I have a homebuilt (replica) Supercub with a Lycoming O-320 150hp engine and a Sensenich 74-54 prop. I may replace the prop. Any ideas on this? Sensenich vs Macauley vs ?? Any major differences between the brands? Any brand best suited to a Supercub?

Thanks! ASW.

The Borer prop so named after the original stc holder is THE performance prop for a Supercub.The STC is held now by Cubcrafters.Before you buy check the STC to see if you need to do any thing for prop clearance.I have also found Tiffin Air to have the best Mccauley prop prices.

Bill

I believe the borer prop is the McCauley GM8241. The Univair catalog's McCauley section shows STC's # SA279AL, SA349AL,SA392AL as applicable to a PA18/150 installation. You can look them up on the internet. There could be more than one STC holder involved, so it might be wise to investigate the particulars of each STC-- might be less restrictions on one of them.

Hi ASW,

If you ask the cub guys you will undoubtedly get the universal blanket statement of: the Borer ( Mac GM 175 82/??) And for the 150 hp variety most are going to fill that ?? with 41".... It's true that the Borer will be a bunch smother to fly behind, and will certainly give you the "hole shot" on take off. It also makes a better air brake. But before you run out and spend the better part of 3k why not switch planes with someone at a cub fly in... I *think* you'll find that for the type of flying that you do most, you really aren't going to see a world of difference other than the price and the cruise loss... I know I prefer my Borer, but I also know I could get by just fine without it. I suspect you'll find the same, and there are plenty of good props that people removed just to be part of the Borer club....
BTW there are several STCs for the "Borer" prop, and they are all a bit different in what they require to be on your plane, but the good news is that you are homebuilt...
If you are not concerned about the $$$ I hear MT has a fixed pitch in the works for the cub guys. That's the one I'd be holding out for...

Take care, Rob

Anne-

I had the stock prop on my 150hp supercub. I changed to a borer 82/43 this spring.

The prop is quite a bit smoother. The plane is also slower, about 93mph now at 2450rpm. I burn about 8.5-9gph with the borer. If I ran the sensenich prop at 2450 I would burn 11-12GPH, about 110-115 MPH.

If there was an option to buy an MT that would give the middle performance of the borer and stock prop I would go that route.

Tim

ASW wrote:I have a homebuilt (replica) Supercub with a Lycoming O-320 150hp engine and a Sensenich 74-54 prop. I may replace the prop. ......

Why are you replacing the prop? Looking for better performance in a particular aspect (takeoff/climb), the old prop is chewed up, or what? For all-around use, that 74-54 seems to be a pretty good choice. Or maybe go up or down with the pitch a hair if it's close to good. A re-pitch for a couple hundred is way less than a new prop. And an airworthy (used) replacement Sensenich 74DM will be a lot cheaper than a used borer, if you can even find one.
If you decide to buy a new Sensenich, I shopped for one earlier this year & the best price was from Univair, or from AMR&D (Art Matson) with their "kung fu tip" mod. I bought one from Matson & it cost me about $2750 delivered.

Eric

Thanks for the replies, everyone. Looks like I'm keeping the prop I have. I like the configuration, 74-54, since it's the best balance between short takeoffs and cruise for me. I almost had an opportunity to replace it, but don't need to now.

ASW.