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Gone8to1248

Props that come on new motors

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Gone8to1248

When you buy a new motor is the prop the best for that motor or is it a happy medium of speed and performance? From reading some of the other posts in here it sounds like putting a Stainless Steel Prop on is the way to go,is this a true statement? I'm in the process of getting a new boat with a 90 E-TEC motor on it and would like to get it set-up right out the door. Also when does speed and performance become and issue for a recreational fisherman?

Bernie

Trevor and George watch out I'm tooling up to fish against you guys again for smallies in 2010!

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Bill Arnott
When you buy a new motor is the prop the best for that motor or is it a happy medium of speed and performance? From reading some of the other posts in here it sounds like putting a Stainless Steel Prop on is the way to go,is this a true statement? I'm in the process of getting a new boat with a 90 E-TEC motor on it and would like to get it set-up right out the door. Also when does speed and performance become and issue for a recreational fisherman?

Bernie

Trevor and George watch out I'm tooling up to fish against you guys again for smallies in 2010!

The standard issue prop is a "happy medium". You can play the prop game forever if you have the $$$ !

If you are a big guy and carry a lot of gear and all your partners are oversize too you may need to change from the standard issue to a lower pitch to help you lift all that beef out of the water. :D

SS is more durable and better perf. but you are looking at bigger $$ when you really smack something. ie lower ends etc...

Speed & performance when Mother Nature gets upset and wants you off the water!

>Bill


CRESTINER BOATS SMITHS RV BRENNEN FORD THUNDERBAYFISHING.COM

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Bear
When you buy a new motor is the prop the best for that motor or is it a happy medium of speed and performance? From reading some of the other posts in here it sounds like putting a Stainless Steel Prop on is the way to go,is this a true statement? I'm in the process of getting a new boat with a 90 E-TEC motor on it and would like to get it set-up right out the door. Also when does speed and performance become and issue for a recreational fisherman?

Bernie

Trevor and George watch out I'm tooling up to fish against you guys again for smallies in 2010!

Bernie

When they install your motor, the techs should run it up and find the best prop for your application. You should also ask them to recommend a stainless prop and they will test run to determine what would be best for your boat. They will consider a number of factors. A stainless prop could do a number of things, including performance, handling and fuuel economy. The tech guys can help you out if you ask them.

BB

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GC 54

Last year at the GWC I was running down the middle of Kenogamisis and there is only one dead head in the whole lake probably, and it is not marked and is well below the water line, guess what, I touched it. Thank god I did not have my stainless 4 blade on that day. It still cost me close to $500 to repair the skag and touch up the aluminum prop. However, if you know the water you are fishing, stainless is the only way to go, and the 4 blade will punch you out of the hole and up on plane much faster. As Bill puts it, when you are carrying a lot of beef like my boat has to, you can take tighter turns without having to trim the engine to prevent the over revs.

I will be posting for sale our 4 blade stainless on this site, it is in absolute mint shape, I need to drop down a pitch, I was misled as to what pitch I needed to purchase from a local marine dealer.


George Clark of TEAM CLARK

FIELD STAFF FOR TEAM SHIMANO PRO STAFF FOR D & R SPORTING GOODS PRO STAFF FOR LUND BOATS
Proudly Supported By: G.LOOMIS JACKALL POWER PRO NORTH COUNTRY CYCLE & SPORTS Treasurer of: Thunder Bay BASSmasters

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Trevor Zimak

Bernie,

How about 2009,

As for props;

No dealers in T.Bay carry a variety of SS props simply because there is no market for it. Your best bet is to ask the dealer you bought the boat from to get you 2-3 different props, say a 17P, 19P 3 blade and a 17P 4 blade. Should be around the area for your application. You should see 36-38mph with a moderate load.

If anyone else is looking to do this;

Don't ask the dealers in T.Bay to bring you 2-3 props in becuase it won't happen. (unless you have some pull or something) I tried that a couple years ago and they laughed at me. I was like, look im going to buy one... then this dealer said I had to pay up front for all three, then pay a restocking fee (close to $50 each) for the other two when I was done. (of course they would refund me for the other two) I them laughed at them.

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Guest Hoistanen
The standard issue prop is a "happy medium". You can play the prop game forever if you have the $$$ !

If you are a big guy and carry a lot of gear and all your partners are oversize too...

Hey, let's not get personal here!

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Trevor Zimak
Last year at the GWC I was running down the middle of Kenogamisis and there is only one dead head in the whole lake probably, and it is not marked and is well below the water line, guess what, I touched it. Thank god I did not have my stainless 4 blade on that day. It still cost me close to $500 to repair the skag and touch up the aluminum prop. However, if you know the water you are fishing, stainless is the only way to go, and the 4 blade will punch you out of the hole and up on plane much faster. As Bill puts it, when you are carrying a lot of beef like my boat has to, you can take tighter turns without having to trim the engine to prevent the over revs.

