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Thought I'd ask the collective wisdom of the'Fire.

I just bought a new boat--lucky me--its a 17ft Crestliner with a 115hp Merc 4 cycle. Big diesel Tugs and small skiffs with 20hp motors I understand, but runabouts like this a new to me.

I got a couple of questions, why are stainless steel props 3 times as much money?

The boat came with a A45 17p prop--I can get a SS but its 19p for cheap--what will change performance wise?
They last much longer than an aluminum prop, can be reshaped if you hit something and bend it, don't shatter if you hit something, on a higher horespower motor you can get them reworked to suit what you need pitch and cup wise etc....

Depends on what you need. Down here they are a godsend when you are driving a boat with a 250hp motor going 70mph+ in this on LOTS of lakes.

Down here you really normally only see kicker size motors without a SS prop, but that probably varies regionally as we have lots of stick ups, shallow water and even pipelines you can run over.

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Thanks Nate--I've never shattered a prop but have torn the wings off a few. Gotta local guy here who rebuilds alum props till they look like new--charges $60

I'll bet it would cost a lot more for SS
A ss prop won't flex under power maintaining its pitch. You may have to go with slightly less pitch. You might even get a higher top speed from your boat

SS allows more cup allowing you to trim out more which provides more efficiency.

It is heavier so it works better for slow speed trolling as it acts like a flywheel smoothing out the engine.
I always liked mine just cuz it was tough. Less friggin around. I think I got a couple miles an hour more, too.
Originally Posted by Azshooter
A ss prop won't flex under power maintaining its pitch. You may have to go with slightly less pitch. You might even get a higher top speed from your boat

SS allows more cup allowing you to trim out more which provides more efficiency.

It is heavier so it works better for slow speed trolling as it acts like a flywheel smoothing out the engine.


That flex is a big factor. Tuning a known is easier than guessing the flex. They're also a bit less drag, more aqua dynamic.

SS props do have less flex, but the bigger downside depending on where you fish, is if (when) you hit schit there is a greater chance of doing damage to the lower end whereas an aluminum prop bend and give quite a bit more. 3 blade for top end/ 4 blade for better acceleration.

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I agree with the above. SS props flex less, and because of that perform better. You will have better hole shot and top end. Still, if you hit a rock you are more likely to damage the lower unit. SS props can usually be repaired, but in my experience it can get expensive. Aluminum are, obviously, less expensive. I have never had one repaired.
RDFinn hit the nail on the head. Moore likely to damage the lower unit big time with a SS prop. Yeah, they're nicer and smoother and more efficient, but there is that one big downside -- damage to the lower unit. Aluminum tears and the gears don't. shocked
The big thing is here hitting stuff while even idling and a SS prop handles that much better than an aluminum one and we have lots of stuff to hit while idling. Down here you rarely see a new boat for sale without a SS prop unless it's 25hp or less because most dealers know they can't sell them like that.
Always took a different view than most, but that's probably oriented to the world I drove boats in. Thing about SS props when you're working shallow hard bottom is they don't yield much when you hit a chunk of coral or an oyster bar perched on limestone. The guts of your lower unit will however, and eventually something will let go.

OTOH, lots of horsepower and a surface drive mandates SS props. And if not properly constructed they can still sling a blade and that's always exciting.

Everybody gets to pick their own poison I guess.
I hear ya loud and clear. Hitting stumps, while bad, isn't as big of deal as hitting a shoal (solid terra firma) on the fly. On Lake Champlain, they don't mark anything, so you're on your own.
They sure swipe them faster. MIA @ 2
Originally Posted by NathanL
They last much longer than an aluminum prop, can be reshaped if you hit something and bend it, don't shatter if you hit something, on a higher horespower motor you can get them reworked to suit what you need pitch and cup wise etc....

Depends on what you need. Down here they are a godsend when you are driving a boat with a 250hp motor going 70mph+ in this on LOTS of lakes.

