There's nothing as maddening as motoring up your favorite stream on the perfect day, when suddenly you hear that unforgettable sound followed by intense vibration. Admit it... we've all done it at least once! At today's prices you don't have to go through many props until you are talking some real serious money.
Back a few more years than we would really like to admit to, we hit a rock, bent up our prop, broke a sheer pin, and fried a brand new out of the box 15hp Johnson by over revving it. Needless to say that really locked our jaw, but it also got us thinking. What we came up with was a hot dipped galvanized steel cage that fits around your lower unit; it does not bolt through it. The Prop-Guard protects your skeg, propeller and lower unit from rocks and even helps keep seaweed from wrapping around the propeller. We later added a hydrofoil to help keep the bow down resulting in greater forward speed.
The Prop-Guard is perfect for back bouncing plugs in rapidly moving water. Outboard motor lower units are made of brittle cast aluminum which can break upon impact if a propeller guard is depending only on the horizontal anti-cavitation plate and skeg for support. You can buy less expensive propeller guards that have a ring bolted to the cavitation plate and skeg. Others have a piece of metal hanging in front of the lower unit to lift the motor up and out of the water upon contact with an object. Both are rather flimsy and can end up becoming the problem rather than the solution upon impact. Our Propeller Guard slides over the cavitation plates and bolts AROUND the motor with a tailpiece - not through the motor!
The time honored adage is usually true that "you get what you pay for." We've sold the prop-guards pretty much by word of mouth to locals over the years which means if we were to cut corners, we would be the ones that would be really red faced if our product were to come back to us bent up. Just like our drift boats, we seriously over built the propeller guard because we wanted our friends and customers to be pleased with the performance of their purchase.
The Prop-Guard is recommended for any outboard motor 7-1/2hp through 15hp period. This includes Mercury and Mariner 8-15 hp, Johnson and Evenrude 9.9-15 hp, Yamaha 6-25 hp, Honda 7-15 hp, Suzuki 7-15 hp, and Tohatsu 7-15 hp. The Prop-Guard works well with both drift boats and vee-bottoms. The Prop-Guard is also the perfect solution for rental boats and jet-sled kicker motors. The 12" fits the Suzuki 9.9 High thrust outboard motor.
We finished Production on the the new Props for the Yamaha 9.9 High Thrust outboard motor. This extra large prop guard is specifically designed to fit these motors only. They have not been fitted or retro-fitted to any other type, size, or style of motor.