jackplate on aluminum boat ?

[meanmuskie]

i'm running a princecraft pro 169 with a 90 etec . 16' 2'' , 80'' beam. Will i benifit with a jackplate (top speed )?

[mikemicropterus]

With the right prop and engine height 3 to 5 mph easily and maybe as much as 7mph faster plus the boat wil handle like a longer boat.

[furious]

Just be careful you are not voiding warranty by putting it on. A dealer down my way sent a couple of Princecrafts back to the factory after 1 season with 6 inch plates rigged by him him a few years ago. The transoms were separtaing and pulling off the side's of the hull. Some aluminums can't take it like a fibreglass hull can.

[meanmuskie]

mike you told me exactaly what i wanted to hear . have you installed jackplates on princecrafts or know others who have ? i'm thinking about a TH marine pro hi-jacker 6'' . i'm also going to strengthen the transom . also after installation , do i shoot for 3.5'' prop to pad like a bass boat ?thanks

[furious]

You should start by measuring engine height. Start lower than 3.5 inches. Say around 5 inches would be good. Make sure you have a water pressure guage on the boat, or if you have a Merc with Smart Craft it should show on the display. Don't let the pressure get below 12 pounds at WOT. Raise the motor in small increments, 1/4 inch at a time is pretty safe. Make sure you have a GPS to accurately measure speed. You should see your RPM's and speed increasing as you lift your motor. When your pressure starts to drop and your rooster tail is getting higher than the top of the engine cowling after trimming, Stop! Lower it down a 1/4 inch and you should be done. You may need to go up a pitch in prop to keep your RPM's in line and that is good, you will be going faster.

Let us know how it turns out.

[furious]

Oh yeah I forgot. I have had a T&H Hi Jacker in the past and while it did the job, it was a pain to adjust and the side bolts would come loose constantly. I have an manual aluminum CMC Power Lift 6 inch on my Ranger and it is the cats butt. It is by far the easiest plate to adjust next to a hydraulic that I have ever seen. You can get them at West Marine for $279.99, if your boat is new to you in the last 30 days you can get 10% off that price. Just get your dealer or mike to put it on for you. I think he has a marine service business??

[meanmuskie]

thanks furious ,i installed a water pressure guage today. i will check out the cmc jack plate.

[meanmuskie]

my jackplate came in and i will have it installed next week. i ended up with a th-marine pro hijacker because i wanted to purchase from my local dealer . i'm going to see how she runs and then try some stainless props.

[furious]

Good Luck keep us informed, by the way how fast is it running on GPS now?

[meanmuskie]

right now she runs 37-38 mph. mounted on 2nd hole from top with 2 adults. i think she would have run faster moving up another hole . ultimately the jackplate and right prop should give me some good mph #s.

[furious]

That's pretty good right now, a stainless prop on it's own would give you a decent increase, but add the plate as well and you will notice a big difference. The nice thing about the T/H Marine plates is they have a part called the Hole Shot plate. It goes on the bottom of the jackplate and minimizes water drag on holeshot, that makes a big difference. That may also allow you to use a n even higher pitch prop, providing your rpm's are not too low.

[meanmuskie]

jackplate is installed ! also picked up a ss prop (apollo by michigan wheel) 13 1/8 x 19 . as soon as i get some time to test i will post results. the apollo props are 1/2 the price of a raker. hope they work well.

[furious]

Sounds good, that prop should work fine with that setup.

Good Luck!!

[furious]

Sounds good, that prop should work fine with that setup.

Good Luck!!

[eye-tracker]

I am no expert on props or jackplates, but I have seen a few different setups on tin walleye boats. The shape of most standard deep V hulls with out a set back would place the prop in turbulent water, which causes the prop to loose bite. I was just wondering how much more you can get out of a standard hull design by adding a jackplate?

I know most walleye boats with 25" XL shaft motors use jackplates to lower the motor down for more bite in rough conditions on the great lakes.

Lot's of good info in this post as you do not see a lot of info on jack plates on tin boats.

-Sheldon Hatch