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What to go with man or hyd jack plate?

on the Diplomat that Daren34 had, we rarely kept the plate in one position.
to pull slalom skiers, it had to be all the way down. but get everyone back in the boat and hit the gas, hit the plate switch, and start trimming
 
1980 Diplomat, johnson 2.0l loop charged 140 v4, cmc 6" hydraulic plate w/ motor mounted 1 hole from all the way up
13x22 raker 6300 rpm wfo
 
I prefer a power plate if budget allows, but the big deciding factor is if you tend to run a selection of props or dial in one and stick with it. I've found that some props are more sensitive than others to height. I like to run several diffrent props depending on the activity of the day.
If you decide to go with a menual plate I would look for one that is easily adjusted from inside the boat. When dialing in you can stop, make a quick adjustment and try again rather than going back to the launch and putting it back on the trailer for each tweak. A 1/2" can make a world of diffrence in handling more so than speed. The deeper the prop the worse the chine walk with some set ups.
Anouther intresting observance I've seen, The more set back you run the less need there is to lower the engine for pulling skiers and water toys. Espeacially with excessive set back.
F150GT
 
My budget is pretty low right now, but i think i'm going to wait and save for a hydraulic unit. I run my boat in all different water conditions. The lake i am on can turn from glass to kidney bleadingly choppy in a mater of minutes. So I think that waiting for a hyrdraulic will be better than just getting a manual one to get buy for the time being.

As far as the set back is conserned i've seen a lot of predictors runing in the 5 - 6" range and getiing some awsome results/
 
It depends on a lot of factors, I ran a manual on my old checkmate and it was fine, I bought a starflite with a hyrdaulic and it did not bennefit from it. All the way up or down did not effect the takeoff much at all. I took the power one off, put on my manual with some extensions and that made a huge difference. Less weight, and more setback was perfect for my starflite with a high reving 2.4 with a 22P chopper. It takes off as fast as my friends jet boat and I never mess with it, adjusting it down has no bennefit. I don't pull skiers but I am sure I could, it would probably yank them right off of their skis, I pull tubers and the only negative is some spray from the rooster, we just wear goggles.

Also I think that hyrdaulic steering would be money better spent, at high speeds with a big engine and jacked up = tons of torque steer, takes all my strength to keep it steady, hyrdaulic would not only be safer but probably give me a couple mph because of the increased control. -shane
 
Ya, he still has it. I talked to him, and because it wasn't sold he was going to wait for the spring and advertise it again. But he wants to sell it, so make him an offer now if you think it will work for you. Being an older style universal plate it will fit even the old in-line Mercs.
In the end I opted for a Slidemaster which was a lot more money.
 
I called the number that was listed on that site but i got his voice mail. I left a message so i'm waiting for him to call me back.
What do u think that things worth cause $100 buck didn't sound so bad to me?

Where is he located do you know?
 
With all the talk on jack plates lately I have been thinking how much benefit I could get out of one my boat is a 79 trimate 2 with a 140 merc how much spacing should I have and how much would it help.
 
wark2 said:
I called the number that was listed on that site but i got his voice mail. I left a message so i'm waiting for him to call me back.
What do u think that things worth cause $100 buck didn't sound so bad to me?

Where is he located do you know?
Click to expand...

I think he was in the Peoria Illinois area, so shipping to Michigan should be resonable. I bet you can get it for $90-95. As far as an entry level JP, you are not going to get a better deal. I see junk on ebay selling for $150 and decent ones for $200. You can tell him the dude from Winnipeg put you onto it if you want.
 
Isn't peoria in indiana? Ya i have seen the same things on e bay so i'm gonna try this one if i can get ahold of this guy. if it dosent work for me i'll sell it and get another one. Thanks for the referal though i'lll keep trying to get a hold of the guy with the # that was posted on that site.
 
With all the talk on jack plates lately I have been thinking how much benefit I could get out of one my boat is a 79 trimate 2 with a 140 merc how much spacing should I have and how much would it help.
 
5-6" max. You are not going to gain a bunch of MPH. Maybe 1 or 2. But the hull is going to ride much better as the setback will help carry the bow. It will even turn better. As long as your transom is still good, there is no downside.
 
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