Prop Options for 175 BR-gctid820492

[jwilliams71]

Hoping to tap into the extensive experience of the group here. I'm looking for recommendations on make/model of props. Not necessarily recommendations on the diameter/pitch to look for, but more basic then that, just an idea of who makes a decent prop. I have a Black Max 14.25"x21p on the boat from the dealer and want to get a second prop in part to experiment with performance changes but more importantly as a backup 'in case'. I've been shopping around and - let me be clear, I'm NOT just trying to be cheap here - but there are a number of manufacturers with an even wider range of pricing for different models out there.

What's good? What should I avoid? If I use Mercury props as a baseline, who's better? Who's close enough that perhaps saving a few bucks is safe from a quality/performance standpoint?

Thanks!

[jwilliams71]

No strong preferences or brand advocates out there? No brand or model anyone swears by?

Figured this would have run the risk of starting arguments, not silence.

[rbrauerei]

Unfortunately, I can't offer any specific opinions on props. Although, I might suggest you do a search (best using Google's Advanced Search function and specify BOC's url as the domain) on props and you will come up with a lot - a lot - of topics discussing props. I recall there were a couple very recently.

Cheers.

[jwilliams71]

I've been perusing different posts for a while and you're right, there are a TON of discussions about props. The vast majority that I've found deal primarily with finding the right size/pitch combination to suit a particular boat or need, with at best a passing reference to a specific manufacturer. Those have been tremendously interesting and helpful for me, and it is in fact all those posts that started me wondering about the different manufacturers of props. Perhaps I'm mistaken, but it seems to me that not all manufacturers or models are equal. Just because Solas and Mercury both make a 14.25"x21p 3blade prop, doesn't mean they're the same or equally good right? If they were, how could Solas be selling theirs for (in some cases) 1/2 as much as Mercury? At the same time, highest cost doesn't always mean best product...

Each company touts their manufacturing process (though to me it seems that some of them are probably describing the exact same thing just using varying EXCITING and HIGH-TECH sounding nomenclature) as superior to others. What I want is to try to get a better sense of what's real. When it comes to actually driving my boat, and giving me a decent return on the investment, which companies or which particular models actually deliver?

Thanks