Is it myth or reality - SS prop ?

[R Socey]

Re: Is it myth or reality - SS prop ?

The hub should spin first - stainless is worth it!

 

[cottageboater]

Re: Is it myth or reality - SS prop ?

SS may give better performance but if your lake has a lot of rock bottom I would stay with Aluminum. A relatively inexpensive Aluminum prop will often self destruct before transferring the force to your drive shaft and beyond.

Here in the Ottawa (Canada) area, the lake levels have fluctuated a lot in the past several years and two of the guys I water ski with have damaged their lower units by hitting rock with a SS prop in areas where we did not expect shallows.

 

[putawaywet]

Re: Is it myth or reality - SS prop ?

I've run a 3 blade stainless on an 18' bay boat with a 115 Evinrude since 93'.
I use stainless exclusively because the prop is constantly drug through sand.
Thinning blades (which can usually be repaired bt Nettles) and spun hubs have been my only problem.
Switched to a 4 blade last year and wish I had it from the start. The hole shot is so improved I can get up 6" shallower than before. Lost some top end but worth the trade.

 

[cloumar]

Re: Is it myth or reality - SS prop ?

SS may give better performance but if your lake has a lot of rock bottom I would stay with Aluminum. A relatively inexpensive Aluminum prop will often self destruct before transferring the force to your drive shaft and beyond.

Here in the Ottawa (Canada) area, the lake levels have fluctuated a lot in the past several years and two of the guys I water ski with have damaged their lower units by hitting rock with a SS prop in areas where we did not expect shallows.

Well I know what you mean by fluctuation of the water level, I live in Montreal and often go fishing on reservoir up North and with the change that we have in summer weather for the last few years sometime level is too high but some other time it could be down of 4 to 6 feets lower, so there is room for surprise under surface - it could get scary sometime.

MC

 

[cloumar]

Re: Is it myth or reality - SS prop ?

I've run a 3 blade stainless on an 18' bay boat with a 115 Evinrude since 93'.
I use stainless exclusively because the prop is constantly drug through sand.
Thinning blades (which can usually be repaired bt Nettles) and spun hubs have been my only problem.
Switched to a 4 blade last year and wish I had it from the start. The hole shot is so improved I can get up 6" shallower than before. Lost some top end but worth the trade.

I do have a 4 blades - Solas Rubbex also and it is giving me good result also, but I have to replace my other prop a 3 blades and was wondering about the difference with SS in term of better performance on a 115-hp - on which many told me that I will not see much of a difference to be worth.

MC

 

[torbjorn]

Re: Is it myth or reality - SS prop ?

The myth is false. A good, thin stainless prop with right set-up and pitch (properly reworked) will make a 15-35 hp motor come alive. With a Johnson 35 on my Allison 14' bass boat (tiller handle), the difference between an al 10x13 properlly cupped and a Stiletto 10x14 (actually a 10x13) is about 5 mph, from 37 mph to 42 mph with shortshaft on a 19.5" transom. Before I cupped the prop adequately (brass hammer on a trailer hitch ball, checking with my Rundquist pitch gauge) the Stiletto was less than 1 mph faster than the OMC al prop.

RPM is 6200, and I recommend Evinrude synthetic XD-100 oil@ 50: 1 for any RPM. Burns so clean that the combustion chamter was carbon-free after 8 hrs., and the bearing surfaces were pristine.

 

[veritas honus]

Re: Is it myth or reality - SS prop ?

I boat mostly on Lake Seminole, Georgia/Florida. Lots of cypress stumps. I'm familiar with the waters and I take it slow when unsure. I still have the original aluminum prop as a back-up, in a storage compartment.

With my SS prop, I'm on plane almost as fast as I can throw the throttle down. My top speed is higher, too. The performance differences are very impressive.

Whatever you replace your existing prop with (as long as your existing prop is still usable), keep it on the boat, along with the tools to change the props, just in case. Keep a couple spare cotter pins with it. If you duct tape the cotter pins to the hub, they wont get separated or lost.

 

[jeffnick]

Re: Is it myth or reality - SS prop ?

Personally I found no difference (except the cost) on my 115 hp cuddy.

Stainless vs aluminum -- diesel truck vs gas...whatever makes you happy.

 

[cloumar]

Re: Is it myth or reality - SS prop ?

Personally I found no difference (except the cost) on my 115 hp cuddy.

Stainless vs aluminum -- diesel truck vs gas...whatever makes you happy.

See this is why I found it not easy to make the decision to go SS - you say you found no difference - others said they have good results - I guess it always depends of the boat combination with engine - hull type and +++

In other words you never know how good it will be until you try a SS prop.

 

[jeffnick]

Re: Is it myth or reality - SS prop ?

I tried 15 different props and ended up running the 3 blade aluminum that came with the boat.

See this is why I found it not easy to make the decision to go SS - you say you found no difference - others said they have good results - I guess it always depends of the boat combination with engine - hull type and +++

In other words you never know how good it will be until you try a SS prop.

 

[PROPer]

Re: Is it myth or reality - SS prop ?

You will notice improvements on the bottom end mostly with your application. Even though your motor is under 150hp it still generates a lot of torque and is pushing a lot weight. You may also notice a little better top end performance as well because many of the SS props have bit more cupping on the blades. Hope this helps!

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Is it myth or reality - SS prop ?

An implied but unanswerable question is "is it worth it?"
As to performance: If a SS will get your top speed up 4 mph (wow! that's a 10% increase at 40 mph!) is it worth $400? To a "top end" guy, maybe so. Is shaving a second or two off the hole shot worth $400? Perhaps. Does it cruise better at the 3500 rpm or 30 mph range? perhaps, but is it $400 more efficient?
Or you could have 130 gallons of gas instead, and keep the old prop.

I am in the market to change my alum to SS and try not to think too hard about the logic; I just want one! My point is, just prepare the math argument for the ones ashore who see the credit card bill.

 

[cloumar]

Re: Is it myth or reality - SS prop ?

Thanks All !

 

[cloumar]

Re: Is it myth or reality - SS prop ?

I tried 15 different props and ended up running the 3 blade aluminum that came with the boat.

I like this one, I still far from you but I have at least 2 on the shelf.

 

[PROPer]

Re: Is it myth or reality - SS prop ?

Solas makes aftermarket replacement props for OEM applications only.

Solas is making OEM props aswell. The link below is one example of many.

http://marine.honda.com/pdf/accessories/Propellers.pdf