I will be posting for sale our 4 blade stainless on this site, it is in absolute mint shape, I need to drop down a pitch, I was misled as to what pitch I needed to purchase from a local marine dealer.

George,

I will sell you my 250

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Bill Arnott
Hey, let's not get personal here!

:lol:

Hoisten any?

>Bill


CRESTINER BOATS SMITHS RV BRENNEN FORD THUNDERBAYFISHING.COM

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arvey

this is were a tack comes in real handy,pending on your size of boat. it's best to find out the rpm range for your motor,mine is 48or49 hundred to 55 max.you might think this is not important,but to low and you be lugging the motor,to high and your over reveing it and both are bad news.

arvey

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Bear

Yah Bill, arent you getting alittle personal? I am trying to downsize.....

HAHA

Bear

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Some Old Guy

Bill! I love it!

Hoisting any? HaHAHAHAHAHAHa!

Roger


R.T.R. Respect the resource!

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Bottom Bouncer

Stainless or Aluminum? There's been some good points posted, here are my thoughts. Stainless looks nice. Now if you are racing off the coast of Florida with your three 300hp optimax's or running a gauntlet of pilons on a course in some kind of competition you will probrably want a stainless. Also for Tournament fisherman like Zimmers who are racing other high performance boats (70+ miles an hour or more) to fishing spots where every mile an hour counts. For all other applications I think Aluminum works just fine. :D


REELBAIT

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Guest fishinbuddy

I own both a stainless (main prop) and aluminum (spare prop). Having used both on my 115 yamaha and also being a slightly portly fellow. (For those who know me you know Im being a little kind to myself.) I can tell you from my experience STAINLESS HANDS DOWN!!!!!!!! Better hole shot and better top end. I dont own a fancy shmansy polished stainless its just painted dull black.(A little cheaper than the pollished.) 37mph top end aluminim and 43mph on the stainless. The hole shot difference is unbelievable. If you have the funds get a stainless. Im sure you wont regret it.

Fishinbuddy

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Gone8to1248

I want to thank everyone who gave me some input on what kind of prop I should have on my boat and what props I should have as back-up. Arvey's posting about RPM's I hadn't given it a tought about, but I do now as that is some very good information and also fishinbuddies remark about stainless being 6 miles an hour faster over aluminum. The waters I fish down here have much less in them for me to hit as compared to some of the lakes up there that have massive rocks that pop up out of nowhere, and I've seen many of them. I also undestand now where it would be nice to change the prop from where I'm fishing alone as to say having 3 people in the boat and all thier gear. I will sit down with the TECs here and get them to make some recomendations on what pitchs I should carry with me and when to use them. I may even get a comp prop to use on new waters until I learn where things are at in case I hit something. I'll make a posting here after I make some choices. I'm still a little confused about the diffeence betwen a 3 blade and a 4 blade prop. What are the trade off's? Do you give up speed to gain performance with the same pitch on the blades?

Bernie

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arvey
I want to thank everyone who gave me some input on what kind of prop I should have on my boat and what props I should have as back-up. Arvey's posting about RPM's I hadn't given it a tought about, but I do now as that is some very good information and also fishinbuddies remark about stainless being 6 miles an hour faster over aluminum. The waters I fish down here have much less in them for me to hit as compared to some of the lakes up there that have massive rocks that pop up out of nowhere, and I've seen many of them. I also undestand now where it would be nice to change the prop from where I'm fishing alone as to say having 3 people in the boat and all thier gear. I will sit down with the TECs here and get them to make some recomendations on what pitchs I should carry with me and when to use them. I may even get a comp prop to use on new waters until I learn where things are at in case I hit something. I'll make a posting here after I make some choices. I'm still a little confused about the diffeence betwen a 3 blade and a 4 blade prop. What are the trade off's? Do you give up speed to gain performance with the same pitch on the blades?

Bernie

here's what got me on the rpm thing.

when i purchased my boat and motor it had a 13 pitch,i didn't pay any attention to it and the motor was used so if whoever was using it then it should be fine.the dealer of coarse could care less they just wanted the sale.i bought a tack and installed it,took the boat for a ride to try things out.well it came out of the hole like a bullet but didn'seem to have that much top end.i looked at the tack and the motor was screaming at 58 hundred rpm. on a forty horse that's way to much.i did a little research and found the power band for that motor and 49 to 55 hundred was what i needed if you check you'll find alot of other brands have the same,for small motors or big.i then got into finding the right prop and 21 inch stainless did the job, 53-54 hundred wide open

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Trevor Zimak
I own both a stainless (main prop) and aluminum (spare prop). Having used both on my 115 yamaha and also being a slightly portly fellow. (For those who know me you know Im being a little kind to myself.) I can tell you from my experience STAINLESS HANDS DOWN!!!!!!!! Better hole shot and better top end. I dont own a fancy shmansy polished stainless its just painted dull black.(A little cheaper than the pollished.) 37mph top end aluminim and 43mph on the stainless. The hole shot difference is unbelievable. If you have the funds get a stainless. Im sure you wont regret it.

