Propeller Replacement- Propel

The bullnose Propel replacement propeller — Native's "Easy Cruz" design, which is a meaningfully better prop than the one it replaced.

The Propel Replacement Propeller Is an Upgrade

Native rates this design at roughly 50% better efficiency at the same top speed. That is not marketing about going faster; it is about the same speed costing you less effort.

On a long day, or into a headwind, or when you are pedalling back against an outgoing tide, that difference is the one you feel in your legs. If your boat still has the older prop, this is worth fitting before the old one fails.

The Shear Pin System

It includes the powerboat-style shear pin arrangement. The pin is a deliberate weak link: hit an oyster bar or a submerged branch and the pin breaks, the prop free-spins, and the drive's internal gears survive.

That is the system working. Carry spare pins in the hatch — the pin always goes somewhere shallow and inconvenient, and replacing one on the water takes a couple of minutes if you have the part. Without it, you are paddling home.

What the Propel Drive Is

Propel is Native Watercraft's pedal drive: prop-driven, with genuine hands-free forward and reverse. It appears on the Slayer Propel and Slayer Propel Max, Titan Propel and Titan X Propel, Manta Ray Propel, Ultimate FX Propel and Falcon 11.

When to Replace a Prop

Chips along the edges are cosmetic. What matters is a bent or missing blade tip, which puts an out-of-balance load straight into bearings and seals that cost far more than a propeller.

If you can feel a new buzz through the pedals, look at the prop first. The other sign is simply working harder for the same speed.

Details

• Propel replacement propeller, bullnose "Easy Cruz" design

• About 50% more efficient at the same top speed than the earlier prop

• Includes the shear pin system

• Fits the Native Propel drive

At our Clearwater shop.