Stainless steel meets the Shield....a P.S.A.

Anyone running a stainless steel prop should pay attention to this public service announcement.

Lake of the Wood is nestled in the Canadian Shield, which is home to some of the strongest, hardest elements that exist anywhere in the world.

Stainless steel props are very strong as well.

I have been trying to convince people over the years to have an aluminum prop for your rig when fishing LOTW. Most people are vacationing and really have no need to experience the extra hole shot, top end speed, etc resulting from the stainless steel. Besides, a spare prop is something that everyone should have, especially when up here and replacements are not easy to come by. Your spare should be aluminum and it would be wise to put it on before you take to the waters of LOTW, where the rocks are plentiful and sometimes not marked on any of the available maps.

An aluminum prop is much more forgiving and may allow you to continue a trip with a prop change, rather than decide between renting a resort boat or going home early. Now I have heard some engines have too much torque and cannot run aluminum because it might rip off the blades, but that is a different story.

Meeting the Shield can happen to anyone. The more time you spend on LOTW, the more likely you will eventually end up finding out just how hard the Shield really is.

The photo below is a 150 HP outboard equipped with a stainless steel prop that met the Canadian Shield. This particular incident involved a navigation error, but could have just as easily happened in an area showing all-clear on the map.

I removed the stainless prop for their trip home to ensure the prop, shaft, etc didn't fall off from the bouncing along the highway. The guys had put the prop away before I took the photo, but I can sssure you the prop had barely a scratch. There was no bends or burrs on the blades. One blade had a bit of smoothing from the contact, but could easily be confused as brand new. The stainless prop did not want to back down from the fight and caused the lower unit housing to crack all the way around so that it was hanging by the rods going up towards to head of the motor.

I have seen lower unit housings come back with gaping holes in the sides of them and chunks ripped out around the area under the prop, but still have a prop that looks like new.

Consider having an aluminum prop for LOTW. It's the smart thing to do. I run aluminum on my 90 HP tiller. I will never put a stainless steel prop on an engine I own. I met the Shield a couple years ago when I trusted someone that said a particular channel was all clear without checking the map. I ended up with a bent prop and a slight bow in the prop shaft, but a quick change to the back-up prop had me back on the water immediately. I replaced the spare with the repaired aluminum prop for about $75 and was good as new.

Thanks to the unfortunate owner of this engine for giving me permission to take the picture and spread the word about the dangers of stainless steel props on lakes with lots of rocks. This is one boat owner that will be going with aluminum on his next trip to LOTW.