Talon 3pc Jack Plate Dimensions

[psygnal11]

I've looked just about everywhere I can think online, and I can't find anything showing the dimensions of the 3-pc. jack plate mount for the Talon. I have a sponson-type stern and I want to make sure the Talon will have enough clearance.

Specifically, I'm looking for the distance between a) the center of the mounting surface (the jackplate side) to the first knuckle (red line), b) the center of the first knuckle to the center of the second knuckle (purple line) and c) the rise between the top of the first knuckle and the top of the second knuckle (green line). In 2D terms, a) and b) should be measured from an overhead view, and c) should be measured from an elevation view.

[JR19]

I can take the measurements but it will be tomorrow or possibly this weekend...I really think you will have no issues because I have never heard of a bass boat that could not make the universal mount work due to the sponsons being in the way. Skeeter boats have sponsons that are much larger than typical bass boats and the universal mount works just fine on Skeeter boats. The universal jack plate side mount like what is in the picture has a lot of height and angle adjustments hence the name "universal" mount. Out of curiosity exactly what hull and jack plate will you be using this mount on.

[kry29]

What boat brand and model. Someone here may have already done the homework

[psygnal11]

2016 Tahoe 550. 8” Slidemaster jackplate.

[JR19]

Red 3-3/4"
Purple 12"
Green was hard to measure...looking at the picture on the right hand side where the black line is over the vertical hole I put a straight edge over that hole. Then I measured from the straight edge down to the top of the lower horizontal hole. That should be the measurement of the green line. Without something lying on top of the vertical hole I was just measuring or guessing out in open air. I needed the straight edge to have a reference point. Hopefully that explains how I got the measurement of 5-1/4"

The universal Talon side jack plate mount will bolt directly to the side of a Slidemaster jackplate per the information I found the Minn Kota website. When installing my Talons I had no jack plate so I installed a jack plate to have something to mount to. There might be more but I specifically remember 3 models they bolt directly to with no issues. TH Marine ZLock manual jackplate, TH Marine Atlas hydraulic jackplate and Slidemaster manual jackplate.

Tahoe 550 is a pleasure boat. Due to lack of people having them on pleasure boat hulls there is very little informatoion out there about any issues if there is any at all. I do know Skeeter bass boats have a larger than normal sponson compared to other bass boats and they have no issues mounting the talon universal side mount plate. As previously mentioned the plate has multiple slots that allow for many different angles. Plus it has two different holes for height adjustment.

Hopefully my info helps

[psygnal11]

Thanks, JR.... this is great information. I took some measurements on my boat, and it looked like I would be ok if red + purple was at least 16” to maintain an inch or two of clearance on the rear of the sponson. I appreciate you taking the time, but unfortunately, it looks like the only way I’m going to know for sure is to buy a jack plate mount and slap it on there.

Oh, and every boat is a pleasure boat when you’re catching fish!

[JR19]

I feel confident my red and purple measurements are correct. Green was the only one I had issues making. Hopefully it works out for you...and yes I agree every boat is a pleasure if your catching fish

[psygnal11]

Granted, I'm probably the only one crazy enough to trick out a Tahoe FnS with a Talon, but just in case someone else decides to follow in my madness, here goes...

12' Talon is a tight fit (like trying to fit into a 7mm wetsuit you haven't worn in 15 years "tight") on the (Tracker) Tahoe 550 TS/TF, with one catch: using the jackplate adapter, the only place it will install is underneath the port sponson platform by installing everything on its lowest possible setting; however, the mounting bracket that comes with the Talon (which attaches to the jackplate adapter) has just enough depth to clear the rear of the sponson. This means that a) the tilt bracket is useless and b) the bottom of the Talon will sit in the water at idle (the blue line in the picture below shows the approx. waterline at idle). However, no part of the Talon or the bracket is in the water on plane, and to be honest, I haven't noticed any loss on hole shot.

The mounting bracket clears the bottom of the sponson by about an inch and the Talon, when mounted, clears the rear of the sponson by half an inch. All of the mounting hardware is very sturdy with minimal flex (maybe a cm at most), so these clearances didn't present any problems when I put it through the "stress test" this weekend (i.e. no contact was made). The only mandated clearances in the manual are to the mounting surface (6" - N/A since using the jackplate adapter), to the bottom of the hull (4" - OK), and the outboard (2-3" - OK).

A couple of additional notes: 1) as installed, the top of the Talon sits well below the top of the windshield at the console, so overhead clearance is not an issue in the water, and 2) in order to gain the half inch of clearance to the sponson noted above, the mounting bracket is set to the middle setting, which results in the Talon going into the bottom at 85 degrees... to get perpendicular, you'd have to adjust to the second setting from the outside of the bracket (each setting appears to be +/- 5 degrees), which would tilt the body of the Talon just enough that it would make barely make contact with the sponson at idle, if not while in motion. I haven't done the math, but I think this effectively turns my 12' Talon into a 11'11.5" Talon.

In theory, you could put a second Talon on the starboard side because everything is symmetrical, but you would lose function of the ladder.

[kry29]

As long as it's not dragging in the water on plane you should be good. That is an awkward spot to mount one. Almost looks like you could have put the jackplate part on as high as possible and flipped the middle bracket upside down if you wanted to. Looks good though

[JR19]

As mentioned in reply #2 the universal mount is truly universal. I see you also noticed it is built like a tank. They are heavy but I have yet to hear of anyone breaking one. Thanks for the report back. This is what I enjoy the most about BBC. Often time people come on and ask for advice but never report back their results. Thanks for the input just in case someone else needs to know.

[psygnal11]

As long as it's not dragging in the water on plane you should be good. That is an awkward spot to mount one. Almost looks like you could have put the jackplate part on as high as possible and flipped the middle bracket upside down if you wanted to. Looks good though

As soon as I realized I couldn't get the angle from the knuckle to clear the rear in the upright position, I flipped the middle part and tried to do exactly that but the curve on the middle piece couldn't clear the sponson from the highest position on the jackplate. I was limited on where the adapter mounted on the jackplate because of where the holes are, but basically, from the highest position on the jackplate, the next stop down was a couple inches. So an upside-down middle piece meant the mounting bracket would have been at least an inch lower than where it is now, and for obvious reasons (leverage), I was much more concerned with keeping as much of the Talon side of the adapter out of the water at idle than the adapter submersion on the jackplate side.

It isn't pretty, but it works... and it looks pretty damn good if I say so myself.