Need some Prop Advice for a '92 Supra Sunsetter

[DenverHams]

We're pretty new to boating and just dinged up our prop pretty good this weekend on a first run of the season. Please see attached pic of the prop.

I'd love suggestions on the following:

1) Is it repairable?
2) Is it worth repairing?
3) If we look to buy a new prop, suggestions on what to buy?

We typically have 7 little kids in the boat (ages 8 and under) and 4 adults. We primarily wakeboar/skate/surf, a little skiing, and a lot of pee breaks! :)

Thanks for your advice!

[haugy]

Repairable, yes. But it will likely cost as much to repair it as it would to buy a new one.

If it was just bent, I would say repair it. But it's gouged, nicked, and bent. That's gonna be a costly repair.

As for what to buy, how did you like the performance of that prop? Too slow getting going? Can you get up to 45mph or above easily? And I mean can you cruise at 45? Or would it have to be glass, no people in the boat, going downriver, etc to get to 45mph?

It's already a 4-blade so you had a good one on there. Only thing you would want to change is the pitch depending on the answers above.

DO NOT GET STAINLESS STEEL!!!!!!!!!! Yes, they are shiny, yes they look nice, and yes they are strong as hell. But the point to a soft prop made of bronze is that it gives. It bends, instead of your driveshaft, or worse your transmission. When you hit something, somewhere along the drive line something has to have some give. The transmission and engine won't, so if you make the prop solid, one of those will go.


I've never been the best at choosing pitch, so I'll let some of the others chime in who may be more help. But welcome to the club. You haven't boated enough if you haven't damaged a prop. I stopped counting props at 30. :D

[DenverHams]

Thanks haugy - very helpful advice! Looks like we'll be picking up a new prop.

The performance seems to be ok, but honestly I don't know any better. I'm about 185 lbs and it seems to pull me out of the water on a ski pretty good. However, the vast majority of what we do is on wakeboards/skates/surfs that don't seem to take as much umph to get the boarder out of the water. We definitely can't go 45 unless conditions were perfect with minimal weight in the boat. We don't really ski faster than 32 so I'm not sure that we need much more than that.

Thanks for the stainless steel advice - very helpful. And, I appreciate knowing that although this is my first prop - it won't be my last!

I think we have a 13" but I'm not terribly sure. And, I would assume that we have a LH turn. Would this be true of all '92 Supras? I'll take pitch recommendations and even locations to buy a prop if you've got them. Thanks!

[wotan2525]

That prop can be fixed for far less than the cost of a new prop. Take it into the shop and get an estimate. It only needs minor welding and a regular resurfacing to be back to new.

[Memmer99]

I would call JT over at Nettle Props in Austin Texas. He has the best deals on new props and can also quote you on the repair if you decide to go that route. He sold me an ACME 480 and it's the perfect prop for wakeboarding with under 2000lbs of ballast. It is also great for surfing. Oh and you can't get better service anywhere!

http://www.nettleprops.com/
512-837-7707

[DenverHams]

Thanks Memmer. I actually have a call into Nettleprops and am waiting on a call back from Robert. We use fat sacs and have about 1k lbs of weight. We really like surfing and would love a wake that would help us get a bigger wake. Thanks for the reference.

Does anyone know where I can find the manufacturer recommendation on diameter, pitch, etc.? Any recommendations on 3 vs 4 vs CNC, etc. props for a '92?

Again, appreciate everyone's help. It's been a great learning experience.

[Memmer99]

I believe my 89 and your 92 are the same engine and trans, same rotation. In my opinion the ACME 480 is the perfect 4 blade for our boat but they may have come out with something even better. You can also call ACME directly. They were a lot of help when I was looking for a prop. You want to go Nibrel CNC so the prop bends and does not chip as easy when you hit something.

[haugy]

That prop can be fixed for far less than the cost of a new prop. Take it into the shop and get an estimate. It only needs minor welding and a regular resurfacing to be back to new.

Man if you can get that redone for under $250 I'll be impressed. The edges are nicked, so they have to be filled, but if not done right will create a real weak spot. Then it has to be straightened, trued, and then balanced. For that kind of job, down here that would be minimum $200. Then you run the risk of not know how he did it, or how strong it is. Is it perfectly balanced, etc. Once a prop gets that pricey, it's a new one. I'd rather have a fresh made solid prop than one bent, trued, and welded on to that extent.

Can you really get it done that cheap down there? Up there? :) I've had welded props sling their welds and fail after a few months so I also a little leary about welded and repaired props. If it's just bent, repair it. Anymore than that I normally buy a new prop. I don't want to sling a blade into the hull like I did years ago.

[wotan2525]

Man if you can get that redone for under $250 I'll be impressed. The edges are nicked, so they have to be filled, but if not done right will create a real weak spot. Then it has to be straightened, trued, and then balanced. For that kind of job, down here that would be minimum $200. Then you run the risk of not know how he did it, or how strong it is. Is it perfectly balanced, etc. Once a prop gets that pricey, it's a new one. I'd rather have a fresh made solid prop than one bent, trued, and welded on to that extent.

