SOLAS Propellers ?????

[Ontarion]

Has anyone tried these stainless steel propellers from Australia?
Traditionally inboards have used bronze or bronze alloys like Nibral because they are very soft and the prop will generally disintigrate if you hit something; protecting the shaft, strut transmission etc.
But the low elastic limits of these alloys also mean they will deflect/distort under load making them less efficient.
Stainless Steel is very strong with very high elastic limits which results in very little or no distortion or deflection. For every other type of boating stainless is the standard for high performance propellers.
The Solas propellers are also about 2/3 or less the price of a CNC Nibral.
In my case I have been boating on the same chain of lakes for 35 years. In all that time the rocks have not moved. Hitting something is not a concern.

[jasonwm]

Stainless is the standard for most (not all) other types of boating because it has the highest elastic modulus, which means it transmits power to the water better, which results in more top end.

Inboards use drag limited hull designs to turn out great wakes, but we're not going to win any speed competitions so power transmission isn't as important as it is when you're trying to wring out every available MPH.

For our uses, the accuracy of the prop during manufacturing is more important, and stainless is too hard of a material to be machined easily, so Nibral is a better choice. Stick with ACME or OJ, they're the reference standards for our application for a reason.

[87SunSportMikeyD]

Ya you cant get the stainless reworked if you do hit something and it's not going to give you more preformance because that is based on the design of the prop (ie pitch, cup and size of the blades) than the material IMHO. The design of the prop blade is specific to the size of the boat, amount it drags (ie bass vs wake), and application. Plus if you ever hit something you run a much high chance of damaging your shaft, strut, trans, etc. I'm no expert and I wasn't going to reply for that reason but since you didn't get a ton of replies and I am bored here we are! Good luck. Please give JT at NettleProps.com a call if you wish he is SUPER super knowledgable on many topics.

[Ontarion]

This boat is used as a jack of all trades cottage boat. Skiers might be intermediate, boarders’ novice. The bulk of the towing is tubes. Lots of tubes. And for me going for a rip around the lakes.

That is why I chose a comp with a GT40. I can cruise at 45 and top 50 for bursts of WOT and still pull 4 tubes in fuel economy mode.

I understand the reasons for using Nibral.

I am in the metals business. One of the divisions I manage sells cuts and forms chromium and tungsten carbide. They are hard. Stainless is pretty run of the mill stuff as far as machining goes and we do it every day. Nibral is dead soft and in the industrial world would be used for sacrificial bushings etc. It may even be more difficult to machine because it is so soft which would account for the tool marks they leave on the CNC props.

The big advantage for bronze and Nibral remains that the prop will give before the shaft etc when you hit something.

In my case I have been boating, skiing and diving this series of lakes since I was a kid, almost 40 years. I have run into docks and swim platforms on skis but have never hit anything with the boats and I know where every rock is.

My motivation is simply price. Nibral is $200 more and I don’t need its benefits.

However; the Solas design could be complete crap with performance to match. I think they are the largest prop mfg. in the world. Somebody must have bought one? If they are willing to admit it, I just want to know how it worked?