dhill
Member III
Hi debonAir,Flexofold recommended the 16x9 for me (E35-3 5424). My 2b fixed was a (I think) a 15x10. The 16x9 turned out to be *way* to much prop. I was doing almost 4kts in idle, and couldn't even get to 1/2 full RPMs, The up-side of trying the 16x9 was finding out what the strange clunking noise was with the old prop when I gave it full throttle: the stbd rear motor mount wasn't attached to the boat.. just resting, as the lag bolts had stripped. With the larger prop, the entire engine was bouncing on that mount. With the 16x9 the thumping got so bad it became obvious. New motor mounts and larger/rebedded lag screws helped the noise. I went down to 15x10 blades (which they shipped overnight at their expense which was nice). The nice thing about the folding prop is that you can change the blades without pulling the prop off the shaft. I actually swapped the blades underwater anchored in Vineyard Haven, MA, That was a seriously heavy suitcase lugging all my diving gear on the ferry!
The 15x10 is probably the right size if I had all the HP the engine had when new, but I am still a bit over-propped with these blades. It may be the same diameter and pitch as the old 2b fixed, but the flexofold blades are about twice as wide as a typical sailor fixed prop. I am not able to quite get to 2800 (max) RPM, but easily reach hull speed at a comfy 2000 (was more like 2200 with fixed prop)
I kept the larger blades for when/if I repower with the Beta 30.
Did you purchase a 2-blade or 3-blade Flexofold? If 15x10 is still a bit over-propped, what would you recommend going with? I have a 35-3 with a Universal 25XP.
Thanks!
Dave