# Jack Plate, Pros / Cons ?



## Charger25 (Sep 13, 2013)

I've had a few bass boats with jack plates that had 150 to 200 hp motors hanging on the back so I know and am familiar with the performance gains. I did the search before posting but didn't find what I was looking for. 
My question is , do the jack plates really make a difference on a smaller boat?
Is it worth the effort?
How much do they affect the handling? Better / worst?


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## therobzilla (Sep 14, 2013)

I went through the same questions myself, was it worth it in the long run, Absolutely. I have been able to tweak my boat/motor setup to get maximum speed, vs. proper RPM range, vs. maximum horsepower. 

Overall I won't do a boat without one now. It cost me maybe $20.00 to make mine and about 3 total hours and most of that was waiting on the Spar to dry. 

here is a link to my setup.

https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=31764


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## lckstckn2smknbrls (Sep 14, 2013)

I have a TH Mini Jacker on my 1436 jon and I love it. My motor is a longer short shaft 1983 25 hp Mariner and the river I'm on is shallow.


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## Charger25 (Sep 15, 2013)

Well the anti cavitation plate sits about 1 1/2 to 2'' lower that the keel on the 1448 jon. As it sits right now,it will run 19 mph loaded w/all the fishing gear,cooler,10 lb anchor, batt n trolling motor and 2 people. 15 hp w/ 9 1/4 X 8 prop

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My projects have a way of snowballing into the extreme. For example,I WAS going to build a small chicken coop,but it turned into this monstrosity thats 10' x 16' run with an 4' x 8' x 6' elevated coop on WHEELS none the less. :shock: 
That being said ,I'm wondering if I should just be happy with the performance of it and leave it alone.


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## lckstckn2smknbrls (Sep 15, 2013)

You can make a hard wood spacer about 1" thick and put it on top of the transom then put the motor on. Give this a try if it improves the speed and handling of the boat try a thicker spacer, if you can safely mount the motor. This will tell you if a jack plate will be beneficial to you set up.


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## Charger25 (Sep 16, 2013)

therobzilla , yep I read your thread with interest and really like the way it turned out. 

lckstckn2smknbrls, that's a good idea about the 1'' spacer. I don't think I can go higher and still safely clamp the motor on. They changed my hours at work :evil: :evil: and I won't be able to try that till next week. 
Another question comes to mind, with the 3'' or so set back is it more difficult to reach back to turn or is it just a learning curve to over come?


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## shawnfish (Sep 18, 2013)

[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=329182#p329182 said:


> Charger25 » 13 Sep 2013, 06:59[/url]"]I've had a few bass boats with jack plates that had 150 to 200 hp motors hanging on the back so I know and am familiar with the performance gains. I did the search before posting but didn't find what I was looking for.
> My question is , do the jack plates really make a difference on a smaller boat?
> Is it worth the effort?
> How much do they affect the handling? Better / worst?



from the looks of your cav plate raising it up level with your hull will make a big difference. like the other poster said you can rig a piece of 2x2 to the top of your transom to get the rise you want. you can attatch it so your motor will clamp on there safely, ya gotta remember your motor only weighs about 50 or so lbs so its doable without an engineering degree lol! all boat/motor set ups are different but you always wanna start with ur cav plate level with your hull. on my boat I mounted mine(after some trial and error) so my plates a bit more than an inch and a half above my hull to get every bit of performance from my motor. just be careful going higher than your hull because theres a fine line between just right and too high. too high and you risk water not getting to your intake and burning your motor up or you could get your prop in the air bubbles rolling off your hull and then you will loose the props grip and be running too many rpm's and damage your motor.
as for the motor sitting back 3 inches with a jack plate I cant imagine you would even notice the difference after a couple days if you notice anything at all, as in reach that is.....


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## Whoopbass (Sep 19, 2013)

I built one for my 15' Gregor V-hull with a 25hp Evinrude.
I don't think it done much although it did look cool. If you make one make sure you get 4" angled aluminum. If you go smaller the motors transom clamps could hit your transom.
The additional set back was kind of a pain to reach back the few extra inches but it wasn't a deal breaker.


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## Charger25 (Oct 10, 2013)

lckstckn2smknbrls said:


> You can make a hard wood spacer about 1" thick and put it on top of the transom then put the motor on. Give this a try if it improves the speed and handling of the boat try a thicker spacer, if you can safely mount the motor. This will tell you if a jack plate will be beneficial to you set up.



Well I know its been a while but I hate threads left open. I was able to run it with an approximately 1'' spacer under the clamps. I made a few runs with out the spacer . Boat loaded with one person and gear. It got up to 20 mph consistently. Pulled over to the shore ,installed the wood spacer,made a few more runs, got 21 to 22 mph. The boat "seemed" to get on plane faster and felt like it rode higher out of the water. 
It also was more responsive in turns, meaning it "felt" like it took less movement on the tiller handle to get it to turn. Which would be a good thing in the Mattaponi River where I fish. If you google maps you'll see a winding ,twisting river near Aylett ,where I fish. 
Don't know the RPM's ,cause I HAD a tiny tach, but stupid me dropped the TM battery on it and broke it. #-o 
But due to circumstances though, this "maybe" project is going on hold for now.


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