Aluminum vs SS

From the iBoats store:

"Aluminum

Most pleasure boats are factory equipped with aluminum propellers. Aluminum props are a great choice for small and medium sized boats. They are inexpensive and under normal conditions can last for many years. When running your boat in an area where striking the bottom is likely, aluminum blades can flex, helping prevent damage to your engine.

Stainless Steel

Stainless steel props are ideal for large or heavy boats and boats running in saltwater. Although more expensive than aluminum, stainless steel props are more durable and will last longer. When running your boat at speeds over 50 mph, stainless props will perform better than aluminum."

OK, so this says to me that my 14.5 foot boat with a 50 hp motor has no good reason to have an SS prop.

It is a small boat, operated under normal conditions (whatever those are), and certainly will not go anywhere near 50 MPH so there would be NO PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT.

Right?

Re: Aluminum vs SS

It is a small boat, operated under normal conditions (whatever those are), and certainly will not go anywhere near 50 MPH so there would be NO PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT.

Right?[/QUOTE]

No, that is not what is said. Stainless Steel can offer a performance improvement if it is properly matched to the application. What is suggested by the statments that there is not enough performance improvement to make it worth the additional expense! The Hustler series props show performance improvements similar to stainless for a much better cost effectivness. This has been shown in independant testing which is in the stickies at the opening page of the prop forum.

Re: Aluminum vs SS

Depending on what boat and motor setup A Turning Point may make a clear overall improvement.Hole shot, staying on plane,resisting ventilation(cavitation)You can also improve your performance by raising your moter vertically.The antiventplate (just above the prop) even with the bottom of the boat is considered a starting point.Raise it to a point just before venting(cavitation) becomes a problem.Just be sure it pumps water.An inch could add a couple of mph.under ideal conditions depending on the application.

Re: Aluminum vs SS

Stainless steel props will improve in almost every situation. It is just is the improvment worth your money? Do you care if you get a little better hole shot? Is it important that you can go 3 - 4 MPH faster? If the answers are no, then a SS prop is not for you.

Re: Aluminum vs SS

I can understand and see the differences between al and ss on boats with high hp motors, or i/o's etc.

When I hear people say things like I could improve hole shot or gain an additional 3 - 4 hp, would I seriously notice a difference on a 50 hp outboard and a 1975 boat?

Anyone with crappy old boats and small motors like mine care to comment?

Re: Aluminum vs SS

I would stay with a aluminum prop just for the reason if you hit something the al will bend and the stainless will take your shaft with it.What i am saying is in my opion a ss prop is not worth breaking a shaft over a little speed or hole shot .If you fish like I do at night you will eventually ground out or hit bottom , especially when you have a 40 pound striper on <*)))-}


1986 v20
1999 boston whaler 17 foot outrage

Re: Aluminum vs SS

I seriously doubt, that with a 50hp, you will see a 3-4mph improvement no matter what prop you chose.

I would strongly suggest you look into the turningpoint props mentioned above. They are probably the best aluminum props on the market.

Re: Aluminum vs SS

180shabah said:

I seriously doubt, that with a 50hp, you will see a 3-4mph improvement no matter what prop you chose.

Click to expand...

Now that's what I'm talking about.

You hear guys with big boats talk about stuff like that, but when you get into the lower end of hp the whole debate about ss vs al is moot, because again....there's no way I'd get 3 - 4 mph out of my 50 no matter what prop I chose.

Re: Aluminum vs SS

Stick with the aluminum and if you want to retire your old prop to spare status, go for the aluminum Turning Point Steelespike suggested and pocket the cash you saved over a SS prop for fishing expenses.

Re: Aluminum vs SS

Last week I just went from a 20p stainless to a 17p aluminum Turning Point Hustler from iboats in order to get from 5000 rpm up to a less taxing 5600 or so. I don't know if it's due to the pitch change or the Turning Point prop design but the performance is like night and day, the Hustler pops the boat on plane, the boat handles better, and I am showing like 4% prop slip at my cruising speed of 3000 rpm. I would never have guessed there would be such a huge positive improvement, I was just shooting for a higher RPM.

