clueless on stainless props

I would like to put a stainless prop on my motor. I have an ’01 90 Merc ELPTO. It is on a 1750 S/C Fishawk. I have no clue on what to put on it or price range. I mostly run the St Croix River with very little lake time. Pitch? Manufacturer? Price? I would be open to purchasing used also.

Merc Lazer 20p.

-J.

I hate to hijack your post SteveO, but I have a similar question. I just picked up a Yamaha F60 4 stroke and it will be on my 17′ pro-v. I mainly fish lakes and will be doing quite a bit of trolling. What should I use? Pitch, Dia, Stainless, Aluminum? I have no clue. What’s a good compromise between top end speed and trolling speed?

Thanks for your help guys

WWB

Not sure on your 60hp. I had a 18ft aluminum boat with a 90 merc and that prop was the best overall prop for that boat.

Yamaha has pretty good props they ship with the motors. Wouldn’t surprise me if you liked the prop they give you.

-J.

i have a alumicraft navigator 175 cs with 90hp yamaha 2stroke, just put a new ss prop on and it seems to be just a little to much prop ( ss is very heavy and very stiff) takes some horse power to turn them.
i am going to give it a couple more test drives but right now i am leaning towards going back to my alum. prop

This motor didn’t come with a prop, so that’s why I get to look for one instead of the factory making the decision for me. I’m no speed demon, I just want balance between speed and power.

Slack, what are you getting for RPM’s at WOT?

Hi SteveO,

I’ve had both, up to 250 hp motors. For one thing, a good ($400 + ) stainless prop will keep you awake much like haveing a new 9.9 trolling motor hanging on your boat!

An ugly aluminum one hardly ever disappearsd, if you know what I mean.

The other thing is, alum. props are cheap by comparrison, and there are a lot of them hanging on the marina wall that never got picked up after the repair was done.

It’s cheap insurance to have a spare one of those on board.

One more thing — an alum. prop seldom ends a fishin trip if you happen to hit bottom in a shallow rocky area. Just replace it with your spare. But a stainless prop can take the shaft with it, or at least bend it enough to end the weekend.

For my money, an alum. prop is the way to go, but if you must, see if you can get a loaner on the CRES unit before you committ the $$, because they do things to the CRES units that can’t be done to the alum. ones. And that can make a prop of the same pitch run much differently at wot.

Regardless of the prop type, it should let you run within 500 rpm of top speed rating of your rig. If not, it’s too steep a pitch. Back off one pitch and try that one.

On the other hand, maybe top speed isn’t your thing so get a prop that gives you a better slow speed performance. In that case, it’s hardly worth the extra expense of the CRES unit (which really do better at higher speeds).

I would look into a LIFTER from Custom Propeller Service. They can recommend what will work best for you. If you damage it you can send it to them, they will fix it.