Jackplate questions

I have a manual 6 inch jackplate, I havent ever used one before but it came with the boat I just bought. How do i adjust this? And can I do it in the water?


I'm running a '05 295 by stratos with a 05 200 horse ficht DI with 25 pitch Tempest.

I plan to set the motor initially at 3.5 inch below the pad and raise it up from there to find the best for top speed / psi / rpm. But having never used a jackplate before and not being able to find anything on google dealing with it asking for some help on here.

It would be hard to do while in the water. You probably have 3 bolts on each side of the plate, and 1 on the top. You first loosen the 6 on the sides and adjust using the jacking bolt on the top. You want to set it where you have good handling characteristics, good water psi, and you are not over revving your rpms. It won't take as much adjustment as you would think, a 1/2 inch will change alot. Make minor adjustments, run the boat, pull it out and tweak would be my suggestion.

How do you know it's not already setup to run optimally?

I was only getting about 63 mph out of it. Most setups run mid 70's. So i'd say something isn't setup right.

If you think it's not optimal you should raise it up in 1/4 in increments, raise it and drive it, until you hit the rev limiter, lose speed or water pressure, when it's right you should be close to max rpm, have good water pressure and your rooster tail should be right at the top or just over the top of the motor. I would also pull the prop and check to make sure you don't have a bunch of fishing line or something wrapped around the shaft.