I have an Autoprop on my C-36 and all I've had to do is clean it like any other prop and I clean the bearing area when it's hauled.
I have only had the boat two years, but the prop's been on at least 10, and still seems to be fine. Works great, get 6+ knots at 2000 rpm and backs down fantastic with very little prop-walk.
I think Tom S. will be the guy to ask about maintenance; I believe he used to do a strip-down on his regularly.

[QUOTE=Last Toy;17925]Trying to decide between autroprop and gori. Anyone with experience with either? What is maintenance schedule?[/QUOTE]

Autoprop is the only prop I have ever warned people to stay away from. While chronic issues and failures due to poor design have allegedly been corrected, I still wouldn't ever recommend one to anybody, especially in a high-fouling region like Florida.

I have had the Autoprop since I bought the boat new in 1999. I love it! The self selecting pitch allows it to operate like an automatic transmission. It will gear down when you need power to punch into head waves or get off a minor grounding and it will gear up to allow you to motorsail effectively with the engine just above idle. It is quite convenient to go from low wind sailing at around 3kt to putting the engine on just above idle and suddenly be going at 5kt or better with almost no noise or vibration.

It seems pretty black or white when opinions come to Autoprop (or other folding/feathering props for that matter).
I know that Autoprop had a bad batch of props between S/N AP2902 and 5299, where the tabbed washers were suspect - especially when rebuilt by those less knowledgable of the equipment) - they even had some props lose blades!
That being said there are many thousands of happy owners; I'm one, mind you, my boat came with an older "self-lubricating" prop from 1999 (S/N 2581) and I live in an area where fouling isn't a major problem - and I haul every two years or less and dive on my own boat occasionally. Don't know if I would have paid the $4k for it otherwise...
The new ones have sealed bearings which must be greased at least every two years.
May not be the prop for everyone - and expensive too!
Mine works great and I'm happy though; - my .02 cents...

I agree with Howard and Gene. I bought a new Autoprop for my C400 (ouch!) because of the great performance of the one on my C36. The C36 was the old-style autoprop in that it required (and received) annual dis-assembly and maintenance. Somewhere on this site is a complete explanation of my autoprop (with pix) maintenance. The new one is somewhat "sealed" and the only maintenance in the past 4 years has been a flush with fresh grease (until is squirts out in all places) and polishing of the blades. I have read the occasional complaints of lost blades, and maybe that is possible. With proper dis-assembly and re-assembly, I find it hard to see how that happened. I am convinced it is the best prop for a cruising sailboat. An automatic transmission for you boat. What could be better???

[QUOTE=HowLin;18035]...they even had some props lose blades![/QUOTE]

Oh, it was more than "some", I assure you.

I decided on the Gori after much agonizing and had it installed last month. The boat points higher and achieves approximately .5 knots faster than with 3 blade fixed. The better sailing is really noticeable and fun. Getting a new prop opens a can of worms, however. My mechanic was having fits with the low rpms from the Gori. I re-calibrated the tach with the association optical tach (a great tool) and found the tach was 450 rpms off. So, it looks like I'm in an acceptable rpm range. In low gear 2500 rpms yields 6.7 knots. In high gear 2150 rpm yields 6.9 knots. It'll go faster than that with high gear yielding 7.3 knots at 2450rpms but the engine smokes. There's still some smoke at the cruising rpms I have settled on so I think I'll back off another 100 rpms in both gears. I'm going to start a new post to find out where the nut that fell out of the instrument panel came from, so the problems are continuing. However, the propeller itself is a work of art. There is still some prop walk, but the boat stops and starts with authority, sails great, and is fast under power. I think the prop might be slightly over-powered. It's a 15x10 in low gear and I can only get to 2800 max rpms in this gear. Gori says this is acceptable. They also say it is fine to cruise in high gear (in calm seas or when motor sailing) at 2150 which is at the lower end of the recommended rpms, but at 6.9 knots there's a lot of load on the engine. All in all, I think it's going to be a great propeller, but I am still keeping notes on performance to, hopefully, avoid a major engine problem down the road.