SS prop for 2008 Mercury 115 EFI 4 Stroke

[Yooper61]

Saw a thread about performance of a Lund Impact and didn't want to hijack the thread.

TMAC had commented that every motor 115 and above should have a SS prop - I do not and while the performance of my 2008 1725 Explorer has been fine, I wanted to look into a SS prop.

I currently have a Merc "Black Max" prop 13 1/4 diameter, 16 pitch 3 blade (RH) aluminum prop. Haven't had the boat out yet but performance wise, hole shot, rpms, all were Ok from what I remember.

Would the X7 SS Spitfire prop in the same pitch improve performance as mentioned in the other thread?

Also - my cavitation plate when trimmed down is just level with the bottom of the transom. The motor is mounted second hole from the top.

Should I also raise the motor 1 hole to improve performance?

The boat originally came with a 17 pitch prop and the 16 has improved rpms, hole shot, etc.

The boat has treated me well since 2008 but curious as to the SS props - Thanks

[staylor]

Running a 115 with a 16 pitch prop should be just fine running aluminum- unless you are running in waters with a lot of shoals or excessive sand. I really don't think you would benefit from going to SS on your rig. There is also a down-side to SS props on 4S motors- this being "prop knock", aka excessive vibration, at low speeds and when going in and out of gear. This is because a 4cyl, 4S motor fires only 2 cylinders per revolution- whereas a 4cyl 2S motor fires 4 cylinders per revolution- and spinning a heavy SS prop can set up some rather weird vibrations at low speeds on the 4S. These can be fixed, but IMHO it isn't worth the hassle when you're running a relatively low pitch prop on a rig running under 45 mph or so top end. I think you should save your money since there is little to be gained.
Doug

[Yooper61]

Thanks for the info. I am happy with the boats performance and where I fish the majority of the time, I don't need the extra performance, especially of it comes at a price (knocking). I travel between shallow channels going between lakes so I am often at idle speeds.

Thanks

[Plotman]

I saw no disadvantages to running a stainless prop on my 115 Merc pro guide combo. I also raised the motor to 3rd hole and it eliminated all of the torque steer at WOT and improved top end as well.