Alright...I went with the 12 inch plate...

[Chad]

And still getting the same RPMs and speed I was before...I actually think I may have lost a hair of speed....I am running about 2.5 below the pad...5400 RPMs, very light load 68.4 with ~5 MPH tailwind....67.6 or so into the wind....Rooster tail is about half the height of the motor....know that I can possibly go up a bit and can afford just a hair more tail...but not sure that it will help me any...

running @20 psi, but I do have top 4 holes plugged on my motor....and oh yeah, the plate I got has a wedge at the top...I guess 10-20 degrees...wide side up...

I have to be able to get more speed out of this thing huh?????????? anybody have any suggestions????

[Al from Canada]

What prop are you running Chad? Also......what's the top rpms on an Optimax?

[Chad]

Al, I'm running a 26 trophy...not blueprinted as of yet...been waiting for hunting season (when all fishing seems to stop for me )

Top RPMs for the optimax are 5750...I'm not too far off of that, and with the very low humidity this morning and cool weather, I would say that if I could get it to 5700 on a day like today, that would more than cover me for when I normally fish, and with the load I normally have....just not sure if I need to be jacking up on that optimax any more......already don't like having the holes plugged on it (optis are supposed to be high volume versus high pressure...or at least that's what I have been told).

Stupid question, I know, but the wedge is supposed to go up huh? I've never had a jackplate with a wedge on it before....it was set up that way on the boat I got it off of, but not sure if that is what I need to be doing......

[Al from Canada]

If it were me, I'd remove the plugs in the intakes........I don't think you'd need them at the height you'd be running the motor. I'd run my motor higher on my Gambler and I wouldn't plug any holes on mine.

What brand of jackplate? Where's the wedge, between the motor and the jackplate?

[Chad]

I jacked the motor up and the PSI dropped to around 14...put the plugs in and it went back up to 20...more importantly, the temp went up to 136 with no plugs, 128 with plugs...not much, but enough to scare $10 grand outta me....
But, I may very well be able to now that I am in "cleaner" water with the 12 inch plate...will take 2 out at a time and see how it does....

The wedge is between the motor and the jackplate...the "thick" side is up

The plate is a slidemaster.....

[Al from Canada]

I'd take the wedge off and mount the motor directly to the jackplate.......I'm thinking that you're not getting the lift that you need because you can't trim the motor enough.......I don't see why you need the wedge.

[Backlash Ar]

Chad, I agree with Al. First, try the new jackplate without the wedges. Secondly, if those wedges are 10-12 degrees that's way too much. If you insist on using wedges then 2-5 degrees is all you'll need. Thirdly, although a bit pricey, get your prop blueprinted; you want to be running right up at the max rpm's when you're at WOT. Fourth, and please don't take this the wrong way, you're a little underpowered in that 21'6" boat to reach low to mid 70's. I think with smaller wedges and a blueprinted prop (under ideal conditions) you might hit 70mph. Keep us informed with what changes you make.

[Chad]

I had it at 71 point something or another the other day with a decent wind at my back in 1.5 foot waves....know that helped alot, but I could get this boat during warm weather and high humidity at 68.6 with the 8" plate and no wind to speak of...now, I didn't like running it that high cause the smart craft said 131 degrees versus the 126 or so it said once i dropped it...but with the bigger plate, I figured I could get it a bit faster...I'm gonna jack it up a bit more and see what I can get it to RPM wise and speed wise...the only thing I like about the wedges right now is they are letting me jack the motor up without a 10 foot high rooster tail...

I'm gonna jack it up tll I can get 5650 or so on my RPMs, and record speed h2o and what not, and then take the wedges off and see what it does from there. Once I get all that done, I am sending my prop to Mark and let him work his magic...

Thanks for the suggestions and help guys....

[Tx 201]

Boats, cars or planes, just remember, speed costs money, so how fast can you afford to go and do you really get your money's worth at some point?

I know we want jack plates to run in clean water and be able to lift the bow while running, but you can hit a point of diminishing returns, in other words it can start to hurt instead of help. From what I have read, and former factory people's opinion, 8" jack plate is optimal, 10" starts pushing it a little, but that is for 201's and mindsets may have changed.

I think you need to pick up those rpms, the last three or four hundred rpms bring the hull up out of the water on my boat and I see good gains in speed.

[Gary L]

My new 201 Tourney will have a 10" Plate with 2 degree wedges from the factory and a 225 Optimax pushing it. That should be nice clean water.

[AlanW]

OK, it's early for me and I haven't had much coffee yet, but....if you mount the wedge with the wide part up, aren't you increasing the tuck-in (tuck-under) angle (trim down) and decreasing the full trim angle??? I thought the idea was to mount the wedge with the wide part down to increase the full trim up angle???

Maybe I miss-read something, but it sounds like the wedges are upside down for getting more trim angle.




Modified by AlanW at 10:27 AM 10/20/2005

[Chad]

Yes, Alan you are right...bougt new jackplate, wedges were on it...and to be mounted without moving wedges had them up...though maybe that was how they needed to go...rectal/cranial inversion...finally figured that out the other day, but then liked the fact that I wasn't losing all my power by throwing a 20 foot rooster tail...till yesterday...ran it again...motor at about 1.75 inches when I finally stopped going....still cowling high on rooster tail, but no increase in speed or bow lift...DUH....gonna take the motor BACK off tomorrow, turn the wedges over, lower the motor to about 3 inches or so and start from the there going back up...will let you all know how that does....

[AlanW]

Well, glad I figured SOMETHING out right! But are you sure the wedges are really 10-20 degrees, because, like Backlash said, that's way too much angle. The factory guys are suggesting 2 degree wedges if I read it right.

[Chad]

uhhhh that would be a negatory....I did go to rally in high school in Advanced Math, but that has been a few years ago now, so my degree approximations (especially when I didn't pay too much attention when I posted the original post) are not quite accurate ..looking at it yesterday, I would imagine they are in the 2-3 degree range...

[Venom1]

Chad

The degree of the wedge should be two to three degrees, the wide side should be at the lower portion of your jack plate. I am assuming that you are running a 216 Cobra. The only boat we have put the wedge on in the past has been the 21 6 to provide more lift. I am sure the thick portion of the sedge should be down which will increase your lift and when working properly it should provide you with four to five inches of additional lift on the bow of your boat. Hope this info will be of value.

Bass Wishes

Ed Fry

[Chad]

Very much so Ed...thanks. I still haven't been able to change it yet....I am going to do it in the next couple of days and give it a try....4-5 inches of lift should make all the difference in the world....I hope...

[Liplander]

cjdauth, let me know how that works out. I have a 03 216 with a 225 Vmax and I am very interested in seeing the numbers.