Jack Plate Height

[TMR]

Hello, I have been a member of this forum for about 3 months. This is my first post. I have been doing a lot of reading and have found many informative posts.

I purchased a used Pulsare 2100 BR late last summer with a 225EFI Mercury 2 stroke. I have some boating and outboard motor experience but I am new to performance boating.

The boat in the attached picture is not mine but appears to be similar to mine. I got the picture from another thread on the forum. I have the same 5 1/2” CMC manual jack plate. I am running a 23 pitch Trophy Plus prop with large diameter PVS plugs. My boat seems to get on plane well and handle pretty well also going straight and in turns. Tops out at 63mph on speedometer at 5600rpm. Wish I would have taken my GPS with the one and only time we got out in the boat this year. Many rainy weekends prevented me from getting out more.

My question is: my motor is sitting about 3” lower on the jack plate than the one in the picture. Do I need a different water pickup to put my motor all the way up on the jackplate? and will that setup only be good for top speed? I would like to get into the 70plus mph range but still be able to ski and tube.

Any recommendations and advice will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[karzrus]

Do you have a water pressure gauge? If you do you will be able to tell if raising the motor is causing an issue.

I have the 10” CMC jackplate and my 250xs has a regular torquemaster lower.
It is set up so that the propshaft centerline is even with the bottom of the pad at full lift. I do not have any of the side water pickup holes plugged and do not have low water pressure issues with the motor up at full lift at any speed.

The jackplate has plenty of movement down to get the motor where it needs to be for tubing and such, in fact I rarely lower the motor all the way down as the boat pulls things better with it about 1/3 up from the bottom so with the propshaft about 3.5” down from the pad.

You could add a 5-10” static setback bracket in front of your current one and raise the motor up those 3” and gain quite allot of speed without sacrificing much at all regarding pulling toys.

Raising the motor is going to reduce drag and get the motor up to the 6-6200rpm range. But also you will likely need more propeller pitch, a 25-26 trophy plus would be a good starting point, however you can wait to purchase that last, once you run out of rpms and know you need it

 

[TMR]

Thank you for the information and advice karzrus.

I do not have a water pressure gauge, only a temperature gauge. The previous owner had a hydraulic jack plate on the boat but it failed so he replaced it with a manual jack plate. I’m starting to think I should spend the money on a hydraulic jack plate and be done with it. My boat already has the gauge mounted on the dash along with toggle switch to control the movement of the hydraulic jack plate. There are several brands that look decent and are priced very similarly. I was thinking of going with a 10” setback.

Is there a brand of hydraulic jack plate that I should stay away from?

 

[TMR]

Does adding more set back with a jackplate change the speed a boat will get up and stay on plane?

For instance, if my Pulsare 2100 BR is currently setup with the centerline of the prop at 3.5” below the pad with a 5.5” set back jack plate, and the boat gets up and stays on plane at 20mph, will the boat still get up and stay on plane at 20 mph with a 10” set back jack plate with the prop 3.5” below the pad?

Please respond,
Thanks

 

[karzrus]

That set up(10"setback) is what I have and while I don't pay that much attention to the speed I'm pulling tubes at, it is right in the 18-25 range and it's on plane. Of course I'll drop it off plane to get a large wake to pull the tubes through as well.

 

[ianz]

if you want an all around boat 10-12" will be fine. 8" for more water sports and 15ish for speed. You should have a water PSI gauge for any of the above.

I would expect that with 10" setback, you can run a 25p prop and see 70 any day and still pull a tube or skier

I have a similar boath 2100br with a 225 and run 75mph every day with a 27p and about 74 with a 25p. have 11.5 setback

 

[Skip 7750]

CMC makes an adapter that makes your jackplate 10". It is not very expensive and it bolts right on. They use these extenders to make a 10" bracket at CMC. The jackplates are all the same 5.5" or 10" with the extender. That is how they make them. Look at a 10" jackplate and you will see the extenders are bolted between the transom and the plate.


You do not need to spend the money on a power jackplate. Just set your propshaft centerline between 2.5" and 3" below the keel and you should be good to go. You can adjust your jackplate to where you feel you are getting the best performance.

 

[Blkcorvair]

I would definatally add a water gauge before you change anything on the engine height. Cheap insurance. I have the same boat and had a 200 efi. My motor is mounted just like that picture and I could not run my jackplate at full height without losing too much water pressure. Also had a 23 pitch trophy prop. You can plug two of those prop holes but you prolly wont see too much difference (I did not)

My top speed was 61-63.

I since switched to a 250EFI and a 25P trophy. it blows right up to 71mph and honestly probably faster but the weather turned cold and I didnt get a chance to finish tuning it. Personally I have to feather it now on take off to keep it from cavitating and Im not a big fan. Im gonna leave the 250 on it but likely go back to the 23P. I like the boat to be really freindly for Tubing Etc. If I wanna blow around a glassy lake one day, maybe Ill put the 25P back on it. Honestly if I get the 23P tuned where I like it, I will likely just sell the 25P.

 

[TMR]

I would definatally add a water gauge before you change anything on the engine height. Cheap insurance. I have the same boat and had a 200 efi. My motor is mounted just like that picture and I could not run my jackplate at full height without losing too much water pressure.

I purchased the water pressure gauge from my local Mercury Marine dealer. I plan to install it in spring time.

I have been unsuccessful in finding the proper location to plumb the water pressure gauge on my 3.0 liter motor so it is reading true water pressure and not steam pressure.