2005 ZX190 jackplate setup

[gt27851]

I am a new, first-time boat owner as of this past Saturday!! I purchased a 2005 TZX190 with a 2003 150 Yamaha EFI running a 23 yamaha prop. The original owner said that he never had the jackplate adjusted. When I run down the lake and start trimming the motor up, the bow comes up like its going to fly up in the sky. LOL... I have tried researching to see if I could find the setup for my boat, but no luck. As of right now, the top of the slide master attached to the boat and the part attached to the motor are both even on top. Is this what I'm suppose to be looking at? I see where some posts say 2 or 3 inches below pad. What exactly are they referring to? If somebody can guide me on how to set-up my jackplate, I would greatly appreciate it and is my prop okay. Everybody loves speed but I think I would rather have better fuel economy.

[mnbassman]

The best way I can explain it is you need to put a stiff measuring tape or I used a 2x4. Put that on the very bottom of your hull.
Make sure it is level. Then drop your jack plate until the center of your nosecone or the "bullet' of the nose cone is 2.75-3" below the bottom of the 2x4.
I always had one of my brothers help me because it can be a lot of work with just one person.
I hope this made some sense.

[gt27851]

mnbassman

Thanks for your response..... If I looked at it correctly, mine is about 2 inches too low! Which is what I was thinking because it has an incredible whole shot but once on plane, like I said, the front wants to keep rising with the trim just a little over half way up. I have a 4 foot level that I put on the bottom of the hull so that I could make sure everything was straight. I just want to make sure that the point of the bullet should be 2.75" - 3" below the actual bottom of the hull correct? OR the from the bottom of the 2x4 against the hull making it an addtion 1.5" (thickness of the board). I'm assuming from the actual bottom of the hull. I see where people post like 2.5" below pad on this site. Do you think the 23 prop that I'm running is okay?

[mnbassman]

I'm sorry, The 2.75-3" below should be from the bottom of the hull.
And now in thinking about it, I always measured that based on the top of the 2x4 since that was level with the bottom of the boat.
My head must have been in the garbage can when I wrote the post.
I'm a doophus
The 23 m prop should be just fine. I have 2 buddies running a 150 v-max on their skeeters and that is the prop Yamaha typically puts on a 150.
I have a 25 on my 175 just because of the extra 25 horses

[gt27851]

I thought that was what you meant, I just wanted to make sure. Me and my buddy moved it up today. It was about 5" below the hull. I moved it up to 3" below. I'm going to try to take it for a test ride tomorrow or Friday. Thanks again for your input. You were a lot of help. Thanks and happy fishing.

[gt27851]

I was able to test it out today. I was wondering if I should be able to fill the boat when it rises up on the pad, or should it be a smooth transition? It feels as if the motor changed gears or something or like you ran over a small speed bump. Is this normal or should I raise more or lower some? Thanks

[Ron S]

The most important thing to keep an eye on when adjusting your jack plate is the water pressure. Make sure you keep it above 15psi.
If I understand you right you are feeling the boat loosen up a bit once you get her up to a speed that you are running on the pad. There is a point if you have enough lift on your boat from your prop it will run with less of the boat hull in the water and will feel like the boat is more floating on the water than running in it.

Just pay attention to the water pressure and keep lifting that motor 1/4 inch at a time until you start loosing speed and at that point drop it 1/4 inch and leave it be. At least until you change out the prop to something else. Then you get to do it all over again.

[mnbassmanstwin]

Yes, you will deffinately feel it "lift" when you hit the sweet spot. You can completely feel the hull come up out of the water with little effort. Man I cannot wait to feel that again. Hoping to get my boat on the water this coming week.

I actually may have my jack platte a bit too high, I really get a bit too much chine, I can get my 97 zx185 with 99 175 V-max up to 68 gps in the spring and routinely 65 in summer BUT it chine walks like a mother!

Co anglers usually get a bit freaked!

[gt27851]

I have noticed that one side of the jackplate sits about 1/4" higher on one side than the other. I tightened my 2 bolts on one side then raised it some more to get it the same height on both sides or within 1/16" to 1/8" (measuring on both sides were the 2 slides meet to compare). Seems as if the jackplate may have been mounted crooked or something. Anyway, is this a huge deal or is this common?