Looking for a good prop shop

[Princeton_Man]

Does anyone have good recommendations for a prop repair/recon shop? It's not that bad but I need to get it fixed. -Jim

[Princeton_Man]

Well, I found Soderbloom's in MN. I'll post a follow-up on them when I get my prop back. -Jim

[clarker2000]

Google Mark Croxton.  Best prop guy on the planet. 

[Mike Cork]

I've run across a few over the years but no one I'd recommend at this point, sorry

[Princeton_Man]

Not a need that most boaters have very often I guess but, I'll be sure to review their work. Heck, if they do really good work (and I hope they do), you might want to approach them as a possible sponsor. UB probably has a lot prop shop customers. -J

[Princeton_Man]

Google Mark Croxton.  Best prop guy on the planet.

Wish you'd posted sooner... Thanks though.

I found Soderblooms in MN. They've been doing it for thirty years so, I'm hoping they've stayed in business this long by doing it right.

Fixing my dings, additional cupping, fine tuning, and polishing it out. -J

[Bigwrench]

I have no experience yet with repairing one , but have read about Croxton props for about 7 years now and everything I have read has been that Mark is the best out there. . Emailed him about my Tempest  and his rates are good too it appears.

[Princeton_Man]

Well, I've learned a little about props with my recent needs and repair. But only a little.

Before learning of Mark Croxton, I found Soderbloom's up in MN. Called them and was told they would start on my stainless 13.5x23p Renegade the same day it arrived and 2 day turn-a-round. He went over charges for things like adding cup, changing pitch, etc. The cost would be $95 plus $15 shipping for mine to repair balance/tune. More if I had additional work done. I FedEx'd my prop with a note detailing it's current performance and explaining that I'd like to have a little more bite on turns and going around bends.

I shipped my prop out Thursday evening July 3rd. Got it back Friday afternoon July 11th. It looks like a brand new prop. Additional cup was added effectively making it a 13.5x24p. No additional charges! Great service!

In retrospect, I'm not sure I like the extra cupping. I'm going to do some more checks with just me and my gear in the boat but, yesterday my first time out with the prop after the repairs and mods, my time to plain went from 3.5 seconds to 5 seconds from dead stop and my rpms seemed to top out at 5000 instead of 5500-5800. Trim up/down had much more effect on my speed and it held real tight in the turns.

Since I purchased another Renegade 13.5x23p which should arrive in another day or two, I have no regrets. I may use my modified Renegade as a winter prop and my standard one the rest of the seasons.

Long before any of this happened, I have been told by several people that the 13.5x23p Renegade was a perfect bassboat prop for my rig. Now I know I should have left it alone. 

[Nutoy]

Adding additional cup to a prop can have the same effect as going up in pitch.
Extra cup will make the blades bite harder, thus helping to eliminate blow out, especially in turns or at lower rpm's.
When new, my Champion/Yam 225/Yam series II 25M prop was bad about blowing out during turns or running at lower rpm's(below 4500). The boat would drop off pad and I had to get to around 5000 to get it back on pad. It would do 68 mph at 5800 WOT.
Brought it to Coastal Prop in Bridge City Tx. The shop owner knew exactly what I was talking about. He started talking about cup, mid-fluke, trailing edge, and other greek words. Told me to come back the next day and pick up my prop.
WOW, what a difference. I could feel the boat phyisically lift like someone was pushing up from underneath at 3800 rpm's. In turns, it would not blow out, and it bumped me to 71 mph at 5700 rpm's. It was just a tad slowing at coming out of the hole, but not much.
Best $60 I ever spent on that boat.

[Princeton_Man]

Well, ebay prop turned out not to be as represented. Pitted and appears to have been dropped on cement. Blade tip is bent terribly. 

Now I'm trying to get my money returned. -Jim