Solas Amita vs OEM (Yamaha)?

QBhoy

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Yes I am. Cobalt dealers in CA are putting Solas props on their brand new boats going out the door. These are $200K+ boats!

I just bought a new set of duo props for my Cobalt since I wanted to go up 1" of pitch. I did not even consider going with Mercury...I bought another Solas.

If you are comparing stainless Mercury props to an aluminum Solas props, that's a whole different thing.

As far as the propeller dealer I use, he has stacks of Mercury props right next to the Solas props so he can sell any prop he wants. He doesn't even list Solas on his website.

Have you ever used both a Mercruiser prop and a Solas props on the same boat and engine? I have.

As far as the original poster with a 50HP Yamaha outboard and a pontoon boat, There will be ZERO difference between pretty much any prop. It will be slow with any prop....stainless or aluminum will make no difference which is why I stick with aluminum on my 90HP powered pontoon.
Fair play. Everyone entitled to their own opinion for sure. I’d never knock that notion. Absolutely.
That’s the very first example I’ve heard of, where a dealer is putting a solas prop on a mercruiser drive from new. Didn’t elbow that what even a thing. Very brave.
Yeah. Definitely comparing stainless to stainless. I’ve never tried or even seen an ally solas to be honest with you.
Yeah. I tried a 19” solas three blade stainless and a 19” 3 blade laser 2 stainless. Both exhaustively for trials, on a 16ft fletcher speedboat. Engine was a 90hp merc. The laser 2 was the better prop by a fair way on that. Then I tried the same solas 19” from a friends boat against the solas 19” I had on the same boat. The apparently same prop..between the two..and they behaved differently from one another in terms of performance and rpm at certain speeds. All on the same day. So strange. Made me think the end tolerances must have been all over the place.
My thoughts at least.
 

QBhoy

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Love to see this kind of thing. Excellent. All I’d say is that the prop sizes and diameters there are likely of an obscurity. But perhaps very relevant to the info the poster is after. With his also being a pontoon. Fair play.
I’d still stand by the notion that in general terms and use. On boats of a normal type and that run a little quicker, the merc prop of a stainless type, would be my preference over a solas.
But let’s be honest. When we are talking about this end of the performance range. It’s likely not going to matter a great deal.
Should we be talking about a boat capable of any sort of mild performance and upward…there just isn’t going to be many guys who will use a solas prop, over the likes of an enertia, tempest plus, rev 4, bravo, trophy etc etc.
 

bruceb58

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Definitely comparing stainless to stainless. I’ve never tried or even seen an ally solas to be honest with you.
Well....I have seen them sitting side by side. Just by doing that you can see the quality difference.

I have used both brands in stainless on my 26' Cobalt. I have used both brands in aluminum on my pontoon boat.
 

QBhoy

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Well....I have seen them sitting side by side. Just by doing that you can see the quality difference.

I have used both brands in stainless on my 26' Cobalt. I have used both brands in aluminum on my pontoon boat.
No worries. Like I say…you’re absolutely entitled to your own opinion. I’ll always admire a fella that does and stands by it with real life experience to back it up. Fair play.
All I’d voice, is that I’m very geeky (more than any normal man should be) about my props. Almost an obsession to be honest. The engineer in me for the last 28 years…who at one point was fairly decent at shaping, forming or messing around with metallurgy…on the lathe or milling machine etc etc…just made me of the opinion that certainly the merc props I have in the collection currently at least…were definitely of a superior quality and finish to the solas prop I once had. But being totally honest…I haven’t been close up to anything solas from recent times. Maybe they have improved greatly. But enough to equal the finish of the likes of an enertia with its X7 technology?
 

bruceb58

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Maybe they have improved greatly. But enough to equal the finish of the likes of an enertia with its X7 technology?
Last I looked, those Enertia props are not made for a Bravo 3...so no...would never buy them.

I wouldn't buy a stainless prop for a 90HP Mercury outboard on a pontoon boat either.

When was the last time you actually set eyes on a Solas stainless prop?

What are you running? Boat? Engine? Drive? Prop?
 

QBhoy

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Last I looked, those Enertia props are not made for a Bravo 3...so no...would never buy them.

I wouldn't buy a stainless prop for a 90HP Mercury outboard on a pontoon boat either.

