Jackplate

Anyone running jack plates on their deep V rigs? Unfortunately this summer I put a solid crease in a new SS prop when the River was low…….90% of my fishing is done in a small interior River with average Depth of ~ 5′ @ normal pool.

Talked to a guy running an Atlas hydraulic jack plate a 1675 explorer (60hp 4Stroke Tiller)… that thing was sweet!

Would be going on a 17’6 Targa with 90hp 4stroke.

Can I get away with a manual or is hydraulic my only option? How would it impact performance?

WW

I just put a 4″ Powrtran Jack Plate on my 2010 Lund Pro Guide Tiller and I am very happy with it. In addition to the ability to run shallow water, a jack plate has many additional performance advantages such as increased speed, increased acceleration, increased fuel economy and overall better control.

With that said, in order to get the most performance out of a Jack Plate, you’ll want to go with an electromechanical or hydraulic one (electromechanical being my preferred choice). Conditions are always changing on the water and having a jack plate that you need to manually adjust each time conditions change would defeat the purpose of having one in my opinion.

Another thing I might add is that most stock props are not designed for a jack plate in mind, as they don’t offer enough cup for the prop to “bite” when the motor is raised that high in the water column. When I initially added my jack plate, I noticed great performance between 3000-4500 RPMs but I also noticed that I had quite a bit of prop slippage at 5000 RPMs-WOT because of this. Adding some additional cup to your stainless prop should bring prop slippage back down and bring up those performance numbers at high range RPMs as well as WOT.

Thanks for the awesome info Justin

I just ordered a Powrtran, nice looking unit built nice and solid.

What influenced you to buy from them?

I only wanted a 4″ setback and it had a built in actuator, so its self contained no room for a pump.