antifoul for shafts and rudders

SEARANGER ANCASTER

SEARANGER ANCASTER

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Probably been asked a hundred times but whats best antifoul for shafts and rudders ? Tried Propguard stuff without much success?

Here is how it looks after 2 years in the water. Antifoul on hull has done a great job but looks like I have bottomed out at some point and taken antifoul off the bottom judging by the number of the little beggars hanging there !
 
I've seen excellent results with International trilux this year. However, the results last year were very poor so maybe the weather/water temperature has a contribution.

Results can be very dependant on the particular area though. When our boat was in another marina, around 5 miles from where we currently are, there was no need to use anything on the prop or shaft and we would have virtually no growth. Yet in the current marina we generally have to scrub the weed off the water line every month or so during the summer. Maybe worth asking around other boat owners in the same area as to what they have used and whether it worked or not.
 
I normally paint the p brackets with the normal antifoul (cruiser uno), gives same result as hull. For props and shafts I polish them and hope the critters don't stick on as well but I usually come out each year.
 
SEARANGER ANCASTER said:
Probably been asked a hundred times but whats best antifoul for shafts and rudders ? Tried Propguard stuff without much success?

Here is how it looks after 2 years in the water. Antifoul on hull has done a great job but looks like I have bottomed out at some point and taken antifoul off the bottom judging by the number of the little beggars hanging there !
Click to expand...

Hello,
What you have on your props/shafts isnt much...
I have been using various products for my prop/shafts without succes.
Best result so far is with YACHTICON ANTI BARNACKLE GREASE -
 
Has anyone else heard of , or used, ATE Plasticon Grease ? Can't remember where but I've read somewhere that can work ok. It's primarily for automotive brake use but apparently is very high temp, very high grip (?) grease. I'm always willing to give stuff a try so I've bought 4 tubes of it and am going to apply to props, rudders and shafts after polishing them up as much as I can. Can report back in a year if it's made any difference.

Andy
 
Nothing I have tried so far works on a motorboat shaft drive prop, but I did try hammerite special metal primer, which lasted a whole season with no bare patches at all, and was as tough as old boots to remove, but was an excellent base for barnacles !

It is the only stuff that has ever lasted a whole season of ~ 750 miles, although I expect the barnacles may have preserved it to some extent, but it took some pressure with the angle grinder cup brush to remove.

So I was thinking of mixing it say 70:30 with fine ground copper powder, with a top smothering of lanolin, which delays the build up of anything about 6-8 weeks.
 
Andrew M said:
Has anyone else heard of , or used, ATE Plasticon Grease ? Can't remember where but I've read somewhere that can work ok. It's primarily for automotive brake use but apparently is very high temp, very high grip (?) grease. I'm always willing to give stuff a try so I've bought 4 tubes of it and am going to apply to props, rudders and shafts after polishing them up as much as I can. Can report back in a year if it's made any difference.

Andy
Click to expand...

I've tried the main brands of AF on the rudders with very little success. After two years lots of barnacles. Usually just polish the props. They usually have a few barnacles on them after two years, with a concentrated attack around the hub. Our marina has brackish water. I have a had really good success when coating the propshafts with common old waterproof grease. Smear it all over and it appears to form a thin hard(ish) coat which for some reason is not attractive to underwater animal life. After two years the coating is still there and there are very few barnacles. I have not tried the smearing it all over the rudders, but maybe next time the boats out the water I will give it a go.
 
asteven221 said:
I've tried the main brands of AF on the rudders with very little success. After two years lots of barnacles. Usually just polish the props. They usually have a few barnacles on them after two years, with a concentrated attack around the hub. Our marina has brackish water. I have a had really good success when coating the propshafts with common old waterproof grease. Smear it all over and it appears to form a thin hard(ish) coat which for some reason is not attractive to underwater animal life. After two years the coating is still there and there are very few barnacles. I have not tried the smearing it all over the rudders, but maybe next time the boats out the water I will give it a go.
Click to expand...

Oh good, well at least you've found it, grease of whatever type, has worked to some degree, I might not be completely wasting my time and effort then :)

I'm going to give it a go and will see how it looks if I do a quick mid summer lift.

Thanks
 
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