Shogren Adding Propeller Dyno

As part of a planned expansion of its service center and upcoming pre-owned powerboat rehabilitation/restoration business, Shogren Performance Marine is adding a propeller dynamometer, which measures horsepower in house at the propeller shaft. The $15,000 piece of equipment should arrive at the Waukegan, Ill., Nor-Tech and Checkmate dealership—the dealer also carries an array of pre-owned models from various builders—next week, according to company principal Scott Shogren.

“We always been a service center, but later this year we’ll be ramping it up and moving into the pre-owned boat rehabilitation and restoration business,” said Shogren. “The dyno enables us to test our customers’ pre-owned boats under load, and that will help us troubleshoot, as well as verify owner-claimed horsepower. We provide inspection and certification for our pre-owned and consignment boats, and once we get the prop dyno we can verify horsepower ourselves in those models.”

Shogren said the prop dyno also will help the service center with engine tuning and diagnostics for boat preparation for the season, which is an important part of the service center’s business in the spring. At present, the company has to perform labor- and time-intensive compression and leak-down tests when engine issues become apparent.

“This is a great investment for us—it’s worth every penny,” said Shogren. “I don’t know of any other high-performance boat dealership that has a prop dyno.”