Originally Posted by
gn7
Some what rotational mass, but they could always skirt much of that with a rifled drilled 1 or 1 1/8 shaft and actually be stronger.
Its the drag/lift of the larger shaft, including the larger strut. Not all of the teams use them, but bet your ass the top ones are. Its not a matter of some low "stock" HP thing. Just the expense and hassle of finding and /or having made 7/8 RH props makes it an overly expansive proposition.
Then you look at the size of the collection of props in Rankins trailer and the reality of it slams home. Knowing that each one of them has an extremely short life span makes it even more daunting.
I don't know how much shorter life the shaft is over a 1" shaft. They see less than 700 HP. How much worse is that than some heavy ass GNs kicking out 1000+ in rough water. And there a couple running 1" shafts with reasonable success.
But the cost of relatively short lived 7/8th props just scrub some lift and drag seems a little over the top. But I have talked to guys that have switched from 1" to 1 1/8 shafts in a heavy v bottom, and they swear they can tell the difference. So in a little flattie, who knows the real effect.