motor heights and jackplates

[jigtugger]

What height are most of you running your motors at? Lowest position, one hole up, two or three up? I'm thinking about raising mine from 1 up to the 2 or 3, and am looking for results from others who may have done the same. My rig is a bit bow heavy and I am curious to what impact the move will have on the bow and the general handling of the boat. Also, I currently have no cavitation problems(new stiletto really grabs) even when fully trimmed up so it seems like I will be able to keep enough bite on the water if I raise it. Anyone go through the same thing?

[REW]

Go up 5 holes -
If it blows out - go to 4 holes.
If it blows out - go to 3 holes.
If it blows out - go to 2 holes.
If it blows out - go to 1 hole.

I have found that nearly all boats perform better with the motor raised.
If you go to the top hole - and it works - you are done.
If it doesn't work - i.e. blow out - keep dropping the motor until you only get blow out under the worst condition and leave it there.

If you don't go to the top hole - you will never know if you could have gained more by raising it.

The converse is also true - you can raise it one hole at a time -until it blows out too much - then drop it back down one hole.

Perhaps the best thing to do - if you are interested in fixing your problem - and also allowing you to try different props - remember different props are going to hook up differently - and that is to put on a shallow setback manual jackplate.

You can get a 2 inch setback jackplate - manual for about $100.

Use the same mounting pattern, and same bolt holes as you already have for your motor.

Then with a single wrench - and while still in your boat - you can raise and lower the motor to your hearts content.

In just a few minutes - you can dial in your motor just right.

Then, you can also change your motor height - if you need to for running really rough water. If you are running big waves - most folks want their motor as low as possible because you are never going to be going faster than about 10 mph in really heavy water - and you want the best hookup possible - even when cresting 6 foot waves.

With the manual jackplate - if you want - you can raise and lower your motor at will.

Also - if you use a shallow setback jackplate - you will little change the weight distribution of your boat.

However, since you mention that you have a fairly significantly bow heavy boat - I would probably go with the manual 6 inch setback jackplate.

This will give you the best of both worlds - the ability to raise and lower your motor to "dial it in"; and also move the weight of a 200-400 lb engine back 6 inches - to lessen the load on the bow of the boat. Should work very well indeed.

Before moving your motor back however, please check with the manufacturer of your boat - to insure that your transom can handle the stress.

The further you move the motor back - i.e. deeper and deeper jackplates, the greater the stress on the transom. Simple physics indicates that you have a larger and larger lever arm - and you move your motor rearward.

Take care

REW

[RMB]

There is a wonderful article in this issue of Walleye&BAss Boat magazine that addresses jackplates and setbacks and even has some stress performance tables for different motor profiles. Definately an issue I'm going to hang onto. First place I'd start is with the manufacturer and ask for all the info I could get on deadrise of the hull and what is warranty acceptable. Also, depending on what boat/motor combo your running as well as if the rigger did it right the first time will greatly determine if it's even worth messing with. A prop change might be all that's in order. Good luck with it. It's still fun to mess around and learn stuff though even if nothing comes of it. Man I wish the lakes were open! Oh well, back to dreamin!

[Scott D]

Jigtugger, thanks for asking the question and thanks REW for the answer. REW, it always makes sense what you say. You may have noticed the thread that I started about the Triton and jackplates. I can't seem to get anyone pinned down on the height of their motors. I will try raising it like REW suggested and see what happens.

Does anyone have any tips regarding how to go about the job of hoisting the motor?