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PropSpeed Propellor anti-fouling coating

19K views 19 replies 12 participants last post by  Boatsmith 
#1 · (Edited)
Everyone says that PropSpeed anti-fouling for props and shafts is the best product to keep your propellor clean for up to one year or more.

The marina where I haul out my boat (just outside of Baltimore) is offering a free coating of PropSpeed as part of their winter storage package.

What is this stuff made of -Gold Dust - a tiny kit coats about $200.00!!! So I do not mind paying the $25.00 per foot for the haul and dry land storage this winter.

Has anyone tried to coat their keel or hull or engine seawater intake with the stuff? It is difficult to believe that any product will keep a prop barnacle free here on the Chesapeake.

Over the years, I have used Trinidad, Pettit Zinc Barrier Coating, Tri-lux - you name it and the barnacles are back in several weeks on anything underwater that is made of metal?

I am excited about having a clean prop during the summer sailing season. I am too old to go overboard to clean my prop every couple of weeks!

If anyone has used this product on the Chesapeake - let us know how it worked on your prop.

Walter Catalina 30 Baltimore
 
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#3 ·
We put it on June 2009 and its like Teflon - barnacles slide right off. Its still doing very well, 16 months and 3000+ miles later.
 
#4 ·
I have not used the Prop Speed but this might be a cheaper option. I spray the prop and shaft with Trilux anti foul paint that is designed for aluminum outdrives on power boats and it seems to work very well. I rough up the surface with a Scotch Brite pad and then prime with that yellow zinc chromate and then a couple of coats of the Trilux. 2+ years and no barnacles (or anything else) here in the PNW (cold water). About $20 for a can of it, a little less for the primer. Obviously, you don't paint the zincs.
 
#6 ·
Prop Speed Prop Anti-fouling update report

I have been watching the boats coming out at Old Bay Marina for winter storage and the boats that they put Prop Speed on all have barnacle free props!! Many of the boats have badly fouled hulls -but the props and shafts are amazingly clean!

The boats without Prop Speed have barnacles and marine growth fouling their props.

Everyone on Sailnet says this stuff works - now I have seen it so with my own eyes. Steve, the yard guy at Old Bay likes it because he does not have to waste time with a putty knife scraping the prop and shaft.

Steve likes Prop Speed so much that he is supplying it free to all of his winter haulout customers, you just pay him for his labor to sand and prep the prop and he gives you the Prop Speed for free. He said that he buys it by the case and gets a better deal than you can get on line. He said that the mark-up is very high -- with a small Tuna Fish size can costing $200, but he gets it at wholesale cost.

Walter Catalina 30 Baltimore
 
#8 ·
Yesterday with the warm spell, I was over at Old Bay Marina and they pulled a boat for a quick-haul. The boat's bottom was full of brown winter slime and leftover barnacle fouling from last season.

But the prop was perfectly clean, they told me that they put Prop Speed treatment on it last spring. One year in the water and a perfectly clean prop - while the rest of the boat had fouling!

Last season Old Bay was offering Prop Speed free with a haul-out and bottom painting package. I quess they save so much labor not needing to clean off thier customer's props and shafts that they come out even?

Has anyone tried Sea Hawk's version of Prop Speed?

George
 
#12 ·
good post to pull out of the past to a degree. need to coat the max prop, and get rid of a few barnicle remains. hopefully all I need to do is take some say 60-80 grit paper then coat it with appropriate paint. Any comments?

Marty
 
#17 ·
My boat has a max prop going on 25 years and I've tried all things(including labratory grease) to keep the barnicles down over those years mainly here on the Cheaspeake. Over the past 10 years or more I've settled on interlux products and buy the best hard bottom paint(quart) that I can find. It takes a full day to prep that prop(removing all the previous bottom paint). I then apply the underwater metal primer following the directions including the etching compound allowing appropriate dry time between coats. However I don't put on the number of coats specified since too thick a coat will be more prone to slinging off. I put two or three thin coats of primer followed by two thin coats of the hard bottom paint. I haul out every three years and after two years I usually dive on the boat and scrap the few barnicles that have formed over that period. The boat sits idle over the winter months, but is used weekly throughout the spring thru fall for the most part.
 
#13 ·
Marty- I've found that SS steel wool scrubbers work the best for props and don't "scratch" as bad as sand paper. As I've posted before, I have used the spray Trilux outdrive antifoul paints and they have worked well here in the PNW. Initially you should prime with zinc chromate spray to get good adhesion.
 
#14 ·
John,

The remains were enough that something more than steel wool was needed. Came home for a moment, off to fisheries to get a few things before they close, ie wax, and had some paint yesterday at WM.......did not get into the bag, nor did I get charged for it.......grrrrrr.......

David came by, mumbled something about his CS36M is shaped a lot like my Jeanneau, but considering both are Tony Castro designed, from the mid 80's.........

Marty
 
#15 ·
From the photo posted by "Fastbottom" it looks like the Hawkspeed did not bond well to the bronze prop?

I asked Brian at Old Bay Marina if he ever had such a failure with Prop Speed and he said no. The important thing is to prep the surface well for the acid chromate etching prime wash.

Brian also said that you can use Prop speed on folding props-as long as you do not gum up the moving parts with the coating. Prop Speed does have a gummy surface from the silicon, but is slippery compared to cold zinc or Tri-Lux spray paints.

After seeing Fastbottoms photo of Hawkspeed, I am going to go with Prop Speed. My marina supplies it free with a haulout as long as you pay $75.00 labor for them to prep the prop and shaft. Good deal considering that two small cans of Part A & B cost $200.00!

George
 
#16 ·
From the photo posted by "Fastbottom" it looks like the Hawkspeed did not bond well to the bronze prop?
After I showed that pic to the owner and the yard manager, the yard hauled the boat and recoated the prop with HawkSpeed, paying particular attention to the application process. The same thing happened. And this was not the only boat that had the problem.

That yard doesn't use HawkSpeed anymore.
 
#18 ·
Janssen:
"Has anyone tried Sea Hawk's version of Prop Speed?"

Even if you can find HawkSpeed on the shelves (it was discontinued last year) don't waste your time! We tried PropSpeed vs HawkSpeed at a Chesapeake Bay marina. PropSpeed won hands down. My boat with HawkSpeed failed miserably...'nothing' would have been better.

To Hawk Paints credit they're giving me a couple gallons of bottom paint.

Ronbo
 
#19 · (Edited)
Prop Speed Keeping Prop Clean on Chesapeake Bay!

Just did a quick haul to clear a crab trap float wrapped around my prop.

The good news is that my Prop and shaft is free of barnacles and sea growth!!

My marina supplies the Prop Speed for free with their haul out and bottom painting package, and everyone who had the stuff applied is delighted and amazed at how well this coating works.

The only catch is you must pay them $75.00 to prep the metal and apply the stuff. I guess that is not too bad, as cleaning a prop of barnacle seats is not much fun.

Does anyone know how and why Prop Speed works so well, when the other products are short-lived at best?

Walter - Catalina 30 Sailboat
 
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