Down here you really normally only see kicker size motors without a SS prop, but that probably varies regionally as we have lots of stick ups, shallow water and even pipelines you can run over.

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That reminds me of a big cove on Sam Rayburn I used to fish 45 years ago. I used to see schools of 4-5 lb bass busting the surface in an area bigger than an acre, Nathan.

Sam was the bass factory until the outcries from hotshot BASS bastards finally resulted in the buffalo fish gill netters being forced off the lake. Then the thousands of alligator gar became hundreds of thousands. So, rather than lose a few bass to the netters Rayburn lost millions to the gar. A big gar can snap a ten pound bass like a pretzel. Now, if it weren't for the fact most fishermen don't keep bass there probably would be very few , i figure.
Yeah I fished Rayburn a lot more than T-Bend condiering I lived 5 minutes from T-Bend for 15 years but I didn' thave a quick pic of it available. They all just about look alike, Rayburn, T-Bend, Wright Pattman, Fork, Pinkston, Lake Nacogdoches, Murval.

Damn now I'm wishing I was fishing.

Does Rayburn have fish like this ? I've never been to Rayburn.

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Yes it does, or close to it. Is that Mexico or Falcon/Amistad in the pics?


I remember the first tournament I fished with a 5 fish limit and the winning stringer was 37 pounds. I figured that day I would go back to just fishing and not competeting. I have some pics around here somehwere. My personal best on Rayburn is right around 8 broke 10 on Caddo once.

Rayburn is a fun place to figure out but if I just want to catch fish there are other better lakes that are smaller in the area that are slot lakes unlike Rayburn.

Those are from Lake El Salto in Mexico.
Nice. Yeah Rayburn is nice if you fish it a lot but you really need to fish it midweek during the busy season it gets a LOT of fisherman from Houston on weekends cause it's so close.
You still go or has the sinaola been too strong?

I've seen at least 12 pounders on Rayburn and had 20 lb line broken a few times, once by a monster fish I saw to be a bass which I had hung on a shad chrome Big O.
Where we go that's not a real issue, but I guess it's always a possibility.
I've seen bass in the 14-16 lb range in the boat but they not as common as 8-12 lb fish.
Yeah nothing that common on Rayburn. I used to keep track of the share a lunker fish which are 13# or higher but haven't looked in years. I really quit fishing Rayburn during the spawn and moved to other lakes. Sit there and catch 5-6# fish all day long and have a shot at some just shy of 10 and be back home in 30 minutes ain't bad.
My real passion for fishing is smallmouths on Champlain. Nothing like 4-5 lb smallies as far as I'm concerned.
Well, I guess its good your passion isn't largemouth bass then. wink
Champlain has some good large mouths too, and you can catch 4-6 pounders if you know where to go. Pound for pound there is absolutely no comparison in the fight of those two bass.
Originally Posted by RDFinn

SS props do have less flex, but the bigger downside depending on where you fish, is if (when) you hit schit there is a greater chance of doing damage to the lower end whereas an aluminum prop bend and give quite a bit more. 3 blade for top end/ 4 blade for better acceleration. G]


Correct on the damage issue and 3 vs 4 blade. I'll add a 5 blade stainless prop will pull an elephant up on a water ski
Originally Posted by RDFinn
My real passion for fishing is smallmouths on Champlain. Nothing like 4-5 lb smallies as far as I'm concerned.


BT/DT. It rocks on Champlain. Candlewood Lk Ct was a close second, and Apache Lk Az rounded out my three favorite smallmouth lakes.
Originally Posted by RDFinn

SS props do have less flex, but the bigger downside depending on where you fish, is if (when) you hit schit there is a greater chance of doing damage to the lower end whereas an aluminum prop bend and give quite a bit more. 3 blade for top end/ 4 blade for better acceleration.
+1. Nice boat RD
Thanks for all the info guys. Iam more likely to hit a rock shoal than Iam a stump and I'd rather bend a prop than something in the lower unit.
I don't much care about top end-- I'm sure the boat will do 40 or 50mph but I won't run it that fast prolly cruise around 30mph.
70 mph-- sheesh on the water--that would run into some serious fuel bills!

