I am looking at purchasing a stainless prop (first stainless) and i was wondering if when going to a stainless prop if you change the pitch that works for your boat. Right now i have a 14 pitch and the dealer was trying to talk me into a 13 in a stainless, well i tried a buddies aluminum 13 pitch and my boat sucked. So i am wondering if a stainless prop will make any difference at all??

Its a 17 ft fisher with a 40hp.. right now i get 31 gps speed and good holeshot, so i don't want to lose performance because i'm ignorant about stainless props.

Thanks in advance

Depends on how close you are to running at you motors max recommended rpm now. If near or at max rpm you would do ok droping to a 13 in a stainless. It's really hard to say what the difference in performance is going to be until you actually try a stainless. The blades on a stainless prop don't flex and roll back like they do on an aluminum so they are subject to knock a few rpm off top rpm because they don't loose pitch like an aluminum. On the other hand, depending on the prop, the blades are thinner on the stainless so they are much more efficient cutting through the water and give more speed. If you go with a perfomance style stainless, one with a high rake (something they don't make in aluminum) they give more bow and some stern lift than the aluminum so they have the potential (depend on hull and speed it will run) and give more speed which lets the motor turn a few more rpm.

The next thing is the condition of your prop and the 13" prop you tried. Aluminum props get damaged extremely easily. A prop with a rolled or banged up leading edge can knock bunches of rpm off. So, to answer your question, you really need to try a stainless before you buy one. Most dealers will let you do that with the understanding you are going to buy the one that works on your motor.

Just make sure you prop it to turn within about 100 rpm of the max rated rpm of the motor with your normal load, you will be much happier with the performance of the boat. DO NOT prop it down more than 200 rpm.

The 13 aluminum was a brand new prop, and it sounded like i was over revving...not sure though as my tach went out last fall. My 14 pitch I was running pretty close to max rpms when my tach worked. So the 13 stainless might be ok?