CoolSpot

Does anybody have any feedback regarding forged props? In particular, are they worth the additional money over cast props in terms of strength, longevity, performance, speed, and efficiency. I run a 36 Skater with 1,100+ HP and I am considering a HP increase. Is it worth the extra expense to upgrade to forged props? Will they last longer, run faster, or just generally be more relaible. I am concerned that I may throw a blade at speed with my cast Mercury props.

bbladesprops

The longevity of forged propellers has been seen to surpass the cast propellers (in most instances).

The performance of forgings................
Will not surpass castings in the same production QC. If the cutting/production process is the same with both pieces (within reason).

In fact, "Trueness" could even be better with a casting in certain situations due to the CNC machining process (geometry) and the folks doing it. In other words, production processes determine the performance quality more than the material (some people my argue this). Billet material is all about the molecular structure and strength of the metal due to that process. Therefore, the geometry of the propeller can be the same in a cast prop and will offer the same performance. Certain forged propeller manufacturers will claim to and may have better speed numbers than the cast propellers. However, this is not due to the forging process but rather to the the machining process. Once again, each application is different and each propeller will not work the best on every hull.

So, strength wise, forgings will hold up better. Performance-wise the castings will be quite as fast.

There are other variables involved that play into this subject. Bending during turbine acceleration, maintaining geometry after hours of operation, etc.

If you are breaking props due to your setup, let us know and we can supply you with some options.

Brett