Candlewood does have really good smallies, but not in the numbers Champlain does. Another somewhat sleeper for smallies round here is Lk Wallenpaupack (sp?) in PA. First time out on Wallenpaupack I got this 6+ pond largemouth and a 5 1/2 pound smallie.

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It's been 20 years since I fished those NE lakes. Sounds like they are chugging right along. I finished second in a bass tournament on Candlewood Lake pitching "Jersey Rigs" under docks. Most of the guys in my bass club laughed at me at the time for using those things. I was 14 at the time..
I need to trade off a largemouth trip next year for a smallmouth one. I'm sure it's not like Mexico but I could put someone on 5+ largemouths all day long. I've never really caught a smallmouth bigger than something you use for bait in a north TX lake.

I'm away from home now and only had a pic left on the mantle form eons ago on Rayburn. Partner got hung up and I caught both of those off the same stump while he tried to get free.

So much for being back ended.

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The danger of aluminum props.

Originally Posted by Calvin
Originally Posted by RDFinn
My real passion for fishing is smallmouths on Champlain. Nothing like 4-5 lb smallies as far as I'm concerned.


BT/DT. It rocks on Champlain. Candlewood Lk Ct was a close second, and Apache Lk Az rounded out my three favorite smallmouth lakes.

Candlewood holds some monster smallies.
Nice fish!

Winnepesaukee was a good time for small mouth. Been 20 years since I fished it though.
I have ran SS props on my bass boats since the 70's & never damaged one. I wouldn't have a bass boat without a SS prop. The idea of hitting something while using an aluminum prop & the bending of the prop saving the lower unit seems far fetched to me. Many times I have hit stumps or other obstructions with my SS prop & kept on running. I have a dash mounted flasher & slow down when the water shallows. No bass fisherman I know uses an aluminum prop on their bass boat.
With the 19 pitch you may lose a very very slight amount of hole shot. Being you're going from an aluminum though, you may actually gain a bit. The SS prop won't flex as much and you probably won't have any noticeable prop slip while turning if you're trimmed properly.

It's a better prop. It won't get ringed up either like an aluminum prop will either.
Originally Posted by Bristoe
The danger of aluminum props.



B, I have not heard anything to indicate the accident was due to al. prop failure. I thought it was due to hot shot cutting the gas suddenly while at top speed.
eyeball--I heard the guy jumped another boats very high wake and went airborn--hell of wreck anyway.

I don't care about hole shot--not gonna race anybody and nobody gonna go waterskiing here--water temps won't get up into the '60s until August.

It's not unusual for me to go 80 miles up the Lake for 4 or 5 days and not see another boat. Gas is the limiting factor cause you can only carry so much. That and weather. There are no charts of this Lake and while a depth sounder will tell you how much water is under the keel it won't tell you how much depth is out in front of you.

I used to commercially fish. Operating a 34 ton 60ft Steel Tug at 9mph is a great deal different than a runabout like this. I've had good friends die on the Lake and some of it from really stupid moves but-knock on wood-while I have torn up some skiffs and had some major breakdowns nobody ever got hurt bad enough to require hospitalization. After 42 Seasons on the Lake I'm rather proud of that fact.
Originally Posted by eyeball
Originally Posted by Bristoe
The danger of aluminum props.



B, I have not heard anything to indicate the accident was due to al. prop failure. I thought it was due to hot shot cutting the gas suddenly while at top speed.


I was being facetious.
Stainless props have a rubber hub that absorbs most of the shock when it hits something. I whacked a long, half submerged 4x4 offshore several years ago with a SS prop on a big Yamaha. No prop damage, but it stripped the hub and left us pretty much without power. I was only about 18 miles out, called the Coast Guard and they were about to send out some reservists on a training cruise, said they'd rather pull somebody in for real than pretend to respond to an emergency, so it worked out well for both of use. Having the hub repaired is a lot less expensive than reworking a prop. My last inboard boat was running 24 x 24 Nibral props when I was about finished with the diesel conversion and upgrades.

