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Member
Posts: 19
| I am getting a 1890 tuffy with 200 on it. My question is do any of you guys have a jackplate on your boat and what are the benefits to having one? Thanks Steve |
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Member
Posts: 3899
| I don't run one. Not sure if you're going to get enough additional performance to justify the cost.
If you're going to get one, get one that you can raise and lower hydraulically. A static plate just isn't worth it. |
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Member
Posts: 49
| I do run a jackplate on a 2060. I have had a jackplate on my last 4 boats, I would not run a hi performance boat without one. a cmc hyd lift runs about $600 . It will give you additional speed if you prop correctly , it will allow you to run safer in shallower water , A jackplate allows you to manipulate trim and lift for optimum running in every situation. Using a Jackplate is not something every boat operator can do with out some seat time but every boater that can use a tilt and trim can learn to use a Jackplate. If you decide to run a plate a water pressure guage and temp guage are vital must haves if you are running a merc Smart guage does the trick. You will find you can use more prop with a jackplate. Some props like to run high on a tuffy (tempest) some like it lower (high five) I find on my 2060 a 25inch Thropy plus modified progressive pitch gives me the best of both worlds and runs faster than a tempest without a jackplate, In any case the jackplate lets me run all of them well. |
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Member
Posts: 102
| I've got a 5.5" setback CMC hydraulic plate on my X-190. It sure lets you tune in to the best possible level to run in a hurry. All you need to do is watch the water pressure, speed and rpms and you can easily see the perfect height for the load and prop. I've got a 25" shaft motor on the 25" transom and am running it higher than you could mount it with just the holes on the bracket most of the time. I figured I could have gotten by with a 20" shaft motor, maybe, but this way I know for sure I can get it set perfect as the plate gives you about 8" of range using the slide and different mounting holes. You can also run in shallower water with the motor trimmed down farther as another advantage.
I can see a couple of tenths of a mile per gallon difference when you tune in on your cruising speed. Obviously this doesn't mean squat if you are just balls to the wall and shut it down in a minute. But in Ontario where you have some decent sized lakes, you may be saving yourself some meaningful cash by the end of your trip if you make long runs each day to and from spots.
Besides the advange of setting height, it also lets you get the nose up better, giving the motor more leverage from being farther back. With my setup, I needed as much trim as I could get when I opened it up and could still use more as I'm not even close to porpoising at WOT.
Only drawback is if you slam on the brakes when you see a rock bar screaming up at you out of the depths, or a floating log you can get water to wash over the back into the boat from the weight back that far. You learn to feather the speed when you drop off plane to fix this after a wet carpet or two.
It's a toy, like a color graph, graphite rods, GPS, and a stainless prop. You can live without any of them, but why if you can afford them? |
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Member
Posts: 19
| Thanks guys it is something to think about. So you have to watch the water pressure and temp gauge? So for the question but I have never had a boat with one or been in one with one. What are you looking for in the water pressure. I would think the temp gauge would be to make sure it does not get to hot. I would think you would listen to the motor sound and boat for the proper place like i do when I trim and tilt with my motor now? Is it not that simple? THanks Steve |
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Member
Posts: 102
| You look up the data for your motor as different motors have different specs. For example, my older 2.6L E-TEC 200 specs called for a minimum of around 20psi WOT while my current 3.3L 200HO specs at 15psi WOT. These are the minimum pressures you want to see. They can easily run over that with no harm but you never want to run under what it is speced. The pressure starts much lower at idle and ramps up with the rpms. There are charts for the motors that tell you what you should have at each rpm range.
I don't worry about the temp that much as the motor has an alarm and will automatically shut down to a "safe" operating mode until the temp subsides in case of overheating. If you watch the pressure the temp should never get out of control. The hottest temps come when you are idling on my rig.
I watch the speed vs. rpm more closely than temp. As you raise the motor the rpms increase from lessened resistance. The speed will go up with the rpms to a certain point and then the prop will start to let loose. The rpms will continue to climb but the speed will actually start to drop. You want to find the highest setting where the rpms are at a minimum for the maximum speed. For example with my rig you might turn 6000 rpm with a 21 pitch prop at a certain height while running 60mph. You can also turn 6100rpms at 58mph when you raise the motor higher. Lower, you can run 59mph at about 5900rpms too. So the best would be the height that gives you the highest mph for the lowest rpm. Likewise in the mid rpms. You might be cruising at 45mph, lower the plate a little and actually pick up speed while the rpms drop because the prop is getting a better bite giving you better economy.
BUT, you should always be at the minimum speced water pressure or higher. It takes a little bit of tinkering with the gage setups. I run 2 4" I-Command digital gages and you can configure them any way you want to display just the information you want to see. Usually my right gage shows tach and GPS speed while the left gage shows waterpressure, temp, and maybe some fuel flow data. The digital gages are unbelieveable. Push a button and they display an entirely different set of data that you choose. The only drawback is they are very dim in very cold weather until they warm up after about two minutes.
All in all a really neat toy! (And then you can play with the props some more  )
Edited by Almost-B-Good 4/14/2010 7:10 AM
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Member
Posts: 49
| check this out, http://bbcboards.zeroforum.com/zerothread/25496 , this will explain the reason for watching the engine temp better than I can . You are going to enjoy the options a jackplate gives you for all of the previously stated reasons the responses here were all dead on . |
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Member
Posts: 19
| THanks that was a good read. |
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| What would be the speed increase for a 1890 with a jackplate on it. I also have a 1890 and was thinking about getting one if it will make a big enough performance increase.
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