# Aluminum Vs Stainless Prop



## WhiteDog70810 (May 6, 2008)

I like stainless props for sand and oyster areas because they survive the occasional mistake better, but even stainless will not hold up if you use it like a garden tiller. Stainless props can easily outlive the motor if you keep them in clean water and don't abuse them by grinding through sandbars or hitting rocks. If you run an area with lots of rocks, aluminum props fail before more expensive parts get broken. Aluminum is stiffer and stainless is thinner. These nuaces are important when trying to squeeze every last bit of performance out of a motor, but I am not sure how much that really matters to the rest of us.

Nate


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## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

Stainless


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## csnaspuck (Apr 2, 2013)

Does anyone use a skeg guard? I am sure if your aluminum prop is being tore up then your skeg is probably going to be non-existent as well.


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## FSUDrew99 (Feb 3, 2015)

Tell your boy to suck it up and not be cheap. You gotta pay to play and if you don't pay for it now you will later and it usually costs more down the road. Bite the bullet and stick with SS.


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## devrep (Feb 22, 2009)

I run stainless on my tunnel skiff and aluminum on my non tunnel skiff. I fish where there is nothing but limestone bottom, rock piles and oyster bars. I've already wrecked 2 alum props and it would have been worse if they had been stainless. Not an issue on the tunnel boat as the hull would hit before the prop most times.


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## T Bone (Jul 24, 2014)

I run a lot of the same waters as devrep and agree. Aluminum will give before stainless therefore you are less likely to bend a prop shaft or blow a lower unit (which i have done both in my big boat with a stainless prop). But, some people can go through an aluminum prop in a weekend with shallow water idling. I run stainless on my skiff motor though


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## WhiteDog70810 (May 6, 2008)

csnaspuck said:


> Does anyone use a skeg guard? I am sure if your aluminum prop is being tore up then your skeg is probably going to be non-existent as well.


If I hit enough rocks to risk grinding/breaking a skeg off, I'd get a true rock guard. They have little wings that project from out form both sides of the bottom of the skeg to protect the prop from the glancing strikes that allow the prop to hit the rock. They work by all accounts, but they increase drag. If you hit a lot of rocks, they might be worth the investment.

Nate


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## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

Aluminum will also rev higher due to being lighter than stainless


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## Pierson (Mar 16, 2016)

So let me simplify the question and state the areas that the boat will be in 90% of the time. Florida skinny waters/flats, mostly mosquito lagoon/indian river, everglades twice a year, and crystal river. Lots of idling through the flats. I would feel confident enough to run in all of these areas with a stainless prop as i know where i'm going for the most part. I was just very surprised at how bad his aluminum prop looked after 3 days of the everglades when we never even really hit hard bottom. He is a very experienced boater and i was surprised by his argument as it seemed the whole point was that he planned on hitting bottom enough to destroy a lower unit/stainless prop. I was a novice boater when i first got my boat, ran the same places with less knowledge, with a stainless prop, never even had a little bit of a problem.


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## Vertigo (Jun 3, 2012)

Where I fish, it's hard to go a day without touching bottom. Aluminum props get torn up very quickly while stainless show little or no damage. A stainless prop may bend, but it can be straightened. Under the same circumstances an aluminum prop will lose chunks or whole blades and be totally useless. When it comes to hitting hard things, the skeg is going to hit first regardless of the type prop so it's likely there will be damage either way but the stainless has a higher probability of being repairable. I get a new skeg welded on about once a year, but I've never had a stainless prop that couldn't be fixed. Performance-wise, the difference between aluminum and stainless probably depends more on the particular prop/motor/boat combo than it does on what the prop is made of. For my situation, stainless is the best choice, but folks on a budget, fishing deeper water with a soft bottom may do better with aluminum.


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## No Bait / Lures Only (Apr 10, 2011)

Stainless for me, but usually have to go with a lower pitch than aluminum. Only damaged a s/s prop once, bent the fluke. Low tides during north west winds winter is the worst times. Many stumps show during those lower tides. Over the long haul in Louisiana soft marsh mud bottoms don't really have an adverse affect on s/s props until oysters and stumps are encountered.


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## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

Over 250 hours running in 2" to a foot and a half and she looks like new still.


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## devrep (Feb 22, 2009)

2"?


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## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

devrep said:


> 2"?


I was rolling mullet and there was no water on the sand behind me. Didn't get a ruler out but a mullet is pretty small. Low water pickup, heavy cupped prop, it will run when the hull is on bottom.


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## No Bait / Lures Only (Apr 10, 2011)

Smackdaddy53 said:


> Over 250 hours running in 2" to a foot and a half and she looks like new still.
> 
> View attachment 8055


I like the check plate trim tab mount/reinforcing pads...nice touch...


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## fatalbert43 (Dec 13, 2006)

In reality there are advantages and disadvangates to both stianless and aluminum props.

Stainless is more resistant to wear and is a tougher/stronger material. That allows better fine tuning of the prop shape and utilizing thinner material. They are able to achieve sharper leading edges and thinner trailing edges for better performance. But, it has its limitations too, its harder or more costly to modify or reapir a stainless if you do hit that rock or oyster bar. And its much more expensive than aluminum. Also, any stainless worth a crap has to be special ordered and then involves some very fun waitng time to get one new or get a replacement.

Aluminum is cheaper, easier to repiar or modify. Its lightweight which offers lower inertial forces allowing the motor to spin up the prop faster and easier (one reason you go down a pitch when switching over to a SS prop). they are more forgiving on the lower unit when shifting or if you hit that you'd swear was hidden so well only a Leprichan would know where to find it. They are everywhere and readily available; if you distroy one then another can be at your door overnight. Ususally you can get 2 or 3 aluminum porps for the same price as one stainless. AND you won't like cry like a little girl when you do hit that Leprichan rock or that metal post end.....that no one's ever marked. (Yep that has actually happend to me...I managed to hit a damn metal post supmerged just below the water in the goon one time)

So, I guess the choice really depends on where you fish and whats important to you in a prop.

BTW, I only buy stainless props. simply becsue they are durable, customizable and I like them better.


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## fatalbert43 (Dec 13, 2006)

Ev


Pierson said:


> After three days of the usual everglades abuse (no real dramatic impacts with hard bottom but plenty of buzzing the flats) he was ready for a new prop! Most of the paint was gone and the blades were a little misshapen. We did the trip the year before with my boat and a stainless steel prop, probably hit bottom twice as much and it looked exactly the same after the trip as when we started.
> ..........Straighten us out! Whats the answer?


Ever try a Florida Marine Tracks Chip? Or maybe just slow down and hit bottom less?


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## devrep (Feb 22, 2009)

No Bait / Lures Only said:


> I like the check plate trim tab mount/reinforcing pads...nice touch...


I think they are riser plates.


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