop removed over the winter and taken to my local prop shop. They would sandblast the prop and prepare it for the PropSpeed application. Applying the PropSpeed in a shop environment made the application work as advertised. I stuck with the standard zinc coat application for the shaft and rudder.

I use prop speed on all running gear including struts, rudders and underneath of tabs and I'm currently at 18 months in the water 365 days a year. In my experience, even if you get growth it wipes off with a microfibre cloth and its back to its original condition again. I'll probably use it on the tops of my tabs next time as well as the Micron 66 struggles to keep the tabs anywhere near free of growth and the growth wont budge unless you get a scraper onto it.

Been running it for 11 years and if you use your boat it’s well worth it. We boat on the Chesapeake Bay as well as to KW in November and return in April so all salt was usage. If you’re a dock queen it would be a waste of money in my opinion!

Decrease in fuel consumption is probably 3-5% at beet in planning conditions but trawler speed would not be worth it so it depends on each boat, speed and other varying conditions we generally get about three years and try to run the boat every three or four weeks at worst case!

Starboard prop with PropSpeed applied 3 years ago.