07-04-2008, 02:55 AM
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#5
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mikeyt is currently offline
Status: Platinum Contributor
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Ontario
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My Year: 1996
My Model: Shabah 180
My Engine: 4.3
Thanks: 87
Thanked 579 Times in 538 Posts
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hi Lars
I'll try & keep this brief. Aluminum is much less expensive and easier to repair than Stainless but Stainless tends to perform better. If you spend a lot of time in shallow water or debris littered water, i would consider buying an aluminum prop. I'm not sure what prop you have on your boat now but the key consideration is to keep the WOT maximum RPM's in the upper part of the recommended range for the best results and as bpfirrman states, lower pitch means better holeshot, higher pitch means better top end speed. Lower pitch also increases the WOT rpm's while higher pitch lowers them. For example, if you are running a 19" pitch aluminum prop and getting 45mph at 4800 rpm and change the prop up to a 21" pitch, your top end may increase 2-4mph and your rpm's should drop to around 4300-4400 (approximately). As Dudders says, there are so many variables that you could pick 3 props with the same pitch and get 3 different results.
If you want to go with Stainless there are plenty of good props out there. While Merc's own brands tend to be a little more expensive, they are well made props but each one is designed for a slightly different application so you need to read up on them carefully. Check out the Stiletto Bay Pro II as well as the ones you mentioned. Michigan Wheel and Solas are two other less expensive but popular brands.
btw.... i would expect Mercury to have good things to say (in their advertisements) about their own props! 
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Changing prop!
Every internetpage and magazine I have checked out say much good about the stainless steel propellers. I also checked out Mercurys "Prop Selector" (link below) and found out that they also make positive comments about their stainless steel props. The props that I found most interesting were the Revolution 4 and Laser II. Anyone here who have tried changing propeller? Alu vs. Stainless steel? Positive/Negative things?
