Admiral/C&B Propeller and Machine Co. traces its roots to the early 1960s, when a small propeller shop was started in South Tampa by a couple of guys named Craig and Baker. They called it C & B Propeller Services. C & B grew and moved to different locations south of Gandy, eventually settling in a building on Commerce St., just at the end of Westshore. The owners at the time, the Hormels, lived upstairs–it was a true family business.
Admiral Propeller was an offshoot of Admiral Engine in Largo, founded in the early 1980s because owner Leo Taylor couldn’t find a propeller shop that did work to his satisfaction. In 1989, Bob Musselman and his wife, Julie, came to Florida in search of the American dream, and purchased Admiral Propeller. Within a year, they had grown the business significantly, and in August of 1990 bought C & B Propeller from the Hormel family.
Since then, there have been many changes. The Largo and the Tampa shops operated separately for several years, and were combined into the current 12,000-square-foot facility on South Manhattan in 1995. New technology continues to reshape the propeller business, and Admiral/C&B has stayed on the cutting edge with the Hale MRI propeller scanner, the Dynamics Research high speed balancer, and CNC machining capabilities.
Through it all, now going on 28 years under the current owners, Admiral/C&B has remained a family business–from the Musselmans, who work every day, to the employees, who average more than 20 years of service. That means if you’re looking for a new propeller, or propeller repair, or marine machine services, you’ll get the best of both worlds: A truly top notch, cutting edge company run by people who truly care about making sure you’re satisfied.