Can you really get it done that cheap down there? Up there? :) I've had welded props sling their welds and fail after a few months so I also a little leary about welded and repaired props. If it's just bent, repair it. Anymore than that I normally buy a new prop. I don't want to sling a blade into the hull like I did years ago.

My prop guy works out of his home shop but does probably half the marina repairs within a 100mile radius (and keep in mind.... We've got 10,000 lakes. ;) I'll show him this photo when I stop out there this week and see what he says.

[DenverHams]

Appreciate all the help. I spoke with the Nettle Props guys and they recommend the ACME 480 (like Memmer said) or potentially the ACME 208. The manufacturer recommendation is the ACME 422 (for anyone who may be searching for that information). The NP guys are doing some research to understand how our elevation here in Denver may affect the prop we'll want to pick up.

I'd love to hear what your friend says about whether a repair is worth the effort/price.

Thanks!

[kvand347]

Money is VERY tight with me right now, but if you can swing it you might think about doing both. Get the old one repaired (pending it's repairable) to use as a spare and buy the new one to use right now. That way if it happens again this summer (knock on wood), you won't miss a weekend!

[haugy]

My prop guy works out of his home shop but does probably half the marina repairs within a 100mile radius (and keep in mind.... We've got 10,000 lakes. ;) I'll show him this photo when I stop out there this week and see what he says.

Hell yeah, let us know. We may have to make him the Supra.com prop guy.


Money is VERY tight with me right now, but if you can swing it you might think about doing both. Get the old one repaired (pending it's repairable) to use as a spare and buy the new one to use right now. That way if it happens again this summer (knock on wood), you won't miss a weekend!

I agree, if you can swing it. Happily I've done this over time and now have spares so I won't be out for too long in the summer. As summer hits the prop guys get really backed up.

[whelchel86]

Anyone else notice the thread title says Supra Sunsetter? I wasn't gonna say anything but I couldn't help myself.

[DenverHams]

Yes, my error - Sunsport, not Sunsetter. Hey, it's a new boat for us...still getting the hang of it! :) I couldn't figure out how to change the title after I got it started. Flag me as the new guy. ;)

[DenverHams]

Wotan - any news from your prop guy? I do have a couple of props that came with the boat - but they are pretty big (14x16 and 14x14). I'm not sure if they will fit nor give the results I hope to have. I'm thinking of trying to sell them (or trade them in) so that I've got the cash to buy the new ACME 480 and repair the existing prop to take a page out of Haugy's book. Any thoughts on the best way to sell/trade?

Thanks!

[whelchel86]

Had to give you a hard time on the "Sunsetter" thing. I've been a new guy for about 2 years now and I wasn't sure if I could get away with it. Congrats on the new boat. Check out the classified sections on here and on wakeworld to sell the props. And maybe onlyinboards.com. I know they have used boat listings but can't remember if they list any used parts in their classifieds.

[2002 LAUNCH SS OWNER]

I mangled a brand new ACME prop a few years ago and it looked worse than yours, the first place I took it too wanted 350 dollars and I said see ya, that is what
I paid for the prop, However I took it into another shop and they only charged me 90 dollars to repair.So I would look for a shop that will fix prop for a decent price
and keep that one as a spare and then buy a new nibral 4 blade to replace it with. Also order yourself a prop puller when you buy your new prop, so you have the tools
for a re and re ,if your on a nice holiday and hit something again. A spare impeller for your raw water pump is something else you should have on your boat at all times also**
Summers is near, enjoy your new boat and be safe with loose ropes in boat when small children are onboard* I saw a small child pulled out of a boat at 30 mph once when a tube took off out the back while they were cruising and loose rope wrapped around thier sons leg and dragged him out of the boat** he had 3rd degree rope burns behind his knee.Accidents happen so fast and are harder to prevent when you have a boat full of people.

[wotan2525]

Just got back from my local prop guy. I think his prices went up ($118 for 13", $130 for 14") but that includes anything that it needs. I showed him the photo from this thread and he said that price would get it back to as good as new even if it needed welding. He said that welding is just as good as the original castings and that he can perfectly grind/balance a welded prop, too. That is -- unless they are missing more than 50% of one blade, then he says they are junk. He has a pretty good pile of junk props that he just hangs on to until he can take them all for recycling at the same time.

I dropped off my 13" acme and my 14" stock prop. (Both have been repitched and welded by him before.)

I haven't priced out the other prop shop around here but at $118 I think he's probably getting close to what they charge (and welding is extra there... )

[haugy]

Wow, great info Wotan. Thanks for checking on that. I did the same with two prop guys here, and both were above $225. I think that's because it's lake season too.

[wotan2525]

Oh the other thing is that he said he could get them done for me by this weekend -- but my boat won't be ready by then so I gave him until next week. That made him pretty happy. ;)