I would not use aluminum props in salt water.
I copied the following from ...

http://www.mercurymarine.com/service-and-support/storage-and-maintenance/faqs/propellers/

What are the differences between aluminum and stainless steel propellers?

Aluminum is by far the most popular material used today for recreational boat propellers. It is relatively low in cost, has good strength, good corrosion resistance, and is easily repaired. However, compared to stainless steel propellers, aluminum propellers are more easily nicked or bent. Stainless steel is the strongest, most durable of all materials used for propellers. In fact it is about five times stronger than aluminum. This is its greatest advantage. The strength of stainless steel propellers will help maintain engine performance because these propellers are more resistant to the small nicks and bends normally found on aluminum propellers, often after running for a short period of time. Blades cast of stainless steel can be made thinner for better efficiency. Stainless steel is much more resistant to corrosion. Stainless props can be repaired easily, although more expensively than aluminum. They can cause some corrosion on nearby aluminum surfaces in saltwater if good anodic protection is not used. An aluminum propeller can usually be replaced with the nearest size and blade equivalent stainless steel propeller.


-----------------

FWIW ...

The section I highlighted is where SS has a performance advantage. They have thinner more efficient blades all the way down to the blade root. Aluminum props have to be thicker since A is weaker which means more mass churning through the water. More mass = less efficiency. Flexing of aluminium has nothing to do with performance and even if it did a proper design can accommodate for that.

Aluminum props can re-pitched and cupped.

As far hitting stuff the inner rubber hub is what helps prevent shock to the lower unit in either type of prop ... if they have one.
Originally Posted by slg888
Originally Posted by RDFinn

SS props do have less flex, but the bigger downside depending on where you fish, is if (when) you hit schit there is a greater chance of doing damage to the lower end whereas an aluminum prop bend and give quite a bit more. 3 blade for top end/ 4 blade for better acceleration.
+1. Nice boat RD


Thank you sir. I fish Champlain a lot cause I recently bought a summer home on the lake and it is a very big body of water and I can only get limited 3-4 day weekends up there (5 hour trip one way) and it really helps a lot to have a fast boat so as to cover as much water as possible in the limited time I can get there. Lake Champlain is also known for fast approaching storms with high winds and heavy rains so with that rig if something pops up you can beat out a storm much faster than with the boat I had before hand, which was a nice boat but it only had a 40hp Merc that was only good for 35mph whereas this boat, a Ranger 520 Comanche can do double that plus with ease. The lake house I bought has a garage that is long enough that I can store the boat in the garage, so that I'm not spending more gas monies towing the boat back and forth from NJ, so that saves on fuel costs towing it back and forth through the Adirondack mountains which due to the weight of the boat really ads to fuel costs.
Originally Posted by Bristoe
Originally Posted by eyeball
Originally Posted by Bristoe
The danger of aluminum props.



B, I have not heard anything to indicate the accident was due to al. prop failure. I thought it was due to hot shot cutting the gas suddenly while at top speed.


I was being facetious.


He can be a bit slow on the uptake sometimes, B...

smile grin
Rustoleum has just come-out with an antiwetting spray that supposedly won't let sprayed things get wet.

Wonder how long it'd work on boat propellers!

That, I think, would be the most stringent "acid" test!
If a boat prop were truly hydrophobic it wouldn't be any good. wink
Sorry Kamo, I don't know everything and have been in a boat that lost an aluminum blade. It's not pretty and I wasn't going nearly that fast. I'll forget the adage that there's no question too stupid to ask. wink
Originally Posted by RDFinn
My real passion for fishing is smallmouths on Champlain. Nothing like 4-5 lb smallies as far as I'm concerned.


When I see your handle it reminds me of the Redfin lures I once used to slay the bass with on Rayburn 45 years ago. You ever use them?
In salt water for stripers yes. I use Husky Jerks for smallies.
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