Anybody actually damaged engine by using SS prop vs. aluminum?

[tony_cliffy]

Some have advised me to stick with an aluminum prop instead of a stainless steel because my fishing waters have lots of debris and submerged hazards. Yet vast majority of folks in this area run SS props and nobody can personally attest to lower unit damage from hitting something with their SS prop. I realize the potential to cause lower unit damage exists but has anybody actually had to repair a lower unit because they were running a SS prop instead of an aluminum one? Everybody else has dings in their prop and/or needed prop repairs but no engine damage.

 

[jyasaki]

Re: Anybody actually damaged engine by using SS prop vs. aluminum?

Originally posted by tonycliffy:<br /> Some have advised me to stick with an aluminum prop instead of a stainless steel because my fishing waters have lots of debris and submerged hazards.

I was under the impression (perhaps wrong) that there is a clutch in the prop drive that is supposed to protect the motor in the event that the prop hit something big. <br /><br />I thought the Al prop in dirty water thing had more to do with not dinging up an expensive SS prop than motor damage.<br /><br />jky

 

[tony_cliffy]

Re: Anybody actually damaged engine by using SS prop vs. aluminum?

Maybe, but I'm going off people saying the gears will give in the lower unit before the prop blades will.... I've never had a lower unit open before so I can't speak to how fragile these gears are compared to steel blades. Even the prop people recommended this to me. But nobody that ever gave me this advice could ever say they had their engine damaged - just "other" people.

 

[ehenry]

Re: Anybody actually damaged engine by using SS prop vs. aluminum?

Tony, all props have a rubber hub in them that, in most cases, will give up before any internal lower unit damage occurs. I've run a stainless prop on every engine I've had and never had any damage. I'm not easy on my equipment either.

 

[Jack Shellac]

Re: Anybody actually damaged engine by using SS prop vs. aluminum?

SS props are the best perfoming on the market and I've never used anything else. Don't know of anyone who has ever had motor problems caused by SS props. Their big drawback is their expense.

 

[mike1234tampa]

Re: Anybody actually damaged engine by using SS prop vs. aluminum?

The mith is aluminum will absorb more of the shock than stainless, stainless is harder, an aluminum prop crinkle up more, like a crupple zone in new cars, but you hit a rock at 4500 rpm, ouch, something is toast what ever you got<br /><br />I run stainless, I also know that if I am in shalow water, I idle, if I don't know the waters well, I don't go fast