Confused about jackplate

[boatcop]

i have a 2000 2200 with a 225 promax and a bobs hydro jackplate. i read about people raising the height of the engine to gain more speed. on my boat i have to have the engine almost to the top to get on plane. then i have to drop the engine to get the boat on the pad. the lower the engine the higher the boat gets on the pad. if i raise the engine i get off the pad. i have run almost every kind of prop with the same results. As for props, i have tried about every style and make and still cant get the right one. best prop yet is a 25 pitch high five. decent hole shot and lets engine get up to 6300 rpm and about 68 mph. 25 and 24 pitch trophys suck at holeshot. 25 pitch tempest sucks all around. 24 pitch turbo was ok at holeshot. i put about 3000 hrs a year on the water and have drove about every kind of boat out there. this boat has me stumped!!!!

[cowtrimmer]

sounds to me like you need a good custom built stern lifting prop like a bravo or a quad 4

[xlr8awb]

How much weight do you have in the nose of that boat?

[carolina killer]

Sounds to me like you need a prop with a lot of ventilation that runs high with more stern lift than bow lift.

[WDBrand]

Welcome to the BBC "boatcop"...........didn't see you name in your profile or I would have addressed you by name. You must be a boat pilot or something similar to put 3000 hrs a year on the water....thats a lot of hrs. You must really run heavy loads in your boat or you have motor and prop problems. A 24-25P should be about the right pitch, and I would think you could run low to mid 70's if motor is running like it should with a moderate load in the boat. I suggest you have your motor checked out by a Merc. Mechanic and if it checks out OK I would take all your gear out of the boat and run the 25 tempest and see how it performs, then post your results. The 225 promax is a very good motor but it performs best on boats with hull weight under 1400 lbs, your hull weight is around 1700 lbs.

[JWgambler]

I have a 2000 2200 that I also have to run the jackplate all the way up to get it on plane. Once it is breaking over I lower my plate to about half and it runs perfect. I am running a 26p stock temptest around 80 loaded, but my motor is a 250. I would susspect you should be doing better than 68 mph, sounds like motor problem to me.

No offense but how the hell are you able to spend almost 58 hours a week running your boat Did you maybe mean 300 hours a year?

[Boat Cop]

WBBrand. i am as my handle implies. i am a watercraft law enforcement officer for a major deparartment in AZ. I am one of 26 people assigned to this unit in a 800 man department. my entire job is working out of 22 to 25 foot Triton center console patrol boats for 10 hours a day. we are responsible for 6 lakes and 2 rivers here.

I have been around boats all of my life as my father owned 2 marine repair, OMC businesses when i was growing up. so i am very familiar with engines.

As for the weight factor i am running a medium load. unloaded a 25 trophy gets an alright holeshot and maxes out at 61 to 6200 rpms and top speed is about 71 to 73. as soon as the weight hits the boat like livewells full of water i darn near have to use the aid of a paddle to help it get on plane. i want a good prop that will get me on plane and get me some decent top end. as for speed i really dont care if it flys. i have done 92 in an Allison and 143 in a Skater. i have had my thrills and am still trying to remove seat parts from my rear. i just want the happy medium. heck, if i want to fly i would put a 300 on her. As for the engine it checks out perfect.

Has anyone ever used the Hill marine signature 5 blades??

[WDBrand]

Boatcop...........I bet that's a cool job to have
You really need a 3 litre to deliver the torque you need to get your heavy boat up and going when loaded. However, if you don't have any plans to repower the best 4-blade out there for a gambler with heavy loads is a Hydromotive Quad IV-X with 1 inch exhaust holes drilled. It is a square bore prop that will accept the Merc.hub kits. You can visit their website http://www.hydromotive.com and see the "Intimidator Quad IV-X". If speed were not an issue I suggest a 24P with the 1 inch exhaust holes. The larger diameter 4 blade props like the hydromotive will carry heavier loads better than others and their speed is not bad either. Mark Croxton from the "Props Forum" can fix you up with one and blueprint it for optimum performance, just tell him you have a 2200 like WDBrand and he will fix you up with one for that boat. He may disagree with my suggested pitch selection and suggest a 25P however my thinking is the 24P should give you a better hole shot.
Also, if you purchase the prop through Mark and have him blueprint, you can send it back to him for tweaking if it's not exactly what you're looking for..... the guy is great with props. Good Luck!

[Lea]

Have a friend who has Champ 198/225 Promax. It was a dog til Lee Sanderson, (Props4U2, Allison Boats Moderator) helped him out. Champs are heavy and the 2.5 was having problems. They swapped out the Torquemaster for a Sportmaster or vice versa...I don't remember which ( ) and the boat came alive! Lee sells and races Mercs and used to sell Gambler, so he knows the rigs! He can guide you for sure!

[Boat Cop]

WD, it is a good job, in the summer it gets very hectic, the lake i primarily work draws about 2 to 3000 boats a day on the weekends so from the time i get there till i go home it is nonstop boat rookies. i do get to get out of state for FEMA disasters though. i spent a little over a month in Louisiana for the hurricanes last year. it was pretty neat patrolling lake Charles and the shipping channels to the Gulf. it was a little scary being thrown in a boat alone and told to watch out if i leave the channels as a 5 mile wide lake is only 10 feet at it deepest with oyster fields, and gators.
As for the engine, i would like to have a 250 to a 300 on it but as life deals us trials and tribulations i know have 2 young foster children that were abused on top of my own 18year old son. we do what we can and live on.

Lea, i have the bullet type lower unit on my engine. I like you cant remember what type it is, the sportmaster or torquemaster

[WDBrand]

BoatCop............I guess out of 3000 boaters you have a number of dummies out there you have to deal with If the LU you are describing has the kinda sharp pointed bullet it is the sportmaster. You would be better off with a Torguemaster. The sportmaster is good for speeds in excess of low 80's any less than that you have to run the LU lower and it creates more drag and slows you down. The TM is good to about 83 or so. You should be able to trade the SM for a TM and get a few bucks to boot (approx $500 or so). Since is sounds like you have a SM I would also check and make sure I didn't have a short shaft mid section (15" I believe), you need to have a 20" shaft. After all that is sorted out you can still go with the Hydromotive prop........you can sell your other props on the props for sale forum and you should come out ok.

[nosaj2]

sense you have to raise your JP all the way up to get on plane, I'm assuming that is to get the RPM up into the power band???? How much time have you spent experimenting with the PVS system on the Merc props that you have tried? Sense you have to lower the JP to get the boat on the pad, it sounds like your prop is slipping pretty bad. You might try adding some more cup to your best hole shot prop. What size Bob's JP did you get? You might want to try some 2" spacers. You are basically running backwards from most me. I start with my JP down some and raise it all the way up with I get on plane.