MG Safari prop

[madbass]

Looking for some feedback/opinions on this new prop before I go out and buy one. How would you compare it to the 2 and 3 blade Machette and Ninja props?

[Wayne P.]

I'll give you the same answer you got on the other site: It's not out yet,. It was due to be marketed around the middle of March. I talked to a Motor Guide service company a couple of weeks ago and they said that the release date has been delayed due to "issues" at the factory. There is no release date as of now.

[Folshen]

I wish it was out as the stock prop that came on my VariMax is horrible in the weeds.  I bought the motor in late May and was told that the prop was coming out this month.  That's not very encouraging to hear there is no release date as of yet...  

[Folshen]

I just talked with D&R Sports in Kalamazoo and they tell me they just got a bunch of them in...so, when I get out of work here in another half hour I know where I'll be heading.  Looks like they are finally hitting the shelves though for anyone who is interested.

[Wayne P.]

Thanks Folshen, I sent an e-mail to 2 Motor Guide service facilities last week inquiring about the Safari and have not gotten a response. Both are in the southern part of the country.

[Folshen]

Well its definitely available as I picked it up and got it installed right after I got home...of course I probably won't be able to try it out before the weekend but I'm ready.      It sounded like they got 'em in yesterday and it cost me 33 bucks.

[Wayne P.]

Is the diameter 12" like the old OMC prop?

[Folshen]

I show it being 11"

[Folshen]

Been out on the water a couple times with it now and it is like night and day compared to the machette prop.  The only downside is I went from 3.4 mph in open water down to 2.8 mph according to the GPS.  Well worth the trade off for speed considering I can go through the weeds now instead of trying to go around them.  

[Wayne P.]

I received mine a couple of days ago and installed it, used it once, but forgot to get the speed with the three blade. I'll check both sometime this coming week for comparison. The only thing I noticed is that it doesn't disturb the water as much as the 3 blade when used at the same depth level.

[Wayne P.]

I did the speed test yesterday and the Safari prop went 3.5 mph and the three blade stock prop went 4.1 mph. I used the Safari first to get a full battery charge run to see if I needed to do a full battery charge test for each. Each was a 1 minute run to lessen any GPS error. The Safari will be my spare.

[Folshen]

Looks like you had pretty close to the same results as I did though I will definitely be using the Safari as my primary prop...at least so long as I keep playing more in the weeds than I do open water.  

[Wayne P.]

Folshen, I use my boat about 1/2 of the time for electric only waters, and going slower is not included in my list of performace options.

On the packaging of the prop it states "Open Water Speed and Efficiency". It may be more "Efficient" since it produces less thrust so it may relate to a lower amp draw due to less work. The "Open water Speed" is just a plain LIE since it infers that it is not slower or maybe is faster than the stock prop.

[Folshen]

Unfortunately mine is the only power source I have...outside of using the oars that is.  I would have to agree though about the packaging, I too assumed it meant that I would have increased open water speed, but that was definitely not the case.  No idea on the efficiency of it but I'm still pleased with the weed performance vs. the stock prop.

[noxpertjim]

I'm also discouraged to hear the speed isn't, at a minimum, as good as the Machete.  I have the Hydrilla Hacker blade as well, and noticed a significant speed delta between it and the Machete that it came with.  So here I was getting all jacked up about a new prop that I could leave on and have all the performance I want.  During a tournament, I want to pop from grass bed to grass bed fast, at least faster than the other guy.  This does not sound like my salvation.

Will I buy it?  Probably.  Only because, like most things, my mileage may vary.  Thanks for posting your trials, though, gents.  It is helpful and will give me a comparative basis to go by.