SS Prop Recommendations?

Jasen T.

New member
2023 Chaparral 21 SSI
4.3L Volvo Penta IO

OEM Prop is 14.5 x 19.
I am looking to upgrade to a stainless steel prop. Should I stay with the same pitch?Does anyone have any suggestions on brand and where to purchase from ?

I have attached some pictures of the new boat dock that was finished a few weeks back.
 

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Welcome to the forum, and nice dock, you will get a lot of good use out of it.
Props are all about theory, there are so many variables that affect the performance of it. The first thing is, what are you looking for that you don't have in your present prop? If you really want to dial it in, you need to get a hold of a prop shop, one that repairs, or one that makes them. Find one that will work with you to try before you buy. They will need to know the size of your boat and how much it weighs. A description of your present prop and how it performs. S.S. is not cheap, but for me it is the best. Sometimes a 3 blade works for your application, and other times a 4 blade works better. My girl came with a 19 pitch 3 blade aluminum, I now have the same diameter 21 pitch 4 blade S.S. on her. No 2 boats are alike, even the same model and year will perform different. So after putting you through this, If you are up to it, my best advice is to do what I did. Find a good prop guy. Run the recommended prop and one with the pitch below and one with the pitch above. Make a chart of different levels of rpms and compare them to each other under the same conditions. I am sure that there is a much easier way, this is just the way that I did it some 30 yrs ago.
Good luck, please keep us posted, it may help someone else.
 
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