Is my motor way too low?

[keosports]

well just got back in from trying to raise my motor and I lost 500rpms and 5mph...this fine tuning is getting really frustrating

[DRock]

Raised mine today. I plan to try it out after work one night this week. Let me know how it looks to you guys.

[wwind3]

still looks 6 inches too low--cavitation plate justabove prop should be even with bottom of transom mount.

You are gonna need a jack plate or a shorter shaft motor.

[DRock]

I agree that it does still look low. I"m actually going to go try it right now. I'm going to look at the plate while riding down the lake and hopefully get a few good pics of it.

[DRock]

Just got back from a test run. It did better than it ever has. Steering was lighter, splash not as bad, and a new best top speed. No signs of prop slip, and the motor is still too low. I also ran out of prop today as i spun it atleast 6100rpms today. New best speed is 28mph gps(speedo said 30.5) with just me, and 27mph gps with 2 on board. My previous best was 25mph.

I'm going to buy a jack plate and another prop. I currently have a SS Solas 13.5x13 4 blade. I'm going to try a 13.5x15 3 blade and see what happens. I think between the jack plate and prop, that i'll get to 30mph gps. (i tried a 13.5x15 prop in the past and it's about 1mph faster than my 4 blade, even back then. But back then the rpms were a pinch too low, should be perfect now). I then plan to underskin at some point, so i may be able to get a pinch over 30mph.

Here's some pics and a video from today, you can see that 's still clearly too low:





This is a video:

[MPosey519]

To properly set your engine height have a look at the photos in the below propping thread. You can certainly move it up to start but you will want to look at it while the boat is cruising to get it just right.

http://www.veradoclub.com/smf/index.php?topic=137.0

Good luck!

Thanks for this!! Info I didn't know I needed

[DRock]

Ordered my jack plate and another prop. What do you guys think i should start with as far as height? Cavitation plate the same height as the bottom of the transom or maybe try it an inch or so below to start with?

[Bryden24shp]

Did you buy a Hydraulic or manual jack plate?

[DRock]

Did you buy a Hydraulic or manual jack plate?

Manual

[wwind3]

start out even with bottom of transon--try for a smooth flow of water from transom past underside of cavitation plate--I liken it to airflow over an aircraft wing---too much turbulence above the plate and you stall.

[DRock]

10-4 Thanks for the advice! Hopefully she has a little left in her

[DRock]

I have installed the jackplate. It has 3" of set back and 4" of vertical movement. I had to modify the bottom of it because it was sticking below the transom. I may be able to take more off of it depending on how the height works out.

As she sits right now, the cavitation plate is 1.5" below the transom. I want to try it at this height first to make sure i don't get prop blow out. My steering and throttle cables are also almost out of "rope". If i need to, i may be able to get it up another inch. So far, i've raised the motor 8 1/4".

I plan to try it out in the morning. Thoughts?

[tuned]

Looks much better to me now. Another thing to consider when using the plate. You have moved your motor sternward, which gives the water coming off of your pod several inches to rise. You may need to go higher yet as a result.

The manual plate that I ran on my last toon was a great asset when dialing in. Once you get close, you might wish to consider deliberately setting it too high (be careful with your revs). Then lower it until it hooks up and you should be right where you want to be. Different props will alter this point a bit. I can't tell you how many times I changed the height on that thing.

Final note on that plate. It originally caught water in between the two sliding plates and shot water straight up in front of the motor about ten feet high! I ended up making an aluminum 'skid plate' and bolting it on the bottom of the jack.

[DRock]

Looks much better to me now. Another thing to consider when using the plate. You have moved your motor sternward, which gives the water coming off of your pod several inches to rise. You may need to go higher yet as a result.

The manual plate that I ran on my last toon was a great asset when dialing in. Once you get close, you might wish to consider deliberately setting it too high (be careful with your revs). Then lower it until it hooks up and you should be right where you want to be. Different props will alter this point a bit. I can't tell you how many times I changed the height on that thing.

Final note on that plate. It originally caught water in between the two sliding plates and shot water straight up in front of the motor about ten feet high! I ended up making an aluminum 'skid plate' and bolting it on the bottom of the jack.

Thanks for your input! As far as height goes, i have the jackplate within 1/4" of being maxed out, and i have 1 hole left on the motor mount to go up. My steering and throttle cables can't move much more. I've pulled all of the extra "slack" out of both sets of cables from the captains chair all the way back to get it as high as i have. If it doesn't blow out tomorrow i may come back and try that last hole on the motor as long as my cables have a pinch of slack left.

I was thinking the exact same thing about a skid plate to bridge the gap between the transom and the other end of the jack plate. The rear of the plate is pretty high in relation to the transom, but i'll keep an eye on that in the morning when i test her out.

[DRock]

Well I just got back from the test run. All in all i'm very pleased. The conditions were not as good today as they were last week but i still wanted to try her out. Last week there was zero wind, and glass conditions on the water. This week was windy with some chop. I think the height is pretty darn close. I can see the cavitation plate while riding down the lake. It may have a spray of water going above it but i'm going to leave it alone until i make sure i have no steering or throttle cable problems. I had to trim down when coming out of the hole because it would try to slip on very hard acceleration. I could then trim up once i got going. I also want to make sure it doesn't blow out with more load on the boat. The throttle cable seemed a pinch tighter(more responsive to movement than it used to be). I'll see how that pans out with my 3 day trip to the lake next weekend.

The boat seemed to have been more "freed up" today than it ever has with the height adjustment. Once above 20 mph if felt like the boat was gliding through the water instead of plowing. It also seemed to be riding higher? Not sure if it is or not but it felt like it.

With the raised engine height, and going up to a 13.5x15p prop, i was able to hit 30mph gps today with myself on board. I went both directions and hit 30mph gps both ways(I wanted to make sure the wind wasn't helping me!). With 2 on board i hit 29mph gps. I was taching 5600-5700rpm today so i'm going to leave the prop alone. That means i gained 2mph from the last time i had it out. It may have a little left in her with glass conditions? We'll have to wait and see.

I'm happy to be in the 30mph 2 toon club now! The only 2 things i have left to do are: Underskinning and possibly getting my ECU flashed to 115hp by Simon motorsports.

Here are a couple pics and a short video, let me know what you guys think:

VIDEO: