Stainless Steel Props

[spankster]

Hey guys, I am in process of possibly upgrading my prop from aluminum to stainless steel. At $553, it's a big investment. I own a Baron and have been told my hole shot will improve quite a bit, turning will be better and top end speed gets about 4 mph better. It would be a 15.5 X 21. What are your experiences in improvements in these areas and would you spend the money on one if you were me?

[minnesotatuff]

if you have the money, why not? if the bottom line is too close for comfort, an aluminum prop works just fine. personally, i would rather put the money into upgraded electronics. however, when you own a boat there are always things that would be nice to have. maybe we could start a blog on "wish lists"? ha. i would love to move the vantage 80 to the port side and replace it with a 9.9 pro-kicker. its only money, right? ...wont be happening this year.

regards,

minnesotatuff

[MSRiverdog]

Go stainless and you'll never go back, 4 blade stainless get's you on top of the water right now, you may gain a little in top end, on my 1800 Fisherman 4BS (18) will get me 2 inches higher on the water than a 3 blade aluminum (19). The rocks and gravel still eat em but less with the stainless, cept for the chunk takers. In any case run an aluminum after you run a stainless and you want to throw it away. Makes an acceptable spare though. Find a dealer that may let you try a couple different pitch's, on my 1800 I have to run my motor up 1 hole higher than with an aluminum.

[SWMuskeye]

Does anyone with a smaller rig use a stainless prop?

I have a 16' Smokercraft Stinger with a 60 Merc that I should replace the prop on. But will it make much of a difference? Thanks for the replies.

[TrophyEyes]

Fishing on Pelican, we "nick" our prop all the time. We were going to get a Stainless, but they suggested that with all the potential rocks and dings that we shouldn't. The rational behind all of this was that something is going to take the brunt of the force and it is better the blades than the shaft of the motor. Does this make any sense or was the guy full of .....?

[MSRiverdog]

I think with your 60HP the prop design is not as high peformance as the higher HP's, at least the stainless I have for a 45 merc laying around it isn't, has a durablity look to it as opposed to the sharper leading edges of my 115 Yamaha props. As far as nick's,here on the river when I was running aluminum on the Merc I had 3 props, 1 was always in the shop, I'ld rebuild at least 3/year. I went to stainless and had it rebuilt in the winter, them little dings did nothing to the lower unit and very little to speed, and I could hammer i out a lot of times, actually saved me money. The Yami has been spendier, but I run in places prop boats don't belong.

[spankster]

Does Yamaha make a four-blade prop?

[minnesotatuff]

stainless steel props have a mechanism around the propellor shaft that breaks away if it hits anything. its a safety device similar to a sleeve that holds the prop on the prop shaft. theoritically this goes before the gears/shaft of the engine. ive never seen one go and have also never heard of someone damaging their motor with a stainless steel prop.

regards,

minnesotatuff

[TrophyEyes]

Cool. Thanks for the info. I really questioned the guy that was telling me this, but really had no knowledge base to call him out. Oh well, I know now.

[Moose-Hunter]

Quote:

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Hey guys, I am in process of possibly upgrading my prop from aluminum to stainless steel. At $553, it's a big investment. I own a Baron and have been told my hole shot will improve quite a bit, turning will be better and top end speed gets about 4 mph better. It would be a 15.5 X 21. What are your experiences in improvements in these areas and would you spend the money on one if you were me?

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I'm finding it tough to believe you can get both a better holeshot AND an increased top speed with the same prop. Usually it's one or the other unless you go to more than 3 blades or vary in diameter.

Usually, from what I've seen, going from aluminum to S.S. with the same config prop, will get you the better holeshot, and allow your engine to spin faster thus putting you possibly above the recommended RPM at WOT. In all the S.S. props I've bought over the years, I always went up in pitch to keep my RPM's in check. My holeshot stayed basically the same or just a touch better, but my top speed increased much more dramatically.

These have been my findings on rigs from a 16'/75hp side console to 20'+ 200+hp pro styled boats. If I'm off base here, please feel free to clue me in...

I do like S.S. props and my boat will always be equipped with one. But I will have an aluminum as a spare and for the river...

[spankster]

Moose,

You are right. The dealer said you would either get predominantly one or the other. He also mentioned that for the 250 Yamaha you would want to stay between 5700-6000 rpm and if below that, you would have to readjust prop dimension. I am looking for hole shot but was told you could get 2-4 MPH top end with stainless as well.

