I suppose this more properly belongs in the prop section, but I'm gonna start with it here anyway. As explained in another thread, a friend of mine gave me a 56 Johnson 15hp motor that at first appeared to be in sad shape. But, after about a day and a half of work, it was running again, smooth as can be. I'll be converting it from a two-hose system to a single hose soon, with any luck.
My question concerns the prop that's on it. It looked a bit odd, so I pulled it and took a look. I learned it's not the stock prop that originally came with this motor, which I believe was the same as was on my 54 10-horse, a 9 x 11.(OK, I guess it's 9 1/4, not 9. I'll just use 9. It's easier to type.) This prop is a Michigan 9 x 8.
I have no idea what kind of a boat the guy used this motor on, but I have the feeling it was considerably heavier than mine. I'll be using this motor either on a 13 ft. Feathercraft two-seater aluminum, or on a 14 ft. "Corvair" (by Thompson) aluminum four-seater. While the Corvair is longer and has more seats, it's a lighter gage aluminum than the Feathercraft, and probably 75 or 100 pounds lighter overall.
The Feathercraft came with the 54 10-horse Johnson, but the original prop was damaged. I attempted a repair, but it lasted only about half a day. In that time, though, I got an idea of how the motor was "supposed" to work, so when I replaced the bad prop with one from a Gale-made Sea King, I knew right away that the 9 x 7 prop wasn't right for that outfit. I wound up buying a 9 x 11 from a dealer ($$$), so my vacation could continue. The 10-horse works fine with that prop, about the same on each boat.
But that experience now has me wondering how the 9 x 8 prop on the 15 is going to perform for me. I'll be using the boats for fishing, probably on the St. Lawrence River. We do a lot of drift-fishing there, meaning that we run upstream rather quickly, shut off the power, and let the wind and current carry us downstream until we do it all over again. We range over about six miles of the river, though we don't generally do all six miles in one trip - but we HAVE done it a few times.
So what do you guys think? Will the 9 x 8 prop be OK, or should I start looking for a bargain 9 x 11 on Ebay?
My question concerns the prop that's on it. It looked a bit odd, so I pulled it and took a look. I learned it's not the stock prop that originally came with this motor, which I believe was the same as was on my 54 10-horse, a 9 x 11.(OK, I guess it's 9 1/4, not 9. I'll just use 9. It's easier to type.) This prop is a Michigan 9 x 8.
I have no idea what kind of a boat the guy used this motor on, but I have the feeling it was considerably heavier than mine. I'll be using this motor either on a 13 ft. Feathercraft two-seater aluminum, or on a 14 ft. "Corvair" (by Thompson) aluminum four-seater. While the Corvair is longer and has more seats, it's a lighter gage aluminum than the Feathercraft, and probably 75 or 100 pounds lighter overall.
The Feathercraft came with the 54 10-horse Johnson, but the original prop was damaged. I attempted a repair, but it lasted only about half a day. In that time, though, I got an idea of how the motor was "supposed" to work, so when I replaced the bad prop with one from a Gale-made Sea King, I knew right away that the 9 x 7 prop wasn't right for that outfit. I wound up buying a 9 x 11 from a dealer ($$$), so my vacation could continue. The 10-horse works fine with that prop, about the same on each boat.
But that experience now has me wondering how the 9 x 8 prop on the 15 is going to perform for me. I'll be using the boats for fishing, probably on the St. Lawrence River. We do a lot of drift-fishing there, meaning that we run upstream rather quickly, shut off the power, and let the wind and current carry us downstream until we do it all over again. We range over about six miles of the river, though we don't generally do all six miles in one trip - but we HAVE done it a few times.
So what do you guys think? Will the 9 x 8 prop be OK, or should I start looking for a bargain 9 x 11 on Ebay?
