Jump to content
  • GUESTS

    If You  want access  to member only forums on FM, You will need to Sign-in or  Sign-Up now .

    This box will disappear once you are signed in as a member.

  • 0

Stainless Vs. Aluminum prop question.


John Mickish

Question

Ok, so can someone tell me what advantage a stainless prop has over an aluminum and vice versa on mid sized motors? Do you run the same pitch on both or does a stainless run differently due to less "flex"?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 answers to this question

Recommended Posts

  • 0

the stainless will have less deflection, so more controll. I also think the SST prop will last longer, since its stronger.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

On a midrange setup I think prop/blade flex really isn't that much of an issue.

However, on my boat which is a 16ft Sylvan Pro Select and 90hp Merc, I gain a few mph when I put on the SS prop. I think it's because of number of things.

1. The SS prop is generally thinner on the leading edge and smoother all over, this cuts down on resistance to spin it.

2. The SS prop on my boat has quite different blade geometry than the OEM aluminum and that gives more efficiency and more bow lift. The higher efficiency of the SS prop "grips" the water a little better and the increased lift holds more of the boat out of the water.

3. The SS prop I'm using has ventilation holes in the hub that causes a small-scale, temporary "blow out" that allows the engine RPM to increase more quickly and help with hole shot. IMO, only has much effect if you throttle up very quickly, along the lines of "punch it, Margaret" situations. If you normally ease onto plane, there isn't much benefit to ventilation holes, IMO.

Together these give a noticeable increase in performance for me - if I drive the boat in such a manner to exploit them. YMMV.

If you spend a fair bit of time at WOT and trying to get from point A to point B quickly, or trying to yank skiers out of the water then MAYBE it's worth it. Otherwise, probably not really, but they sure look nice - polished and all...

The advantages to aluminum are cheaper and less likely to damage your lower unit if you hit something with the prop.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

The reason I ask is that my boats prop is not pitched right, 600 rpm short at WOT empty and 1000 rpm heavily loaded. I'm not interested in attaining maximum speed just a better handling boat and thinking that if I go ahead and change props I should look into the difference between the two. I've been to solderbloom.com and have gone thru the prop wizzard and have it figured out to what I should have as far as pitch goes, now I just want to figure out if a stainless is worth the extra cash.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

1775 Pro V with a 115 Johnson. It currently has a 13X19 aluminum prop on it. 5200-5400 rpm empty/smooth and 4800-5000 rpm three guys full of gear and full livewells.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

I'd stick with the 19p.

SST will help hole shot, top end, handling and control, and won't bend if you bump logs, etc.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

If you are overproped, then go down in size. Afaik, approximately 1" pitch difference changes ~200 RPM. I wouldn't prop for worst case (heaviest load), but opinions may differ on that.

Usually the OEM/dealer guides are pretty close for matching the engine/prop to the boat. It's possible the tach is not quite right, but you need a second that's known to be good for a comparison.

If you want better handling, smoother running, and less steering torque, consider a 4-blade prop. Usually you change pitch-for-pitch, but on the surface, it sounds like you need may to go down a size to 17P (~ +400 RPM) regardless of the type/style of prop.

If you want a fairly cheap experiment, try one of the 4-blade ComProps. I have two and they work fine.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

Quote:

1775 Pro V with a 115 Johnson. It currently has a 13X19 aluminum prop on it. 5200-5400 rpm empty/smooth and 4800-5000 rpm three guys full of gear and full livewells.


You're overpropped. 17" pitch would do nicely on that rig. I'm partial to the turbo line of props offered by Soderbloom.

If you wanna come up to Forest Lake sometime, I'll pull my 13.25x17 turbo off of my boat and you can take a blast around to see how it performs for you.

Tim

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.


