Posted by Fargo Rousseau (fargo_r@…>)
A replay of an older post of mine about our Kiwi experience on our F30…which is now in the able hands of Rick and Jayne in Oriental, NC:I have two inquires about the Kiwi Prop…so let me answer them
together. But before covering our experience, let me answer your first
question. Kiwi does have two sizes…but trims both of them to fit the
engine, gearbox, hull requirements. You should have more than 1 1/2
inches of clearance between the prop tip and the hull. The drawings on
their website should help you make a good judgment about the fit and
the owner of the company has a lot of experience matching his prop to
many boats.We replace the stock 2 blade fixed prop (14x14) with
a Kiwi 3 blade just before leaving on our four thousand mile round trip
south from Connecticut. I was looking for best possible normal motoring fuel efficiency,
good thrust against wind and sea, plus low sailing drag…all at the
lowest possible cost (including installation). Hoped for easy pitch
adjustment and simple service.
We would probably have to repeat the trip with three or four different
props to say which one was the best overall prop, but we loved almost
everything about the Kiwi…almost but not everything. Here is what
we learned on our Freedom 30 with the stock, original Yanmar 2GM20F
with a 2.62:1 gearbox and a 16 inch Kiwi. 1. Normal motoring efficiency was excellent. We averaged about 14 statue miles per gallon
in the Waterway under a mix of conditions. (typically 2650 rpm and 5.3
knots…a bit slow, yes…but we felt terrible about using fuel to
move a sailboat and were trying to minimize fuel use…and still make 60
to 70 statue miles a day. 2. We always felt confident that
we could motor against a head-sea and headwind and often did. Against a
12 to 15 knot wind in open water, speed sagged only about 1 to 1.5
knots from normal cruise. We could turn unwind into 25 knots or more to
reef or furl with confidence and power.
3.We always loved the sailing performance of the boat and felt that the
Kiwi was doing a good job for us…but never really raced her against
other F30s to prove she was faster because of the prop. 4. We could back anywhere we wanted to…after I learned to get up a little way before expecting directional control.
5. Fine tuning the pitch is extremely simple, although a little bit
makes a big big difference (half turn of the allen head bolt equals
about 300 rpm…or so). 6. Plastic blades hold antifouling paint amazingly well (Pettit VIVID).
7. John, at the factory, is an outstanding fellow…always honest,
helpful, prompt, knowledgeable (I think he designed the blade). You
will have a supportive friend there for life if you buy this prop. Also learned: 1. Kiwi prop sings an
initially disturbing song in the 1700 to 2200 rpm on the tach (which we
would never have used anyway). This tuneful harmonic dies in the
normal and most efficient prop rpm around 1000 to 1100, 2600 to 2850
engine rpm. I may have contributed to this problem by the addition of
paint to the blades??? 2. The Kiwi doesn’t like floating or submerged branches. Leading edge,
which is very sharp, dents and deforms from striking floating debris.
After our trip I sanded out everything and the prop performed well
after my “repair” (as directed by the factory). Would question choice
of this prop if living in an area with a lot of floating debris. 3. Long distance
motoring in muddy conditions increases the need to lubricate the blade
shaft. I did not understand why our prop blades where getting stiff on
their shafts when I arrived in Florida. I thought it was caused by
fouling at the hub. But it turns out that fine dirt particles get
packed up inside the shaft area of the blade…and “tighten up” the
clearance between the plastic blade and the metal shaft that supports
the blade and acts as the pivot. A grease hole is provided on each
blade to push this contamination out…but I did not lube the blades
often enough. However, prop removal and blade removal is very easy to
do (very different from most other feathering props). When cleaned,
everything returned to normal, as new performance after thousands of
miles of motoring.
4. Keep the hub (big ball) clean with a scrubber pad so that swinging
blades don’t hang up on barnacles. Keep blades painted with a good,
hardish bottom paint and don’t scrub it off…just wipe…at least that was our experience with VIVID. Nuff said… Hope this helps. Good sailing…and motoring,Fargo— On Tue, 11/25/08, Fred Molden <fmolden@…> wrote:From: Fred Molden <fmolden@…>Subject: RE: [FreedomOwnersGroup] Kiwi 3 blade feathering propTo: FreedomOwnersGroup@yahoogroups.comDate: Tuesday, November 25, 2008, 11:36 AM
Hello Doug, I installed a Kiwi three blade feathering
prop on my F35 in place of the bronze 2 blade folding prop. I find it
will drive the boat at 5.5kts at 2500 rpm even into heavier wind and seas (such
as one might see on the Chesapeake). At high rpm the top end is the
same and at low rpm the low speed is much faster. Reverse is much better
than the two blade and I will come out of the slip at an idle. It will
also stop the boat within about two boat lengths from 6kts. The only
small issue has been some dings on the leading edge from hitting things but
these were fixed with a little bit of filing and if I wanted I could install a new
single blade for about $100. I use Propspeed as the anti fouling paint
very successfully. The prop vibration has also decreased significantly making
the boat much quieter under power. On a go slow day (most of the time) I
run at 2000 rpm and the engine is barely audible and I can talk with people in
the cabin while I am at the helm, and still make 4.5 - 5 kts. I did the
ICW once and spent a lot of time at 2800-3000 rpm just to make distance, I am
looking to do it again at 2500-2700 rpm and actually make the same or better
time. I haven¢t noticed much difference in sailing performance over
the folding prop. Wow, just as a disclaimer, I do not have
any connection to Kiwi. Fred
From:
FreedomOwnersGroup@ yahoogroups. com [mailto:FreedomOwne rsGroup@yahoogro ups.com] On Behalf Of douglas.domurat
Sent: Tuesday, November 25, 2008
8:45 AM
To:
FreedomOwnersGroup@ yahoogroups. com
Subject: [FreedomOwnersGroup ] Kiwi
3 blade feathering prop
Hi,
Perhaps this has been discussed before but I may have missed it. Has
anyone installed a Kiwi feathering 3 blade prop on an F30? or F?
whatever? I read good things on the internet as in excellent sailing
performance due to less drag and better reverse control, etc. But I
also hear top speed is sacrificed slightly for maybe better mototring
in a chop. Blah blah blah. This is all compared to a fixed 2 blade.
Any experience out there?
Thanks,
Doug
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