Prop Repairs - 540 Final Results

Ryan: Us older skiers have been using Sante for a great number of years. Can't beat their service, experiance or price. They actually care about what they are doing and know how much that prop means to the owner.


john

Good work Ken. I have a few questions on how they add cup, but Ill probably bring my 470 up to them to be repaired. Ive got a bunch of other ones I might as well have baselined too (since its free).

You should see all the props inside this shop!!! Inboards, outboards, I/O's, lobster boats. They're pretty popular in the northeast.

Ken

scan and post the readout Ken. It woul be nice to checkout

Sounds like you have a great place to send your prop, 2fat2ski. It's nice to network our resources and success stories. The more options, the better!!

Chris, I'll post a copy of the before and after computer read-outs. Pretty interesting stuff.

Ken

Hey Tim,

Yes, I got my prop shipped back a couple of weeks ago. Looks like new. He gave me the data showing the finished specs. You can probably understand it better than I can. They also shined it up real nice!

I'll try to scan in the specs.

Ken

Hey Tim,

The prop is at my parents house. I'll have some pictures soon. I think the shipping was $15 or so, I can't recall exactly. Larry gave a $30.00 discount because of CCF.Com. All members get a discount.

I'll send over the specs.

Ken

Ken:

Thanks for your comments, however I would like to address some corrections.

The first item that is very important is the statement in one of the posts regarding my saying that Acme is not ISO compliant. What I said was that on occasion when we receive a new propeller from Acme, we have found that they were sometimes out of tolerance. I suspect that this is mostly due to shipping and handeling damage. We have found on some other brands of "CNC" propellers, that they too do not meet ISO Class 1 (or whatever class we order) tolerance. Acme makes a great propeller and in my discussions with them, I'm convinced that they are committed to the highest quality. I caution everyone that purchases a new propeller not to assume that it is accurate. We at AccuTech check and correct every new propeller before our customer receives it. Its truly amazing what we see out of the box!

Regarding ISO 484/2 class tolerances and the write-ups on my web page. Please understand that we work on propellers from 6" to 60" in diameter that are used on everthing from electric powered launches to 200' dinner boats. The .050" tolerance referred to is in matching multiple engine applications. The ISO class tolerances as required by 484/2 are adhered to within either the Prop Scan or Hale MRI programming and cannot be altered. However, for those folks that always feel that they are being cheated, I'm sure that there is a way to bypass the safeguards built into the systems. We do not subscribe to that type of business model.

To address performance of tuned propellers. I wish that I could give first hand accounting of improvements on ski boats. I cannot...I can only offer the comments of our customers that own such boats as documented in our annual customer surveys. Personally, I can attest to ISO class tuning on my own 38' diesel powered sportfisherman. One word...awsome!

As far as pricing, we try to be competitive. Currently, the flat rate to repair (not ressurect a miracle)a nibral ski boat propeller is $150. Through the request of Ken, I have agreed to allow a 20% discount to the members of this forum. Trust me...I'm not getting rich off of this as we generally put 2-4 hours into a tune and recondition. Shop labor rate is $65/hr...do the math! Smaller props are more difficult to properly tune.

Pitch blocks vs Prop Scan or Hale MRI? No comparison! We have checked props right out of a pitch block shop. This was ok 15 years ago, but not today with our high tech boats and motors.

Please keep in mind that when visiting our web site, we are addressing a general audience with a broad spectrum of needs. The readers of this forum are highly focused on one boat and use. Feel free to contact me by email or phone with specific questions regarding your needs. Our interests are no different than yours...performance and quality!

Larry

Looks great Ken- more shiny than new!

Anyone know what the best method is to polishing brass/nibral underwater gear? I have some metal polish in a blue can that worked great on the pylon, but didnt do much for my tracking fins when applied by hand.

Larry, thanks for searching us out and giving us your insight. I may bring my other Acme props in to be baselined... Im curious how they stack up.

That's why I dont'e own the latest and greatest golf clubs, nothing to blame my crap game on when you have the latest and greatest.

Nautique2001 wrote: Larry and team did a fantastic job with my 540. It gives me confidence to know that they take many steps to ensure top performance. There used to be a day (when I owned a 85HP Mercury outboard) when it seemed OK to have dents and dings in the prop. Now it seems like everything comes down to having the perfect prop. Now I have nothing to blame my crappy slalom skiing on! Ken

I am sure you will blame your crappy skiing on your retard driver. I don't think that will change. Plus you tend to ski down to the lowest level in the boat.

signed - the retard driver

I used to blame my lack of skills on the driver/boat but now that I have a SN and a perfect pass I am not sure I have much of a case anymore... but I swear he can find waves on a glass calm day...

Barracuda wrote: Oder of blame: 1- Equipment 2- Conditions 3- Hang over 4- Driver

LOL, Brad . I like your order! #3 is priceless.

Ken

The hangover may apply to the skier and/or driver.

I picked up my prop from Accutech today- I figure this is an appropriate place to share my results.

I'll withold the final verdict until I get a chance to water test the prop, but I must say I am very pleased with what I see. They were able to tune my prop to ISO Class S standards (this is a step more stringent than Class 1). I also had 2 brand new Acme's baselined while I was there- one was solidly a Class 1, the other had a slight variation in one blade which just barely dropped it to Class 2.

Visually, 79 was right- the CNC lines are still visable, but not as pronounced. This is due to the surface grinding of the prop (it has no affect on performance). Here's a comparison shot- the reworked prop is on the right.




My final scan results look very similar to Kens, but I may post the before vs. after results next week. For $120 (which included our site discount) Accutech repaired all my damage, added cup (I went from .105 to .130), and provided a full documentation package. Pricing was very competetive with Acme's repair service and other shops in my area, so Id say I definitely got my money's worth.