Folding Prop

[daveinrenton]

All, This is just a general comment on props. I had a two blade Flex O Fold prop installed in order to remove the resistance of the prop in the water while under sail in addition to eliminating worry about passive prop rotation. It is being driven by an A4, 1979 vintage, in a similarly aged Ericson 29. The engine drives the prop fine and , surprisingly, backs as well as the fixed version. There is plenty of prop walk when at full power but that's nothing new. My sense is that it is more torquey than the fixed unit. One of the main reasons I bought this prop, besides the sailing performance issue, was that it was well under a grand, beefy in construction, relatively simple in mechanical design, and easy to install on a standard 3/4 inch shaft. I would recommend to anyone that wants to squeeze an extra 1/2 to 1 knot out of your old cruising sailboat.

Dave (sailing in Seattle)

[tolk]

I have an Ericson 32 with an A4 and a MaxProp feathering prop. I wasn't getting the power out of the prop that I should have been (3.5 to 4 knots at 1700 RPM) so I found the original prop, hauled the boat out and low and behold, instead of putting the original back on I was able to adjust the MaxProp pitch (their website has the instructions but it is confusing) and now I get 6.5 knots at about 1600 RPM. It makes for great sailing.