Stainless Steel Props

[pilot_ryder]

This may be a dumb question but does anyone know why they don't make Stainless Steel props for inboards when you can easily find them for I/O's and O's?

[SouthWaker]

Seems brass is more malible than stainless steel. Being I hear of more prop buying and referbishing for inboards that would be my guess.

[Jon]

They still make stainless props for inboards but they are a thing of the past in my opinion. Everybody is going for CNC Nibral brass props now. In the past, props were litterally beaten out by hand and could be real inconsistant. The brass could bend a little as well when high amounts of torqe is put on it. The stainless were made the same but since it was steel, it didn't flex as much and therefore gave you better performance. With CNC props these days, they are so consistant and perform so well, there is no need for the stainless. Plus if you hit something with a stainless, you are more than likely going to mess up something else, like a prop shaft, strut, or your transmission. The CNC brass props give more when you hit something so hopefully you won't damage anything more.

[pilot_ryder]

Jon, makes sense, when you put it that way it seems obvious.

[Neognosis]

yea, I agree. I have an ACME prop, NiBral, and there's no reason that I can see to tempt fate with a stainless prop.

[Bambamski]

I had a stainless steel prop on my last boat. I actually prefered it over my present prop. We go up to Buffalo lake all the time Pilot which is very shallow and their launch sucks. At the launch I hit bottom with the prop, which is sandy with some small pebbles. WIth my present prop you can see little knicks everywhere and I'm afraid I may bend up one of the blades trying to push the boat out to deeper water. With the stainless I never had to worry about that. YOu are a little more careful witht the stainless prop though, which is a good thing.

[Neognosis]

Bambamski, the other side of that is my story: I hit a log at low speed last summer and it bent the NiBral bad enough that I changed the prop, but I think that if it had been stainless, perhaps the prop wouldn't have been as bad, but I think I might have damaged my drive shaft.

I would be REAL nervous about my drive shaft and transmission

[Bambamski]

When I push the boat out from the launch area the prop drags through the sand. With the stainless prop I wouldn't worry about bending a blade. The Nibral I do worry about bending just from the weight of the boat.

To bend the shaft you have to take a pretty hard hit. Looking at the hardware that holds the X-2 shaft I think there are 8 bolts and 1 and 1/8 thick shaft. You would really have to hit something I think. Knock on wood. I don't have the stainless prop any more, but I don't think I would hesitate to get another one.

[Blue22V]

I carry a Stainless prop in the boat as a spare. The Nibral prop is better milled, and has less vibration due to it's better machining. The Stainless prop is still very good, and I would have no issue switching out if I need to. I just believe in the hype, and prefer Nibral for my every day prop.

[Swass]

I don't mean to split hairs here, but the NiBral prop is a nickel/brass/aluminum composite (not solid brass).

[silvtongdvl]

I have a stainless on my SSV - I am with PRO stainless guys.
Friends have the NI and are forever getting their props repaired from minor contact with anything.
The vibration factor was more a blade # in the past. The props were hand machined - its harder to balance a 3 blade prop than a 4 . So good props were always 4 blades. Now with CNC a 3 blade prop is consistant from prop to prop.
I still believe that a four blade prop will hold speed better than most 3 blades.

[acurtis_ttu]

After having a SS prop on my baot now I won't go back to Nibral. With my Nibral it seemed to bend, get nicked w/ every I brushed up against. I don't have those problems with my stainless. On the shaft bending/runing transmission with a stainless. My theroy is that if you hit somehting hard enough to potentially damge your shaft/transmission I don't care what kind of prop you have.

[KristianB]

The reason I run a SS prop is the better efficiency of a SS prop. As the steel is stiffer it can be made thinner and therefore there is less friction. Better efficiency gives you a higher top speed and/or better fuel efficiency. However, I guess this is really only interesting when you have an I/O where you are constantly adjusting to get the most efficient trim. On an inboard you’re "stuck" with the propeller angle and will very seldom run at an optimal angle from a speed/fuel point of view. Therefore I would guess that the question of running into things and bending/nicking the prop and shaft/transmission would be more of an issue.

/K

[Steve]

[Cyclonecj]

If you smack something with a stainless prop, the key should shear rather than break your prop shaft. That's the way its supposed to work anyway. I've heard lots of horror stories to the contrary.

Like the guy that hit a log. Tore up his prop, so he got another one. He was out on the lake for the first time with his new prop, when his prop shaft snapped. It slid out of the boat and sank, leaving him with a 1" hole in the bottom of his boat

[pilot_ryder]

Not to muddy the waters but I am also curious about everyones views or preferences concerning a three or four blade prop? What are the advantages or disadvantages of each?

[Nep]

Barts.com has stainless steel props for inboards $400 around