Volvo Saildrive props

[geoleo]

A friend is considering purchasing a 1990 44ft Catamaran with volvo saildrives in a rather remote place. One prop is 'missing'--the other is a fixed 2 blade. Im suggesting he needs 2 new 3 blade folding props. I have heard both Yanmar and flexofold makes will fit his volvo saldrives. What is best in this situation ? He has lots of sailing to do .

[DougR]

Only your friend can say “what’s best”. Certainly what’s most economical would be to duplicate the existing two blade prop, at least until he gets some miles on the boat and learns more about it. Then he will have a better idea of which direction he might like to go.

There is a wide selection of three blade fixed, folding and feathering props to chose from which will fit the Volvo saildrive.

[SV Confianza]

We have maxprop 3 blade feathering. As long as they’re greased often, they’re great. Makes docking very easy. Difficult to maintain though.

[more]

Originally Posted by geoleo

A friend is considering purchasing a 1990 44ft Catamaran with volvo saildrives in a rather remote place. One prop is 'missing'--the other is a fixed 2 blade. Im suggesting he needs 2 new 3 blade folding props. I have heard both Yanmar and flexofold makes will fit his volvo saldrives. What is best in this situation ? He has lots of sailing to do .

i change propeller every year. i repair rubber bushing with local company. rubber bushing is premium quality from sava kranj. i walk shipyard and take from friend. propeler in good condition(charter change propeler every 6-12 month max) try repair. sometime in oven propeller simply crack. if crack hapen in oven i pay 50€ .now i have 3 propeler painted and ready for install.
ussualy goal be in dry marina 2-3 days. paint botom,service saildrive,change propeler,service bowthruster and polish hull. return in sea.
after this old propeler check for rubber bushing. decide is good for repair or not. clean with acid and return in local company for repair or put in garbage

repair cost new price 150€ in cash paint for 3 propeler around 60-70€

[Jeannius]

Props falling off Volvo saildrives was a pretty regular occurrence, even when installed according to the manual. I have a fair amount of personal experience of this. Coat the stub with some fast cure 5200 (or similar) and fit new prop straightaway. That works really well. Can be done with the boat in the water so saves on haul cost as well.

[Kijit]

We've had a Flexofold 3 blade prop on our Volvo saildrive for many years now. Performance is great and no problems.