[JDM]

What kind of effect does SS have on low end speeds for trolling?

[seifjr]

We have a 21' Baron with Yami 225 4 Stroke. When we bought the boat, there was a 3 blade aluminum prop and the boat seemed to be riding too low in the water. We put a 3 blade SS on and the difference was significant. When we had the aluminum on I could only trim the motor 1/4 of full trim and the prop would cavitate. With the SS, we can trim 3/4, which allows the boat to lift out of the water. We gained 7 MPH on the top end. I don't think the hole shot improvement was as noticable, but the boat just road better with the SS. I wish we had a 250HP on it.

Seifjr

[spankster]

Sief, that is the kind of report I was looking for. The Baron is a creature and if you get that kind of difference with a SS, well, then it's a done deal. I'll go stainless. My only other question if biggest differense between three blade and four blade prop?

[Deadwood]

I run an 1800 Fisherman with a Yahmaha F-150, i have both an aluminum and s.s. prop. Both props are the exact same dimensions - I get both a better hole shot and 4-5 mph on the top end using the stainless prop. For my set up it is night and day difference between props - now this may not hold true for all set-ups, but that is my story.

[walleyeJoe]

do you honestly need to get to a spot a fraction of a second faster? thats about all i have to say about how the prop gets you up and going. and if you wanted to get up and going. . your boat dealer should have recommended a high powered 2 stroke engine like a 250 yamaha V-max. lets just say you better not hit a rock going 10 mph hour with a stainless steel prop, because lets just say aluminum is much more forgiving than a stainless steel prop, i would say about 4 thousand dollars more forgiving haha. i like my lower unit , i dont know about you guys.

[tom fellegy]

walleyejoe,

stainless steel props are more about overall performance, more top end speed is just a part of that. a stainless prop does have a big impact on a boat getting up on plane and staying there. they do not flex like aluminum does. due to the weight of the boats today, a stainless prop is almost mandatory. you are right in your assumption of aluminum being more forgiving, but on the other hand, it all depends on how square you hit the prop. even with a glancing blow, a stainless prop will not always take out the lower unit. if you hit something with a aluminum prop square, there is a good chance that internal damage will happen. when you look at the big picture, going with a stainless prop is a overall better choice. it isn't all about getting there a fraction of a second faster. it is about getting there a little bit faster with alot better boat performance. when you trim your motor up and down while underway, more or less boat is in the water, depending on which way you trim the motor. the aluminum prop flexes way to much. i like my lower unit also, that is why i have good electronics on board and i don't run the main motor trimmed all the way down in shallow, unfamiliar waters...........tom fellegy

[JDM]

Tom - what you say makes a lot of sense. In your overall performance, do you find that the SS prop has an effect on both trolling speed (+ or - MPH?), and your ability to make sharper turns at lower speeds? Or are the benefits limited to hole shot, top end speed, and higher speed boat handling and ride? Thanks.

[Keith_MN]

SWMuskie,

I also own a 16' Smoker stinger with a 60 horse motor (Mariner, in my case). The only reason I would switch to a stainless steel prop is if your prop cavitates on you when you are making a turn at higher speeds. I have been told by stainless steel beleivers that the cavitation issue that I experience with my boat would probably be solved/eliminated with a stainless steel prop. (Test one out before you invest in one though. They are not cheap. )

[Stan7600]

I bought my SS prop from a dealer in Crystal whose policy then was to let you exchange for a different pitch if you needed to after trying it. This would be determined by max RPMs. I have a Fisherman 1800 with a Yamaha 115 4 stroke so I'm underpowered. The SS prop made a big difference for me and the right pitch is critical too. I gained performance out of the hole with no sacrifice of top speed, actually gained, partly because the pitch was wrong in the first place and I wasn't getting the RPMs. I bought the boat and motor used. Good Luck!! Stan C.

[MSRiverdog]

That's what I have.

2 people, gear and gas with an 18" 4 Blade satinless Yamaha prop, 1 hole up,GPS is typicaly 38/39MPH, alone I've hit 42MPH. I've pulled a 190# skier with 5 in the boat, no problem. I guess underpowered is relative, my buddy down river runs a 20 foot tunnel with two, 2.5 Mercs, it's quick, but scary. How fast is enough for a good plain jane fishing boat?