Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

I know there have been tons of prop threads, but here is another one.

Is a stainless steel prop a must for a 150hp motor? By a must I mean for relatively best performance.

I am upgrading motors from a 115 to a 150hp, and I am guessing I will have to reprop as well. The one I have now is a fairly standard 3 blade aluminum. 13p x14

To be honest I am not looking forward to prop guessing with stainless steel props. At least with the aluminum the cost to try a couple was not that bad.

Our toon ran so much better when I switched to the Enertia from the aluminum Solas prop. I bought all the props I tried on Ebay and resold them (the ones I didn't use) for the same if not more than I paid for them. You get a better bite with the stainless. With the 150 a 15p should do you right.

You spend the $ for a 150 hp motor, and you need to do it right.

My dealer slipped a 14 pitch Yamaha SS prop on my new boat, but it easily was hitting the rev limiter @ 6200 rpm's. I promptly swapped for a Reliance 15 pitch, and I'm now dead on 6000 rpms and 40 mph. I could feel the difference. The Reliance is Yamaha's version of Mercury's Enertia--the standard of the industry.

You won't be sorry.

cwag911 wrote:Our toon ran so much better when I switched to the Enertia from the aluminum Solas prop. I bought all the props I tried on Ebay and resold them (the ones I didn't use) for the same if not more than I paid for them. You get a better bite with the stainless. With the 150 a 15p should do you right.

This is exactly correct! The SS props do not flex like an aluminum prop does so therefore MUCH more efficient! Go SS prop for the best performance and fuel savings.

I used to crunch an aluminum prop a year on my inboard-outboard boat. When I switched to stainless, I went 12 years without a scratch. It was just so durable, and what I consider a good investment.

I am a river runner and found out some time ago that SS props on the river is not good. After tapping an underwater log, my new SS prop never had so much as a scratch. But, of course the lower unit needed $1400 worth of repair that may not have been needed if the prop had let go. Just my thoughts on the subject.

I boat in a river that get muddy and has lots of logs and sticks after a good rain. With aluminum props I would ding them up on the small limbs all the time. With the SS, I do not damage them, but I have seen many bent prop shafts from hitting logs. I run SS, otherwise I would be paying $100 - $200 a year in prop repairs and maybe a little more in fuel.

Probably wouldn't make much difference on the 2012 Mercury 40 hp 4-stroke Bigfoot on our 2012 Berkshire LTD CL190 pontoon.

Top speed is 17-18 mph at best (just the way we like it).

If you seek the best possible performance from your engine, then a SS prop may be best choice. Take another poster's advice and try as many as you can. My Volvo Duoprop came with SS props but their limited choices in pitch meant i could lug with too much, or over rev with too little. I found a PowerTech aluminum propset that works just right. Fortunately, your engine has an abundance of choices, so you should be able to find a prop that suits your needs, or maybe two props...