I have had to wait 12 months to get a booking on my local slips and finally she will be up on the 22nd of this month. For the past 50 years I have tried all the usual prop treatments on my yachts and fishing vessels but have not used propspeed or any of the other silicon finishes. I have watched the "professionals" apply it dozens of times and now anyone can buy it from all sorts of places, even Supercheap! Still silly money for what it is. It will be going on 50cm of SS shaft, bronze skeg and a 2-blade folding propeller. I have heard all the horror stories and seen a few failures but the local shipwrights are kept busy applying it.
Thoughts or comparisons with the other gold stuff are welcome!

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Ramona said..
I have had to wait 12 months to get a booking on my local slips and finally she will be up on the 22nd of this month. For the past 50 years I have tried all the usual prop treatments on my yachts and fishing vessels but have not used propspeed or any of the other silicon finishes. I have watched the "professionals" apply it dozens of times and now anyone can buy it from all sorts of places, even Supercheap! Still silly money for what it is. It will be going on 50cm of SS shaft, bronze skeg and a 2-blade folding propeller. I have heard all the horror stories and seen a few failures but the local shipwrights are kept busy applying it.
Thoughts or comparisons with the other gold stuff are welcome!

Looking forward to any suggestions (proven or otherwise ) as well.

I've used it before and found that the final clear coat [over the yellow] must be as thin as possible.
Otherwise your spinning prop will just eventually throw it off.

I've had it applied twice. The first time was an utter waste, with growth appearing within 3 months. This was early in my yacht-owning days and I was later told to avoid that contractor.

The second time was by another well-regarded contractor 2 years ago. I dove on the boat today and there was minimal growth.

So, fwiw, based on my sample size of 2, the lesson is that Propspeed can work very well if properly applied.

Cheers, Graeme

I applied it myself about 18 months ago, pretty happy with it, I will be doing it again this winter. Easy to do yourself, just follow the instructions and stick to the time constraints.

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cammd said..
I applied it myself about 18 months ago, pretty happy with it, I will be doing it again this winter. Easy to do yourself, just follow the instructions and stick to the time constraints.

Thanks. It seems from the Youtube videos I have watched the product needs to be applied quickly and the timing between stages has to be correct as well. I presume you used a kit. What size kit? Mine is a very similar layout but the skeg is faired into the hull. All the powerboats on the local slips get the same treatment as you have done but they get the rudder treated as well. Some yachts just paint the skeg even though it's bronze which seems weird.
I'm thinking of buying the primer and top coat separately. The topcoat is available in 400 ml containers. This seems to be where the most expense is and I would be curious to know how much of the clear was used in your case.

Prop one is the other gold primer silicon prop treatment and is almost exactly half the price of propspeed. Do we have any reviews.

www.ebay.com.au/itm/282896325060

Anyone made their own silicon clear topcoat from non acetic silicon and epoxy thinners?

I did use a kit, it was in one of the boxes of spares that came with the boat, it was the last part of a two treatment kit, sorry can't remember the size. There was sufficient to do the job without a lot of wastage. The trick was to just be be organised and have everything needed for each stage at hand so you could keep within the time constraints. My daughter helped me and that made it easier for sure, I would recommend having an assistant to ensure you get the clear coat on in time so the chemical reaction works correctly.

It is expensive but as part of the total cost involved in a lift out and antifoul it's a pretty small component, I am happy to pay money for the kit and make sure it works correctly.

I have seen seen some horror prop speed applications in boat yards by so called accredited professionals and some amateur jobs. Prop speed is catch 22 , if you don't use the prop it will foul up and if you use it over 24 months it will lose its effectiveness . This photo is my prop after 80hrs engine time and 20 months since correct application, it received a light finger scrub last week and I still have some cavitation due to incorrect pitch adjustment. The prop shaft was in immaculate condition . I personally prefer the clear coat as thick as possible to the point that I need to tip the runs with a brush before it tacks off.

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Ramona said..
Prop one is the other gold primer silicon prop treatment and is almost exactly half the price of propspeed. Do we have any reviews.

www.ebay.com.au/itm/282896325060

Anyone made their own silicon clear topcoat from non acetic silicon and epoxy thinners?

Only been on 4 mths but still looks good.

www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Sailing/General/Found-alternative-for-prop-speed

I'm happy with Propspeed but it's so expensive that I stopped using it on the prop shaft several years ago and have found that just antifouling on the shaft is fine. And I have never used Propspeed on the skeg because neither the skeg or the shaft are subject to the high speed through the water that keeps the prop clean.

BTW, I wouldn't apply either Propspeed or antifoul to the anode on the prop shaft. Surely that's preventing the anode from doing it's job?

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southace said..
I have seen seen some horror prop speed applications in boat yards by so called accredited professionals and some amateur jobs. Prop speed is catch 22 , if you don't use the prop it will foul up and if you use it over 24 months it will lose its effectiveness . This photo is my prop after 80hrs engine time and 20 months since correct application, it received a light finger scrub last week and I still have some cavitation due to incorrect pitch adjustment. The prop shaft was in immaculate condition . I personally prefer the clear coat as thick as possible to the point that I need to tip the runs with a brush before it tacks off.

That certainly looks good and I agree on the thick coat of silicon. I noticed you used antifoul on the skeg. I'm in a strong tidal estuary and bronze anything always gets a lot of shell so I'm doing the skeg too.

I used prop speed on Currawong and it lasted longer than the antifoul (18months). I got someone from the yard to apply it which was cheaper than to buy the stuff directly for a single application.

A

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Andrew68 said..
I used prop speed on Currawong and it lasted longer than the antifoul (18months). I got someone from the yard to apply it which was cheaper than to buy the stuff directly for a single application.

A

The local shipwrights charge about $200 for a prop job on my prop configuration. I have bought a 500ml propgold kit for $240 posted to my door. It's actually 2 250ml kits so I will use one full kit mix the first time and not worry about the excess. I suspect I will probably only need half of the 250ml to do the job so we we will see how it goes. Worse case I get two refurbishments or I suspect 3 for 240 bucks.

Yes Ramona, you do get two applications out of one kit. No need to mix all - you'll find that there's more than enough to coat the shaft and prop with half quantity.

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SailPlan said..
Yes Ramona, you do get two applications out of one kit. No need to mix all - you'll find that there's more than enough to coat the shaft and prop with half quantity.

Yep agree the smallest kit is more than enough to do two applications. I don't know why you would apply Propspeed to the skeg.

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troubadour said..

SailPlan said..
Yes Ramona, you do get two applications out of one kit. No need to mix all - you'll find that there's more than enough to coat the shaft and prop with half quantity.

Yep agree the smallest kit is more than enough to do two applications. I don't know why you would apply Propspeed to the skeg.

The skeg is bronze and collects shell at an alarming rate. Last week I spent a lot of time chipping and scraping at least 20mm of shell of the skeg. There was more shell on the skeg than the prop. The game boat gin palaces that are on my local slip always have the skeg and rudders coated with propspeed.
If I'm going to get 4 complete prop jobs for 240 dollars that's going to be really economical!