amax

Yup they do good props. Spend the money on the B&S prop if you can't do it yourself. It will give you Much Better Performance, and an Unbalanced prop will rattle the strut apart,,Literally,, then your Prop, Shaft, and All are at the bottom of the pond. Spend a little Now or spend A Lot Later.

Ron Olson

My Feedback: (1)

Me? I've only got 2 boxes of props, one for the nitro and one for the gas boats. Those monsters are really fun (not really) to do.

res3567

I did...for my boat...and no regrets. To me...sharpening and balancing is all good.....if yu have the tools and the time. If you don't.....pay someone else for their time and make sure they are reputable. I got mine from OSE as well....prop BITES HARD....tore up my flexshaft !!!!

Serpents Den

yea Offshore Electrics is very good with their stuff....

Owen18

Thanks guys for that info, I think you right a B&S prop should be better for me cause Im not wanting to be replacing shafts and such when I screw up on balancing it!

Thanks Owen

Owen18

Hey guys here are some pics of just my stock thundercat. Nothing too special, Reason for posting these is because I was hoping that someone could tell me the prop that is on it, I know it will be hard but just a guess is helpful. I was just wondering what prop they have from the factory.

Thanks

Ron Olson

My Feedback: (1)

No idea of what it is but plastic props don't get it on nitro boats. I talked to IMPBA president at the time Bill Zuber about the use of plastic props on nitro RTR and the fast electric boats about how dangerous they can be. Shortly afterwards a new safety ruling was put into effect that racing boats for any nitro class and fast electrics over a certain amount of power were not allowed to use them. Yeah, blame me!
OK, back to your prop. I don't know what the size is but it appears to be too small for your boat. I want to say that the Prather 235 was the prop originally supplied with the boat. Between the time that Terry Prather shut down his business and Hyperformance bought the tooling and molds Pro Boat had problems getting props.

amax

The stock prop is basically the smallest and lowest pitched prop they can use and still be able to push the boat with minimal slippage. It makes it easier on the engine during break in. I believe it's a plastic copy of a Metal Prather Prop (230 I Think).

amax

LOL,, Ron beat me to it.

Owen18

Alright thanks, sound like I am in need of a new prop, haha so do you think I will notice a huge difference between the prop I will most likely get (Octura M445) and the prop that is on this boat?

Ron Olson

My Feedback: (1)

Yes to put it simply. Not only does a plastic prop break easily but they flex a lot also.
Amax, I'll try not to beat you to the reply and get my tail back to laying new flooring. I wanted it done today but it looks like that ain't gonna happen.

Owen18

Haha Thanks Ron

amax

Man I hear ya, it's hard for me to get much of anything done during the day lately our temps have been 95 to 100 and humidity goes from 50% to 80%,,[:-] and my shop is like an oven. I was breaking an engine in the other day and pointed my temp gage Outside and it was 99*F, I pointed it Inside and it was 104*F. With a sprinkler on the roof and 2 big fans going.
So I gotta go in Spurts,,LOL,, an hour in the shop and it looks like I just climbed out the pool, I get more done after the sun goes down then I do in the day time.

res3567

Let me clarify.....when I said I tore up my flexshaft, it was because the stock shaft wasn't designed for the metalB&S prop I purchased. Another forum member went thru 3 of them.....the stock shafts came with plastic props. When you start upgrading.....beprepared to upgrade multiple parts together if you can as stock parts may or may not hold up to the stress of the better installments.

Serpents Den

that in fact is only partially true tho....some had theirs come apart or break because of poor workmanship in the making of the flex shaft......more often than not, it was broken due to misalignment of the flexshaft and coupler/engine, or because they installed an unbalanced/unsharpened/unpolished prop, which caused way too much vibration and caused more failures throughout the boat not just the flexshaft.......ive read all the threads for the sv27....nitro or electric version......and those conclusions only come from seeing all the flexshaft failures in the threads, and why they happened....only few were caused by ones that were 'too short'....a majority tho, and not just to the SV but in other boats as well, were caused by lack of or not enough lubrication of the flex shaft so they just plainly 'wore out' extremely quickly.... these mentioned failures w/ exception of poorly made flexshaft, are common mistakes made, and it doesnt matter if it was a stock or the best aftermarket flexshaft you can get, will cause any flexshaft to come apart or break

Ron Olson

My Feedback: (1)

That wasn't the only reason, the flex cables were breaking at the propshaft as the solder was wicking up the cable making them stiff where it needed to bend.

Serpents Den

true enough ron....but forthe most part, ive covered that aspect i think, in the first sentence tho with

some had theirs come apart or break because of poor workmanship in the making of the flex shaft......

from the TC, shockwave, SV, and U-18 threads ive been reading, not many had failures due to solder wicked up from thebuyers actually cutting down and doing it themselves on an aftermarket.....it was theRTR-installed flexcable that had too much wicked up in assembly in most of the cases posted and even then, i only read that posted a few times total... more often in the threads tho the shaft had broken off in middle of the stuffing tube which would suggest wear from little or no lube...not everyone in these threads is lubing up their shaft every couple orevery few runs, not everyone'shonest about it either. its human nature......... most of the 'hobby buyers' getting started in the hobby arent going to be meticulous about checking out or going through their boat before and after running them. most are going to buy, bring home, maybe read the manual and put it in the water without even checking things over first...let alone, flex shaft maintenance..even some of the experienced modelers will forget once in a while...... even ive done similar without thinking about it..bought an rtr heli, put it in the air without checking it over first, crashed it and found out afterwardsthat all of the servos were reversed..and ive quite a few heli's in my hangar, had 6 ive been flying before that incident...

Ron Olson

My Feedback: (1)

I've been seeing members looking for sharpened and balanced props for these boats so I left a message for Andy Brown from www.cmdracing.com as he's getting back into doing this service again, reviving the Prop Wall on his site. I let him know that there is a demand for Octura M-445's so hopefully he will stock those.

Serpents Den

nice.......

Serpents Den

I finally recieved my Speedmaster rudder assy from Aeromarine Laminates....took them a while to get it out to me because all the Speedmaster gear was on back order.  sad face tho, they sent me the single pickup version when i ordered the dbl pickup one....no real biggie they were close to if not the same price at the time....i'll use the one i was sent, and can order just the rudder separately anyways and try it out later...i have to have those mounting holes adjusted and set up before i can paint the hull anyways, now have to find the time, especially with my screwy work schedule :P

Ah b4 i forget, Ron, i may try out your suggestion (once the boat running season is over) and replace the engine with either that Rossi you mentioned, or their .35.....i have to have a bit of fun with the stock one first tho

res3567

Ok.....Got my OSE upraded shaft today....fast shipping! Installed it....noticed a plastic tube in the stuffing tube. The new shaft came with one as well.....is this required?Can I not use it and just use more grease on the new shaft?

Ron Olson

My Feedback: (1)

That's a Teflon tube. They're usually a pain in the rear to install if yours needs to be replaced. Just keep the present one well greased.

res3567

Well the one in the boat now was broke into two pieces.....I put them back.....will this be okay?

Ron Olson

My Feedback: (1)

You might be better off trying to replace the liner then. The trick is to stretch it first then cut a little bevel on the end that gets inserted first. It's better nowadays to not use a liner but with it already having one in place, runing without it will make the cable whip around inside the stuffing tube plus water will find its way up the tube.

res3567

Ok, thanks Ron...learn something new everyday......gotta love it. Got one good run today....boat ran GREAT!