When was the last time you actually set eyes on a Solas stainless prop?

What are you running? Boat? Engine? Drive? Prop?
Hi Bruce. The solas prop I had, came on a 16ft boat with a 90 merc. Don’t quote me on it…but I think it might have been a solas titan or similar at least. 19” 3 blade. I put a black max ally prop on it to try out. Being fair..the solas ran better than the black max certainly..then I put a laser 2 on it I’m sure. The laser had better results overall. I then ran a seemingly identical solas from a friends boat. It behaved a little differently from the solas of mine for some reason. Same day and conditions.
But in the grand scheme of things, the variance amongst them all was within 2/3 mph at most. We are talking a boat that ran moderate speeds of around the early 40’s really.
To answer your questions otherwise..I haven’t seen, had or held a solas prop that was produced in any recent years to be honest with you. Maybe they have improved vastly. Funnily enough though, that particular one I had on that boat…I took off at the time..kept in the garage..and literally only last year there, I gave it away to a friend as a spare.

As for the boats I currently have;

2003 Campion Chase Performance edition with a v8 mpi Mercruiser, cam and Corsa full system.

2001 Fletcher 19 GTO with a 2016 2.1 litre Mercury/Mariner 115 CT

1984 Glastron Roger Clark UK built CVX16 with a Mercury 2.0 v6 150 (XR2 I think).

I’m not adverse to the idea of trying any sort of prop out on any of the above. More than happy to in fact. God knows I’ve tried more than any sensible man should on the Chase over the years. Literally lost count in fact. I have more props in the garage than I can remember at the minute !

But I usually go between only a few of my favourite props mostly. That would be the enertia, tempest plus and the good old trusty laser 2’s.

The Chase usually runs a 20 or 21” enertia laser or tempest plus for all round performance. It will see the rpm limiter if you let it with these though. Usually around mid to late 60’s at best. The bottom end can suffer if she’s set up with more pitch though.

The Fletcher 19 deep v cuddy usually runs either a 19” tempest plus or a 20” enertia. Will see between 43 and 45 mph gps with each. Very impressive for what she is.

The CVX is still an unknown for its true top end capabilities../but the trials so far with laser 2 and ballistic 23” see it manage an easy late 60’s with lots of bravery to get through the early 60’s chine walk…but she needs more pitch for sure. She is a fair way over the ideal rpm with only 23”. Needs a 25” at least for the next run out.
 

QBhoy

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I don't think merc has nearly the amount of selection for the B3 props he mentions, and I think the thread was about AL props so apples and oranges. Certainly Enertia, revolution 4 etc are tough to beat on single prop set ups.

My good friend has 24 ft Crownline Deck boat 350 Mag/B3 with the standard Merc 4x3 props (dont know the pitch)... pretty lackluster set up. Boat is a little under powered but would probably benefit from a set of Hills props.

I put a solas impeller on my 2004 Sea Doo GTI RFI LE. Wasn.t that impressed with it vs the OEM impeller. Next time I have the pump off I will swap it back to see if performance down low is restored or if the engine is getting tired.
Hi. Keep me informed how you get on with swapping back to the oem prop. Always interested in that kind of thing. To be fair. A solas prop on my two Yamaha skis seemed to make a fairly considerable difference to performance. But not sure I’ve ever heard locally of a solas being much use on a boat though.
 

QBhoy

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must be the boater/engineer in me as well - thanks for posting that data

regarding the GPS speed noted, is that with no significant current or wind?
Yeah. Fresh water inland loch. No tide or current
 

flashback

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I think the op has a direction, no matter what prop you put on a 20 ft pontoon with 50hp motor it's not for speed but for engine love.
 

jlh3rd

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must be the boater/engineer in me as well - thanks for posting that data

regarding the GPS speed noted, is that with no significant current or wind?
that's correct. Both were run on Lake Raystown, Pa., In the summer.
The Merc. in 2022 and the solas in 2023.....
Here's the #'s on the originally equipped Merc 4-14x14....which are also close if not equal....
which started me on a propping agenda....
and because I destroyed my merc 3-16x12 in 7/23, and the solas did'nt give me the 6000 I wanted.....I'm back to square one again. ( this is the short story)
 

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