-E

Re: Aluminum vs SS

I caught the top of an underwater wooden piling last season because the river I was on has a 6 foot tide and I misjudged the depth and the location of it. I was doing about 15 mph and broke off a piece of the bottom of the skeg plus broke an ear off the prop.

Cost me about $50 to have a welder fix the skeg. If I had a SS on the O/B it would have destroyed the prop shaft for sure. $28 to have the prop fixed and all is fine now.

Stay with aluminum.

If you put an SS on there you are also inviting a thief to steal it faster than they would SS, in my opinion.

Re: Aluminum vs SS

My prop is currently 11 3/4 x 17 aluminum.

Based on this thread, it's going to stay that way.

Re: Aluminum vs SS

"I would stay with a aluminum prop just for the reason if you hit something the al will bend and the stainless will take your shaft with it."

There are a lot of people that would disagree with this, and a lot of them are in the business.

You still hear of stories of broken lower units with alum. props. Talk to the prop people.

Dave

Re: Aluminum vs SS

22E6441 said:

My prop is currently 11 3/4 x 17 aluminum.

Based on this thread, it's going to stay that way.

Click to expand...

Last season I bought a lower pitch prop to keep on board as a spare. It was already a great move cause I ran over a rock ledge last season and that spare saved my weekend. Sent it out when I got home for repair ($28+ 10 shipping). Then a few weeks later I ran over a submerged piling. I smacked the skeg twice last season. I'm on a first name basis with my welder
I'm going to put him on a retainer for this season

When I chase after where the fish are in the shallows I'm bound to knock a prop around on occasion. I just chalk it up to kinda like the cost of continually losing golf balls, it's all part of the game

I paid about $65 brand new for the spare. Plus around $24 for the one time purchase of a hub kit. It's made by Michigan Wheel and it's a quality prop. The Merc black max was about $125.

The aluminums are so cheap to get tweaked at the online vendors, they come back looking like new!

Your rig is about the same size as mine. When I know I'm going to have 3 or 4 people on it for the day I have one of those plastic prop wrenches on board and I put the lower pitch spare on.

I think my OEM prop is a 13 and the spare is an 11 (I'd have to double check on the sizes) But it makes a world of difference when I have all our gear and 3-4 people on my 14.9 foot boat. Much better hole shot and saves on fuel due to faster planning.

Some dealers, stores and online stores will let you try out a prop first to make sure the pitch is right for your set up. . . you should try that. It's a better investment to have a spare on board from my experience, rather than waste your $ on a SS.

I keep a spare prop on board for my Minn Kota electric troller too!

Re: Aluminum vs SS

On my 70hp 16' Lund boat (deep V front aluminum) a stainless prop add 2mph on my top end speed and lowered my RPM by a few hundered at ~20mph crusing speed because of less slip. The Hole shot difference is HUGE and when I decide to pull some skiers or tubers I don't have to trim the engine in on hard bank turns to keep the prop from blowing out. If I'm going to fish a shallow lake with logs and rock piles I just toss the aluminum back on, takes less than 2 minutes. My comparison is between an OEM Johnson/evinrude 13.25x17 aluminum and 3 blade Turbo 13.25x18 stainless prop. I had a Hustler Aluminum on my previous 50hp 2 stroke and it did add 1mph over the OEM prop on that engine and it did resist blowout pretty good too.

Re: Aluminum vs SS

22E6441 said:

Now that's what I'm talking about.

You hear guys with big boats talk about stuff like that, but when you get into the lower end of hp the whole debate about ss vs al is moot, because again....there's no way I'd get 3 - 4 mph out of my 50 no matter what prop I chose.

Click to expand...

I think your only reading and remembering what fits your original opinion.
Actually a properly setup high power boat will be difficult to get more speed
especially the faster it is capable of. when you start approaching 50+
increasing speed becomes more difficult.and may come in tenths of a mph.
If your boat is say an average setup you could get a couple of mph just fine tuning the setup as I siggested.Adding a Turning Point prop about $80 including the hub you could further refine the setup.Depending on your original setup there is no reason to not be able to gain 6 or 8 mph. And don't forget as you improve the performance you improve your mileage.
If you allready have a refined setup yes a turning point may only offer a minimul improvement.