prop for 115 4 stroke

[mrpike]

Iam thinking on getting a new prop for my boat this year in stainless steel . MY boat is a LUND 17 FT EXPLORER SIDE CONSOLE with a mercury 115 4 stroke EFI . IT runs about 43 miles per hour now at about 5200 RPM.s at top speed AND I think it has a pitch of 19 or 18 on it right now . IF anyone out there has the same motor and boat with a stainless steel prop can you tell me about your over all performance and top speed three blade or four and what make you are running if it is stainless steel also. PLEASE POST what you are running for a prop and on what motor and boat . THIS will help out a lot of people on what they might want to run on there boat . ITs not easy to get the right prop . Boat makes a big difference Iam finding out.

 

 

SO let us know if you are happy with your over all PERFORMANCE on your boat . Boat type and motor top speed and RPMs would also help us all make the right choice. THANKS .

[ohhenrygsr]

Hey Mr Pike. I would give your local prop shop a call they know them inside out. Should be able to give you the pro's and cons of Stainless.

[lew]

You could also contact Mercury and they should give the proper info for your set-up.

 

When I bought my Skeeter/Yamaha and wanted a stainless prop I called Yamaha and they came up with the perfect prop for my specific combo.

[Pigeontroller]

Seems like your rpms are a bit low to me...Shouldn't they be closer to 6000?

 

Check out the price of the Apollo SS prop by Michigan Wheel Products...Very reasonable.

[perodimi]

I have the exact same motor on my Legend Sportfish 188. When I first got it, I found the hole shot quite poor with any kind of a load on with full trim down. I was advised by the BPS Merc expert that a stainless prop would solve all my problems so I changed the stock 17"P 3 blade prop to a Mercury Trophy stainless 4 blade 17"P. He said that the conventional props have a high flex under load whereas the stainless has little to none. He also said that he would've liked to get me a 16"P but they didn't make those.

 

That didn't do a heck of a lot to be honest. I still get roughly the same numbers as you do on your Lund with slightly higher rpms. What I did do was install a Stingray wing on the lower unit and the difference was phenomenal. The boat comes out the water straight and true with no nose pitch up and is on plane way faster. Knowing a little about aerodynamics, hydrodynamics in this case, the Stingray is actually shaped like an airfoil and actually lifts the rear of the boat upward instead of mushing into the water. The hardest part was drilling the holes into the fin on the motor's lower unit but well worth the anxiety.

 

Beware that because of it's rigidity, a stainless prop has less flex and as a result can do more damage if you hit something. A regular prop blade will break off and chip but this one could damage your drive shaft if you're not careful so only use it in known areas.

 

Hope this helps,

 

Peter

Edited May 2, 2011 by perodimi

[Terry]

I have the exact same motor on my Legend Sportfish 188. When I first got it, I found the hole shot quite poor with any kind of a load on with full trim down. I was advised by the BPS Merc expert that a stainless prop would solve all my problems so I changed the stock 17"P 3 blade prop to a Mercury Trophy stainless 4 blade 17"P. He said that the conventional props have a high flex under load whereas the stainless has little to none. He also said that he would've liked to get me a 16"P but they didn't make those.

 

That didn't do a heck of a lot to be honest. I still get roughly the same numbers as you do on your Lund with slightly higher rpms. What I did do was install a Stingray wing on the lower unit and the difference was phenomenal. The boat comes out the water straight and true with no nose pitch up and is on plane way faster. Knowing a little about aerodynamics, hydrodynamics in this case, the Stingray is actually shaped like an airfoil and actually lifts the rear of the boat upward instead of mushing into the water. The hardest part was drilling the holes into the fin on the motor's lower unit but well worth the anxiety.

 

Beware that because of it's rigidity, a stainless prop has less flex and as a result can do more damage if you hit something. A regular prop blade will break off and chip but this one could damage your drive shaft if you're not careful so only use it in known areas.

 

Hope this helps,

 

Peter

 

in most cases a wing/hydrofoil will give you less top end

it will get you up on plane quickly if your boat has a problem doing that

and it will stop porpoising

the right SS proper can make a big difference, when I changed mine it gave me 5 mph more top end

 

if you hit wood/stump with an aluminum prop you bend/break the prop, with SS prop you will break the wood

if you hit a rock with an aluminum prop you break the prop

with SS prop you break the prop and maybe the lower unit........

[aplumma]

If you check the S.S. prop you should see a rubber coupler that is designed to sheer before it damages a healthy drive gear assemble. Some of the older S.S. do not have them but to my knowledge all of the newer ones have them.

I agree that a S.S. is the way to go if you are looking for performance. I run S.S. down here because I know the water and we have less shoals and sudden depth changes. Up North I use the aluminum because it is cheaper to replace when damaged.

 

 

Art

[greenfshrmn]

I have a 17ft Lund Angler with the same motor. I have a 19 inch 3 blade S.S. prop (direct from Yamaha)on it now, and get the same performance as you. I tried a 17 inch S.S. and, while the rpm went closer to 5800, the top speed dropped 1-3 mph. Definitely better hole-shot than with the aluminum prop, I come right up on plane with no bow lift. On my previous bass boats I always had 4 blade props, but that was to get the heavier boats on plane. Not an issue with the Lund. If you can chat directly with a marina, they may let you try a prop out before making your decision, with the understanding that if you 'ding' it, you own it. Good luck in your decision.

 

Steve.

[misfish]

The only SS I had,was on a 115 Mariner which was a high 5. Not knowing much about pitch and SS vs ALUM,I was very impressed. I did try a 3 blade aluminum, as I was told you dont want to break the bottom end.I stuck with the SS. Good luck.