What I Do Not Understand Yet In This Hobby?

[K-ZAM]

Hey Mark,

I would like to purchase one of your new .21 Hydro 90 MPH 6% slip props. I will glad to test it and publish my results for you.

Thanks for all you do!

Kentley Porter

 

[shoboat]

Boaters,

Thanks for all the nice comments, I really appreciate helping whoever I can out in this hobby.

Kentley,

The propellers are in the design stage at this time. We are still testing

some smaller prototypes currently and trying to improve the numbers

even more.

Al,

I sure enjoyed our conversation today.

Nick,

I think your candle saying sums it all up for me.

Thanks For The Feedback Fellas,

Mark Sholund

 

[moparbarn]

mark, the one thing i see that upsets me the most is when a boater (or any hobby, for that matter) orders something custom, gets it & it doesn't perform well for them, instead of contacting the supplier, they ASSUME that either the supplier doesn't know what they're doing, or the part is junk. then they order the same type of part from someone else, with any possibility of results. CUSTOM is the key word here. mark, or any other custom parts supplier can only work with the info you supply them. with all the myriad of variables in setup, tuning, fuel, water conditions no one can get you exactly what you need first time, every time. mark, you worked a x-442 for me 3 times before we got it right. when you did, it made my boat haul the mail!! feedback is the key. you have to be able to tell folks what you have, what you want out of it, & be willing to work back & forth towards that goal. it's really more like a partenership than a buyer/seller deal, imho. kentley porter can make a boat run as fast as anyone i know, heck faster than 99% of them...... a lot of that is kentley's knowledge & the time he spends at the pond - BUT, the one thing i hear most is he gives excellent feedback! he will send things back for more tweaking & tell the supplier what it's doing or not doing. then go test, still not just right, back it goes, more conversations, more testing. there is no one size fits all, & if you believe that you got sent junk, maybe you didn't trust the supplier in the first place. i have found that most of the folks that make custom speed parts don't want to do cookie cutter work. they enjoy the challenge of making your stuff run great. give them the info & oppotunity to do so for you. mark, you just keep up the good work & excellent service, & those of us that trust you will keep you busy B) . btw, i'm gonna need a prop for a jae .21 with a cmb greenhead LS soon.

 

[PakMan]

mark, the one thing i see that upsets me the most is when a boater (or any hobby, for that matter) orders something custom, gets it & it doesn't perform well for them, instead of contacting the supplier, they ASSUME that either the supplier doesn't know what they're doing, or the part is junk. then they order the same type of part from someone else, with any possibility of results. CUSTOM is the key word here. mark, or any other custom parts supplier can only work with the info you supply them. with all the myriad of variables in setup, tuning, fuel, water conditions no one can get you exactly what you need first time, every time. mark, you worked a x-442 for me 3 times before we got it right. when you did, it made my boat haul the mail!! feedback is the key. you have to be able to tell folks what you have, what you want out of it, & be willing to work back & forth towards that goal. it's really more like a partenership than a buyer/seller deal, imho. kentley porter can make a boat run as fast as anyone i know, heck faster than 99% of them...... a lot of that is kentley's knowledge & the time he spends at the pond - BUT, the one thing i hear most is he gives excellent feedback! he will send things back for more tweaking & tell the supplier what it's doing or not doing. then go test, still not just right, back it goes, more conversations, more testing. there is no one size fits all, & if you believe that you got sent junk, maybe you didn't trust the supplier in the first place. i have found that most of the folks that make custom speed parts don't want to do cookie cutter work. they enjoy the challenge of making your stuff run great. give them the info & oppotunity to do so for you. mark, you just keep up the good work & excellent service, & those of us that trust you will keep you busy B) . btw, i'm gonna need a prop for a jae .21 with a cmb greenhead LS soon.

Robin,

This is a very nice post that really demonstrates Mark's commitment to our Sport! I have worked in a low volume manufacturing environment (100's to 1000's Quantity monthly) nearly all my life, and know Mark fairly well, so I feel qualified to make some observations:

First, he does all his work for the Love of the sport. If he had to support his family on 'doing' props, you would see a vastly different price schedule. Look around. Who does work like his for even close to his pricing.... and for him to take a prop back for 'tweaking' to match your set-up... that's unreal. If you guys want to know why he asks so many questions, engages you so much about your set-up's, it's because he wants to use his 'amazing' data-base (most of which is in his head) to provide the best prop he can.... so you don't come back and ask him to 'tweak' it. Seriously, no business model (for profit) would allow such support.....and without question, he does want to 'get it right' for you. After all, when you come back to have him tweak it .... it is most often because of your lack of knowledge... he 'still' answers with a smile and tries to walk you through the process.... Amazing!!

Obviously to gain the info. he works hard at his craft, and has his passions. And, is doing his best to push limits and continuously improve. My guess is that after all he has done for the sport, a recent PM, or Post may have hit a nerve with him. So, what does he do, rather than shut-down or complain, he makes a constructive post.

You are the Man Mark S. Raise your prices!, continue doing your best work, listen, speak, and GO FAST!!!

Best Always,

DJ

 

[Tom Foley]

Keep up the good work Mark ! I need (2 )- X -467 V cuts for X Mono and a good /45 Mono - prop for a Seaducer SD -3 as well . I'll give you a holler ,

 

[Bill Gibson]

Mark, after reading these posts...it should seem pretty obvious to you that you put out a pretty good product! You have as many orders as you do comments!

 

[dwilfong]

Keep up the good work Mark ! I need (2 )- X -467 V cuts for X Mono and a good /45 Mono - prop for a Seaducer SD -3 as well . I'll give you a holler ,

O CR@& I'm in trouble now.

 

[Bob Morton]

Mark is a cool guy,

At record trails,

here is a box of props use what ever you want.

Mark will send you props to try at no cost. Just needs feed back.

Bob

Mark toot you own horn as no one will toot it for you

 

[moparbarn]

i should prolly add to my earlier comments. mark reworked my prop 3 times, through no fault of his own. if i had weighed my boat, he could have done things quicker, i'm sure. all i told him was it didn't accelerate well, & needed more rpm up top. if i had known my .21 tunnel weighed 5 lbs. 12 oz. ( ), he would have had more of the info he needed. still, with his expertise with props, he got it right. thanx again, mark .