Flexofold - Comments ?

[Weyalan]

The time has come for us to replace the old, worn-out, under-size 2-blade feathering prop (an old Barrett Austostream).

I have done a fair bit of looking around, reading articles, etc. At this stage, the choice looks like it is going to be a Flexofold 3-blade folding prop.

Does anybody have eany experience or comments on the Flexofold product? Thanks.

[hugosalt]

Installed mine 4 years ago, very happy, built well, no problems
with reverse and stopping...good choice!

[Jim Cate]

G'Day Patrick,

We replaced the original 2 blade Gori with a three blade Flexo right there in Pt Cygnet in 2004. Still very happy w ith it... no perceptable wear, good performance for a folder, good rapport with the vendor (bought from F-O-F in the states... way cheaper including shipping to Hobart).

Happy to answer any specific queries.

Cheers,

Jim and Ann, on the REAL Insatiable II lying Great Keppel Island, Qld

[billyehh]

I have FlexoFold's on my catamaran and am very happy with them. The maintenance is minimal and easy to perform. I find that the 3 blades work well in reverse as well. If long distance cruising, make sure you purchase spare custom anodes.

[sailingaway221]

Excellent product.Mine have been on for two years... no problems at all. AS above take spare anodes...if i'm in a marina mine disappear in about 4 months.... easy to change though.

[paulrack]

Just fitted two three bladed foldings to my new cat. They look really well engineered and they perform really well, quiet, no vibration and brilliant in reverse. In fact if I did not know I would have thought I had fixed props when reversing.

I am very happy

[Marinheiro]

You should also check out Vari-fold as well. When I was prop purchasing an issue came up with Flexofold that they were only available in 50mm increments, so if you needed an in-between size, you had to accept a ground down prop with a compromised shape. That was 4 yrs ago, not sure if this has changed.

[Weyalan]

Thanks for all the (positive) feedback, folks. It has reassured us that we are making a good decision.

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by billyehh

I have FlexoFold's on my catamaran and am very happy with them. The maintenance is minimal and easy to perform. I find that the 3 blades work well in reverse as well. If long distance cruising, make sure you purchase spare custom anodes.

Originally Posted by sailingaway221

Excellent product.Mine have been on for two years... no problems at all. AS above take spare anodes...if i'm in a marina mine disappear in about 4 months.... easy to change though.

FWIW:

I got tired of buying the F-O-F custom anodes at 40+ bucks each, and have made a simple modification to the prop which allows the use of standard "button" anodes which tend to run around 8 dollars or less.

The mod is simply to replace the allen head cap screws that hold the flat cover plate onto the prop with countersunk screws. With this done, the button anode can be snugged up with the standard central mounting bolt.This has worked for several years. The buttons have slightly less mass of zinc than the F-O-F types and don't last quite as long, but as mentioned above, they are easy to change in the water.

Cheers,

Jim and Ann s/v Insatiable II lying Great Keppel Is, Qld, Oz

[ggray]

I have 2 FOF 2 blades.
No problems except maybe 18 months after original launch. 1 blade decided it wanted to be elsewhere.
The bolts securing the pivot pin had a coating of "dry" locktite so the props could be installed underwater. Maybe. Since this episode, I'm religious about cleaning the threads with acetone, drying thoroughly, and a good dousing with red locktite during installation --out of water. Not lost a part since.

[Weyalan]

Well. The order is placed. Yay! I'm so excited, and I just can't hide it. I'm about to lose control and I think I like it (or words to that effect). If there has been one major bugbear about Insatiable, ever since I got her (nearly 5 years ago now - boggle - where did that time go?), it has been the performance under motor:

In flat water, with no breeze and a clean botton, we could hit 6 knots... just. But as soon as a little chop was introduced, and a head wind we would be down to 4, or even 3 knots. Against 25 knots of headwind and 3 or 4' of wind-chop, we would be doing 2.5 knots, or less. Anyway, thank you all for your input.

Add to that the "reverse roulette" factor - the boat would reverse just fine, but sometimes, when you put it into reverse, the blades wouldnt feather properly, and the boat would actually accelerate in forwards instead of reversing - not exactly ideal when you are coming into a marina berth and want to pull-up (hence the shiny new pulpit on the boat).

The only downside to this exercise is that, coupled with the new anchor winch, we are gonna be so skint for a couple of months that its gonna be rice n bean, not rice n beans! A small price to pay, nonetheless.

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by Weyalan

we are gonna be so skint for a couple of months that its gonna be rice n bean, not rice n beans! A small price to pay, nonetheless.

£1000 in the UK, which had me thinking twice. What I did find if you search for the European distributor, Belgium or Holland I think you will find a copy of the UK magazine prop tests which they scored very highly.

http://www.flexofold.com/upload_dir/...onthly_low.pdf

Pete

[Weyalan]

The article that you linked was one of the reasons why we chose to go with the flexofold.

[swagman]

Methinks I am too late but we had a three bladed F-O-F on our last boat and it was fine giving us better performance in forward than reverse.
But if you ever have to do it again suggest you also consider a Maxprop.
We had a three bladed feathering Maxprop on the previous boat and was 100% as good as F-O-F going forward, and 300% better in reverse.
But enjoy........
JOHN

[Bash]

There are better props, but not for the money you'll pay for a flex-o-fold. I had one on my last boat, I have one on my present boat, and the next boat....