Fishinbuddy

Sorry, but I am in total disbelief here. Do not let this post sway you to buy a stainless.

With the above information given, there is absolutely no way you can gain 6mph with a stainless the same pitch and condition as a aluminum. Especially in the case of a rivetted, V hull. Going from 37-43mph is not just a matter prop composition. In order to gain 6mph, I have to ask what condition this aluminum prop was in? Were the blades bent, chipped, warped, etc? Also, was the diameter the same size? You also have to consider rake, cupping and prop slip. Were the loads the same when you tried both props? Did you raise the engine height or add a jackplate? My point is there is no way you can gain that much speed from a 115 by simply changing to a stainless. A stainless the same pitch should automatically lower RPM, but you will still see a slight increase in speed because a stainless works more effiecently than aluminum with less slip.

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Guest fishinbuddy

I used my Spare for about 2 weeks while my stainless was being repaired, and it was new. I not sure of the exact specs on it but nothing much else was all that different that I remember. Speedo is on GPS so its pretty accurate. Maybe I didnt have quite the right chop for best top end when I tried it out, but I dont run wide open all the time to conserve gas. Maybe I could have squeeked a couple more mph out of it under more ideal conditions. RPMs were turning a little higher if I remember right. It was a couple of years ago when I used it. Maybe Ill put it on agian this summer just for fun and try again for fun. But that was my experience with the aluminum.

Fishinbuddy

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Gone8to1248

I've been talking with some prop dealers down here and manufactures and they have given me somemore things to think about when choosing a prop. Such as the load thats in the boat and where in the boat that load is, fore or aft. Where is your livewell and how much water does it hold? mine holds 34 gallons and @ 8.36lbs per gallon that would add 285 lbs to my boat up front when the livewell is full as to having it empty! How much permanent gear in lbs do you normally carry on the boat and where is it? Anchors,fire bottles,rain gear, life jackets,spare props, locators, batteries,trolling motors(front or aft), and I'm sure there are other things we carry on the boat. So when I go to get my prop sized for the boat I'll do two things, run it as stripped down as I might possibly be using it and then again with the max amount of weight that I might have on it including full livewells. I will also move weight around in the boat for staorage and see how much different it runs with more wight forward compared to more weight aft. Then I'll put 30lbs of weight in the livewell to compensate for the 5 bass that I'll have in there this fall during the Fall Shebandowan Classic Tournament weighting 6lbs each! Just dreamming there guys! :P

Bernie

I'll let you know what I come up with when I do this. Right now with the rivers flooded and a lot of debries floating around it will be awhile before I take it out on the water.

Bernie

gone8to1248

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Guest fishermedic

I've done a little (very little) reading on propping a boat and found the Mercury website usefull. I'm not very knowledgable on the topic so maybe the info isn't as good for most as it was for me. There is a great article about props and how they work HERE and they have a prop Prop Selector Tool that will ask about your boats current performance and specs and will recomend props for you. Obviously they are merc props but I found it a great start at learning about the topic.

Bryan

<;))))><

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Trevor Zimak
I've done a little (very little) reading on propping a boat and found the Mercury website usefull. I'm not very knowledgable on the topic so maybe the info isn't as good for most as it was for me. There is a great article about props and how they work HERE and they have a prop Prop Selector Tool that will ask about your boats current performance and specs and will recomend props for you. Obviously they are merc props but I found it a great start at learning about the topic.

Bryan

<;))))><

The Mercury website is probably the best site for information on the overall mechanics of how a prop works and is something anyone who is interested in performance should glance over.

But, keep in mind that the majority of people in the area are running their boats with aluminum props not stainless. Yes, this prop selector will recommend a prop and suggest a ESTIMATED pitch however, it can be greatly skewed unless you know your boat's current performance with a stainless prop. Remember you can't compare stainless to aluminum. Although this has been widely covered.

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Trevor Zimak
I've done a little (very little) reading on propping a boat and found the Mercury website usefull. I'm not very knowledgable on the topic so maybe the info isn't as good for most as it was for me. There is a great article about props and how they work HERE and they have a prop Prop Selector Tool that will ask about your boats current performance and specs and will recomend props for you. Obviously they are merc props but I found it a great start at learning about the topic.

Bryan

<;))))><

The Mercury website is probably the best site for information on the overall mechanics of how a prop works and is something anyone who is interested in performance should galnce over.

