If you have never run a jackplate I would highly recomend trying to run a boat that has one already before you buy one especially a manual one,adjusting it to find the sweetspot will be a royal pain!!
I am wanting to put a jack plate on my boat can anyone give my a good brand? Im not looking to spend a fortune just wanting a good manual jack plate. THANKS
can't catch'em at home
If you have never run a jackplate I would highly recomend trying to run a boat that has one already before you buy one especially a manual one,adjusting it to find the sweetspot will be a royal pain!!
Bob's for manual & Detwiler for hydraulic
You're backing up if you are waiting on me
CMC on Amazon is $248 with free shipping. Looks out of stock right now but will have some soon I'm sure
http://www.amazon.com/5-5-Inch-Manua...8063729&sr=1-1
Vance is the best bang for your buck. I put one on my boat and it is a good quality piece. If you don't already have a water pressure gauge on your boat I would strongly suggest you add one at the same time you install the plate. You need to be able to monitor it after you make adjustments to make sure you are still getting adequate water to the engine. Finding the sweet spot is really not all that hard just takes a little time and some trial and error. You can do it in one afternoon and once you get it setup you just leave it there. It helps if you have an idea of a good starting point. You can get an idea by talking to other guys running the same boat you are and starting just a little lower than they are running theirs and working up in half inch increments. Write down your RPMs, speed, and any other notes such as water pressure, holeshot time, etc. Then make adjustments and take notes again. Once you get to the point that RPMs go up but speed does not you have gone past your "sweet spot". Drop it back down a 1/2" and leave it. Also, if you get to the point where you lose water pressure you have gone as far as you can go without lower mods which won't be worth the trouble unless you are running a lot of horsepower on a light high performance hull. Hope this helps.
Last edited by Slab Junkie; 02-18-2012 at 11:20 PM.
Slab Junkie:
The Vance Manufacturing web site you mentioned had quit a few products....thanks for mentioning them.....I ordered a couple of their products after going there. Very reasonable also.
I must admit the 3in jackplate looked very solid and with the large center line adjustment screw it would be easy to find the sweet spot then lock it down. Didn't order it but looking at it.
I am running a 6" Vance on my current boat. I had a Slidemaster on my last boat. The Vance is built just as well. It is a little more work to adjust up and down due to the fact that is has three bolts on each side to loosen before you can adjust is vertically but it's not that big of deal and it's a very well built for the money.
It will all depend on what boat you have. Different manufactures have different plates they recommend. A manual plate is easy to set up. Set it at 3 1/2 inchs and raise it up 1/2 inch per run till you loose water pressure or speed drops off. Motor brand and year and boat year make and model would help with more information.
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It would be interesting to know what boat you have and how much HP.