  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • Brianf.
      I'm not there, so I can't tell exactly what's going on but it looks like a large area of open water developed in the last day with all of the heavy snow on the east side of wake em up Narrows. These two photos are from my Ring Camera facing north towards Niles Point.  You can see what happened with all of snow that fell in the last three days, though the open water could have been wind driven. Hard to say. .  
    • SkunkedAgain
      Black Bay had great ice before but a few spots near rockpiles where there were spots of open water. It looks like the weight of the snow has created a little lake in the middle of the bay.  
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the south end...   Thanks to some cold spring weather, ice fishing continues strong for those still ice fishing.  The bite remains very good.  Most resorts have pulled their fish houses off for the year, however, some still have fish houses out and others are allowing ATV and side by sides.  Check social media or call ahead to your favorite resort for specifics. Reports this week for walleyes and saugers remain excellent.   A nice mix of jumbo perch, pike, eelpout, and an occasional crappie, tullibee or sturgeon being reported by anglers. Jigging one line and using a live minnow on the second line is the way to go.  Green, glow red, pink and gold were good colors this week.     Monster pike are on a tear!  Good number of pike, some reaching over 45 inches long, being caught using tip ups with live suckers or dead bait such as smelt and herring in 8 - 14' of water.   As always, work through a resort or outfitter for ice road conditions.  Safety first always. Fish houses are allowed on the ice through March 31st, the walleye / sauger season goes through April 14th and the pike season never ends. On the Rainy River...  The river is opened up along the Nelson Park boat ramp in Birchdale, the Frontier boat ramp and Vidas boat ramp.  This past week, much of the open water skimmed over with the single digit overnight temps.   Areas of the river have popped open again and with temps getting warmer, things are shaping up for the last stretch through the rest of the spring season, which continues through April 14th.   Very good numbers of walleyes are in the river.  Reports this week, even with fewer anglers, have been good.  When temps warm up and the sun shines, things will fire up again.   Jigs with brightly colored plastics or jigs with a frozen emerald shiner have been the desired bait on the river.  Don't overlook slow trolling crankbaits upstream as well.   Good reports of sturgeon being caught on the river as well.  Sturgeon put the feed bag on in the spring.  The bite has been very good.  Most are using a sturgeon rig with a circle hook loaded with crawlers or crawlers / frozen emerald shiners. Up at the NW Angle...  Ice fishing is winding down up at the Angle.  Walleyes, saugers, and a number of various species in the mix again this week.  The bite is still very good with good numbers of fish.  The one two punch of jigging one line and deadsticking the second line is working well.   Check with Angle resorts on transport options from Young's Bay.  Call ahead for ice road guidelines.  
    • CigarGuy
      With the drifting, kind of hard to tell for sure, but I'm guessing about a foot and still lightly snowing. Cook end!
    • PSU
      How much snow did you get on Vermilion? 
    • Mike89
      lake here refroze too...  started opening again yesterday with the wet snow and wind...  very little ice left today...
    • Hookmaster
      A friend who has a cabin between Alex and Fergus said the lake he's on refroze. He texted me a pic from March 12th when it was open and one from 23rd when it wasn't. 🤯
    • SkunkedAgain
      I don't think that there has been any ice melt in the past few weeks on Vermilion. Things looked like a record and then Mother Nature swept in again.   I'll give my revised guess of April 21st
    • leech~~
      As I get older it's really not just about sending bullets down range.  Some of it's just the workmanship of the gun and the wow factor. The other two guns I have really wanted which I'll never have now because of their price, is a 8mm Jap Nambu and 9mm German Luger.   Just thought they always looked cool!  
    • jim curlee
      I had a guy hit me with a lightly used 1969 BAR, he wanted $1650 with an older Leupold scope. More than I think they are worth, I made an offer, he declined end of story.   You know if you look at the old brochures, a grade II BAR sold for $250 in the late 60s, $1650 would be a good return on your investment.    Why would anybody want a 50 year old gun, they are heavy, have wood stocks, and blued metal.  I guess mainly to keep their gun safes glued to the floor. lol   You can probably buy a stainless rifle that you never have to clean, with a synthetic stock you never have to refinish, is as light as a feather, and for half as much money, perfect.   I'm too old for a youth gun, although I've shrunk enough that it would probably fit. lol   No Ruger 10/44s.   Jim      
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.