Ranger 492vs Motor Height and setup

[wcarmstrong]

Question regarding motor height and setup on a 1993 Ranger 492vs with a 1996 Mariner 225 Magnum 3.0. Currently running a 25p Trophy plus four blade prop. Motor is mounted directly to the transom on the very top hole. I measured prop to pad and came up with 3.25". The issue Im having is that if I trim the motor all the way down, the prop blows out just before breaking over. In order to get on plane without blowing out, I have to trim up a bit and ease into the power. Once its on plane, the bow wants to bounce unless I give it power. If I want to cruise at 4000 rpm, it takes a while for it to stop bouncing and settle down. Based on all of this, I feel like the motor is set too high and needs to go down one hole, but I wanted to run it by this board before I get into putting a hoist on it. I have posted this up on the 400 series FB page as well. Once I measured prop to pad I started doubting myself because 3.25 doesn't seem unreasonably high, but it is a 21' boat and the motor being too high is the only reason I can think of for it blowing out on take off.

[1ranger487vs]

3.25 is high for no plate. That would be a good number with a 6” plate. My 518 porpoised a bit at very low speeds until I put a small tail on the engine

[lpugh]

Put a bravo prop on it, problem solved, Set it for 3.5 in for starters
If you are in the top hole, that is as deep as it will go, this does not sound right as in the top it would be over 4 in deep in most cases, maybe even 5 in.
If you room, with the motor trimmed level, put a long straight edge on the running pad extended to the nose cone. Measure from the top of the running pad to the center of the nose, more accurate method and very quick
If no room for this way, put level on floor and note bubble position, not level on the pad and adjust the Toung jack to match the boat to the floor, now level cav plate to the same angle, measure pad to floor and center of prop shaft to floor. The difference between the two is the prop to pad distance.
You must try different setting to find what is too high and what is too low for your setup.
Do not go by what others are using as every boat requires it own setting for best overall performance.