Bertram31.com General Bulletin Board

Central Florida Props

Posted By: Sean Burlingham
Date: Sunday, 1 January 2006, at 3:39 p.m.

This weeks' hard-won boating knowledge: not all propeller shops are created equal.

My Bertram 33 is currently under-propped. About six months ago I had my spare set of Nibrals, which were 20x22 w/#5 cup, re-bent to 20x23 to add one inch of pitch. Supposed to be a Class I job, to be computer-scanned, for which I paid $700 at Central Florida Props in Merritt Island. When I picked the props I asked about the scans, he said he scanned them but didn't print it, but not to worry, "they are perfect." You can probably imagine where this is going. Call it ESP or whatever but I had this feeling that the guy was a hack.

So, I had decided that I wanted to have them checked by another shop before I put them on the boat (unless I needed them while underway). The props sat in a protected rack in my bilge since. I also decided to try the "Mussel Buster" anti-growth coating because I have big problems with growth.

Last week I went to Canaveral Propellers in Port Canaveral, for a check-scan and the coating. They are a very cool Mom and Pop type shop. Pop does the work in the back, and Mom gets the prop scans on her computer up front. If she doesn't like the result, Mom sends Pop back to the shop to get it right. Really nice people. They let me go back in the shop and watch Pop scan my props.

The result? Both props were (barely) Class II tolerances, not Class I, and each had one blade that was seriously out of tolerance. Here is the kicker: the pitch on both was 22.3 inches. How does a guy that conditions propellers for a living accidentally get the pitch wrong by 0.7 inches?

I'm seriously pissed off at Central Florida Props (if you're in the area, don't go there!) and will get some satisfaction, not quite sure how yet. Probably small claims court, just to haul the guy into a room so I can get some justice face to face. If I had put these on my boat, expecting that I had balanced props with a 23" pitch, I certainly would have had bad results and maybe would have made some expensive decisions on engines and props that would have been based on incorrect information.

Canaveral's price to do the job I already paid $700 for? About $500 bucks. They said they get a lot of business lately from Central Florida because people are slowly figuring out that they do lousy work. This guy is wasting more than just the money you pay him, because of all the extra fuel you burn turning props that are inefficient because of his crappy work.

The props that are currently on my boat were done by Central Florida too. Man I wonder what my boat is going to do with correctly balanced props. I'm going to post this wherever I can think of, so that it might save someone else from this money-wasting and frustrating experience:

If you are in the area, don't use Central Floria Props in Merritt Island! The guy is a hack!

Messages In This Thread

Central Florida Props
Sean Burlingham -- Sunday, 1 January 2006, at 3:39 p.m.

Re: Central Florida Props
Paul J -- Monday, 2 January 2006, at 3:48 p.m.

Re: Central Florida Props
Sean Burlingham -- Monday, 2 January 2006, at 8:14 p.m.

Re: Central Florida Props
Paul J -- Tuesday, 3 January 2006, at 9:15 a.m.