But, keep in mind that the majority of people in the area are running their boats with aluminum props not stainless. Yes, this prop selector will recommend a prop and suggest a ESTIMATED pitch, however it can be greatly skewed unless you know your boat's current performance with a stainless prop. Remember you can't compare stainless to aluminum. Although this has been widely covered.

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Guest fishermedic
The Mercury website is probably the best site for information on the overall mechanics of how a prop works and is something anyone who is interested in performance should galnce over.

But, keep in mind that the majority of people in the area are running their boats with aluminum props not stainless. Yes, this prop selector will recommend a prop and suggest a ESTIMATED pitch, however it can be greatly skewed unless you know your boat's current performance with a stainless prop. Remember you can't compare stainless to aluminum. Although this has been widely covered.

I'm finding the science of prop selection very interesting and I'm amazed at the amount of information out there on the subject. I found this of interest regarding pitch and switching from aluminum to stainless.

When upgrading from an aluminum propeller to stainless steel . . .

The most important concern to be aware of is the correct RPM range for your engine. The propeller pitch regulates the engine RPM. Each inch of pitch is worth about 200 RPM. Lowering the propeller pitch (going from a 23 pitch to a 21 pitch) will increase the engine RPM (about 400 RPM). Increasing the pitch (23 pitch to a 25 pitch) will decrease engine RPM. Most applications will match up pitch to pitch and this is the best starting point. In some instances, Mercury offers propellers in even pitches (20, 22, 24, etc.). In these situations, go to the next higher pitch (24 pitch stainless to replace a 23 pitch aluminum). If your aluminum was already operating at the top of the RPM range, the higher pitch propeller will allow you to see where you fall in the RPM range with the new propeller without over-revving.

Of course it's still a matter of trying different props to find what you are looking for but with some prior knowledge of how a prop SHOULD affect your boat it would seem to get easier.

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Monks
When you buy a new motor is the prop the best for that motor or is it a happy medium of speed and performance? From reading some of the other posts in here it sounds like putting a Stainless Steel Prop on is the way to go,is this a true statement? I'm in the process of getting a new boat with a 90 E-TEC motor on it and would like to get it set-up right out the door. Also when does speed and performance become and issue for a recreational fisherman?

Bernie

Trevor and George watch out I'm tooling up to fish against you guys again for smallies in 2010!

I run a 90hp e-tec on a 17ft aluminum ranger, fairly heavy boat, big fuel tank and live well. Instead of hoping i got the right prop I first purchased a Piranha composite prop. Then I was able to easily interchange the bladestyles and pitch without any additional cost as the dealer allowed me to try various pitch sizes and blade styles. With these props you can interchange the blades all within the same hub. Once I narrowed down the pitch and blade style this allowed me to research stainless props and make the right choice the first time. Les Barrett in Thunder Bay sells the Piranha props and is great to deal with. He let me try a few blade styles and pitches at no additional cost. After all this the difference in performance and speed between the stainless and composite was minimal about 2 mph at best. But the price difference was huge between the two. Now I just change blades on the composite based on my load size, takes about 5 minutes. With a 90 hp e-tec the stainless will not improve performance that much. Once you get into the bigger hp range that is where they shine. Check the props out I have been extremely happy with mine. The biggest hing on the e-tec 90 hp is to make sure you get it running at 5000 rpm. Fantastic motors by the way.

http://www.piranha.com/

Barrett's Piranha Prop Shop Les Barrett 121 West Francis St Thunder Bay (807) 577-6246

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Guest fishermedic

Hey Monks, you said the difference between the stainless and the pirhana was only about 2 mph in top speed, what about the hole shot and bottom end acceleration, how did the [irhana and stainless compare here? I realise that the performance numbers will be different on each boat and motor combination but a comparison is still a comparison. The pirhana seems like a great idea, $150 for a prop and you can change the pitch for free until you get what you're looking for. Then if you need to replace a blade they are only $25-$30. If they perform close to a stainless, as pirhana says the do, you can't go wrong.

Bryan

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Monks
Hey Monks, you said the difference between the stainless and the pirhana was only about 2 mph in top speed, what about the hole shot and bottom end acceleration, how did the [irhana and stainless compare here? I realise that the performance numbers will be different on each boat and motor combination but a comparison is still a comparison. The pirhana seems like a great idea, $150 for a prop and you can change the pitch for free until you get what you're looking for. Then if you need to replace a blade they are only $25-$30. If they perform close to a stainless, as pirhana says the do, you can't go wrong.

Bryan

The whole shot I found to be better and the acceleration as well. The one difference was that the stainless held better on tight turns, but I am only running a 90 hp so not to worried about this.

They do perform as advertised, they are just not as pretty as a shiny stainless. For the price and the ability to change blades they are a great prop.

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