Parting Thoughts

QL Aluminum Propellers – A Cost Effective Alternative

by J.D. Neeson, President

Click here for the QL Propellers Catalog

Volvo Penta in cooperation with QL Marine Accessories (Owned mostly by Volvo Penta) have developed a series of propellers for other manufacturers – Evinrude, Johnson, OMC, Honda, Mercury, Mariner, Suzuki, Tohatsu, Nissan, and Yamaha.

They are less expensive and appear to perform at least as well if not better than the OEM versions.   Not only have many of our customers have had good luck using them, but the hub seems to protect the drive and the engine better when an uncharted underwater obstruction is discovered.

Instead of manufacturing the propellers with built in hubs, they provide interchangeable hubs.  These hubs assure perfect shaft alignment and balance and are very easy to remove and install.  They are built to fit on the specific outboard or outdrive shaft and then the correct propeller slides onto the hub.  The hub kits include the washers, spacers and nuts you need

QL also states the larger exhaust area in the center of the propeller allows for improved engine performance and while it is difficult for us to quantitatively prove this, it does have a certain logic.

When ordering these propellers you will need to order the hub kit for your outboard or drive model and the propeller size (there is a nice cross reference between the OEM propeller part number and the QL propeller on our site).  On some applications you do need to reuse (or purchase) your thrust washer or nut so it is important not to throw any part out until you receive the hub kit and the propeller.   Again on our web site there is a description of what you may need to keep.

One of the biggest advantages is that if you do hit something, you can often just replace the propeller itself and reuse the hub.

Categories: JD Neeson, The Express

Tags: aluminum propeller, Marine Parts Express, volvo penta

Tricky Part Numbers Marine Parts Express Shipping Grid