Prop to pad adjustment range with hydraulic jackplate

[lpugh]

So are your stumps and rockpiles different than the ones out here?
I could care less what you choose to run. Just offering my point of view to the op giving him the benefit of over forty years running high performance bass boats, as I said earlier, I have proven to myself that overall performance is better with the path I have chosen at a lower cost as well
For extremely heavy boats I would probably run one

[GEEBASS2000]

To respond to the original post if you are 1 inch blow all the way up that should be high enough for great performance, but at the same time you should not run the risk of low h20 psi if you run with it all the way up. My current set up has about the exact same prop to pad as you have both on the high and the low end and I have no plans to change it.


As far as all the posts of Hydro vs manual plates I have owned 5 bass boats 2 with manual and 3 with hydro plates and I also find the hydro of little use. I gave all 3 major brands of HYDRO plates a shot and all 3 failed with in one year. Two of the plates had seal failures and would slowly drop while running and one had a regulator fail and would only go up not down. The two manual plates I ran I would set them up 1/2 inch below best performance and never touch them again for the life of the boat. As far as running shallow I never once put my boat up on plane in any shallower water because I could raise it 4 or 5 inches.

[rocknemo]

One thing that's obvious, if you fish deep water and ocassionally get in some skinny water you don't need a hydraulic jackplate. Now on the other hand if you're fishing very skinny water the majority of time, like we do down here in Florida, there is zero question that a hydraulic jackplate is not only a great benefit, in a lot of situations its a necessity. During the winter months when its our dry season our lakes get crazy low, nothing the northern or west coast guys can even imagine. Deep water during our normal pool is 6ft, now take 3ft from that during the winter, 3ft is now our deep water. Most of our lakes our shallow dishpan lakes with no hard banks, just gradually sloping edges from the marshlands. For the last few months many lakes have docks you cant get out of, and many times you have to idle hundreds of yards just to find 18" of water to get on plane with. The hydraulic jackplate allows you to raise your prop above the pad and stay trimmed down to idle without bow rise through the wood and shell beds without destroying the cup edge on the prop. That alone is worth the price. And for the failures mentioned above, I know many guys that fish a Bob's jackplate that have had no issues what so ever, mine has been on my boat for 12 years, still performs like the day I put it on. So this argument is comparing apples to oranges, both sides are right in their situations, just don't try to tell the other guy that he is wrong in his. And another point, if every pro is running one, whats that tell you.

[tracer1]

All the OP asked was how to setup his JP, he never asked you or anyone else if you approved of his hydraulic JP. If you don't care for the hydraulic, so be it, who cares.

[hermanp]

2015 z9 with jp,buddy has new 520l ranger no jp.we take my z9 when low in lake.the North end is Very rocky.

[Gsmith223]

I went from a 8" manual to a 6" Atlas hydro. I left the PTP where it was at. I love having the ability to lift the plate up and snap right up on pad.

[skennedy]

I have owned several different brands of jack plates . My favorite so far is the atlas plate for its simplicity. The best part being that measuring sticker tape on the plate . When mine reads 2” on the tape I know I’m 3” below pad . The other Hyd jack plates I made a mark with a grease pin to mark 3” below pad . Gauges are nice but after years of use they will get off calibration. I quick glance back and I know where I’m at . A heavy bass boat loaded down will always benefit with a hyd J Pl .