Great report Phil, I haven't had personal experience with solas but have heard nothing but good things. It's good to let everyone know the places that give consistently great service thanks heaps. odieman
Just thought I'd post a mention of the recent great service I received from Solas at the Sunshine Coast.
We purchased a new Baysport 545 with a Yamaha F100 about 10 months ago. I just went with the standard Yamaha alloy 17" pitch prop. The dealer said it would be a good allround prop for what we needed. After running the motor in I found we were only getting a touch under 32 knots at wot. Revs were a little high at 6100rpm also. I raised the motor up 1 hole to get the cav plate out of the water but it made little difference to speed or revs (I had expected the revs to go up at least). Was getting about 23 knots at 4500rpm.
Had a word to the dealer but they didn't seem very interested. I've read a few previous recommendations for Solas so gave them a call. I spoke to Shane who seemed to know what he was talking about. He suggested going to a SS 16" pitch 3 blade. He also said that if it didn't work we could swap it to another size until we were happy. I gave it some thought over a few days then decided to go ahead. It was delivered the day after I ordered it. Gave it a try later that week. Revs at wot were about the same - maybe a bit higher at 6150rpm. However seemed to have a lot more response and max speed up to nearly 35 knots. This was all with an average load in the boat.
Spoke to Solas again the next day and suggested I try a SS 17" pitch. Arrived at my door the next day before I had even sent the previous one back to them. Gave that a try a few days later. WOT was now right down to 5600rpm with max speed back down to under 32knots.
Gave Shane from Solas another call. Like me he was quite surprised by the large drop in revs going from the 16" to the 17". The Baysport is a pretty light hull so that might have something to do with it. He said he would therefore cup a 16" and send it to me. Two days later I received that. Gave it a try and bingo - 5900rpm and a touch under 36 knots. Best cruise seemed to be about 4300rpm giving 25knots and 2.6klms per litre (based on fuel flow from the Garmin interfaced to the Yamaha). Really happy with the improvement and those figures.
I know I could have bought a lot cheaper online from the states but would have not got such great service. For someone with very little experience in this area I reckon that is well and truly worth the extra cost.
Cheers Phil
Great report Phil, I haven't had personal experience with solas but have heard nothing but good things. It's good to let everyone know the places that give consistently great service thanks heaps. odieman
Sounds awesome. I think I need to do the same with the ETEC.
Had similar service from them when prop hunting for my 200 Suzuki. Those are good figures you're getting now!
fruit salad is the new Bacon
Been down that path and highly recommend Solas. Fortunately I live locally and they just handed me over several props to try with a spreadsheet to fill out. Great service.
I busted a prop once just before a comp, Solas lent me a new one until they'd fixed mine. Ended up hitting a stump with the loner and took a small chunk out, they said all good no worries. Solas will always get my business in the future.
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Have used them in the past and these guys are reel good..... (Hard to find good service like this these days)
For those that don't need a prop they do also have lots of other gear especially lures and hooks, worth a look in at their store as well as their old shop where they have heaps more.
I concur im up in cairns and shane happily sent me a couple of props to try without question. Great guy to deal with great service.... Very happy customer
I have had a similar experience on more than one occasion. Shane knows his stuff and the service they offer is quick and responsive.
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What day of the week is it?