Manual Jack Plate help

[chesney1603]

I have a 1989 Bass Tracker (fiberglass) with a Johnson 150 GT. I bought it a year ago and have been really happy with it. Currently I'm running a 24 Raker on her. The problem I have is I'm not sure if it's set up properly. GPS has me at 58-60 mph (glass water) with half a tank of gas with just me in the boat. With my fishing buddy we drop down to 55 mph. WOT is 5000-5500. Not sure if its reading correctly. What should I do with the jack plate to make sure it's set up correctly? Thank you my fellow boating friends.

[Slipkey]

The easiest way to set up a manual plate is to initially set the cavitation plate level with the bottom of the pad. Then do trial runs, raising the plate in 1/4" increments until you see it affect your water pressure or the boat starts to porpoise at WOT. Then drop it down 1/8" and you should be in your sweet spot for top end.  That won't necessarily equal your sweet spot for holeshot and ride, but if you make notes in your tests, you'll have a pretty good approximation of your middle ground.  Good luck!

[chesney1603]

I'm not sure how to adjust the jack plate. There are two bolts on either side of it, with one big one in the middle behind the motor. What do I do? I would post a pic of it, but I can't figure that out either. What the heck is wrong with me

[chesney1603]

The jack plate is an R&R Design, Inc. Slide Master 12" setback

[Slipkey]

Usually the middle one runs vertically, and raises/lowers the plate.  The two bolts on either side lock the position after you've set the height.  You can probably find the instruction manual (a handy thing to have, anyway) on R&R's website: http://www.rnrd.com/mpa.main.html

[chesney1603]

Thanks Slipkey. I figured thats how it worked, I was just afraid to loosen the side bolts. I didnt want to dump the motor on the ground. I finally built up the courage and did it. Raised it 1/4 inch. Gained 3mph on GPS

[Slipkey]

Excellent!

[Lightningboy]

Do you have a water pressure guage?  You really should get one if you don't. 

With one, you can keep raising the plate 1/4 inch at a time, and watch the pressure at top end.  Keep doing it till you see the pressure drop too low.  I believe the minimum for that motor is 18 psi at full throttle.  Once you hit minimum, move it back up 1/4 inch. 

You may have to balance how high you can go with your holeshot.  Some rigs won't bite water if you've got the motor too high.

Of course, you could always swap for a hydraulic plate...

[djkimmel]

I'm not sure how to adjust the jack plate. There are two bolts on either side of it, with one big one in the middle behind the motor. What do I do? I would post a pic of it, but I can't figure that out either. What the heck is wrong with me

Check out the General Support forum for several so-easy-a-caveman-could-do-it topics on how to add pictures to your posts.