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Jack plate Height?

P

Pulsar74

New member
Questions?

How much negative trim should I have?

Should cavitation plate be level with bottom of hull when measuring prop CS? Meaning hull is level right now on trailer, should I also make cavitation plate level when measuring?

The stop bar is in the lowest hole out of the 4. Should I move the bar up a hole? That would make the cavitation plate at the same level as the hull. Not height waist but as far as putting a 2’ level on it.

I know the consensus is prop cs 3” below hull, but if I trim outdrive all the way down it has negative trim and that makes PS 6” below hull, if I make the outboard neutral trim it is 3”.
 
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I read in your other post that this is a 2400Pulsare. How old, who sold it new/rigged it? It may be fairly close to ideal as is, but I get that you want to check or confirm your are good.

Usually, if you have a jack plate (and at least 6 inches of set back) installed the goal is to set up the range of height adjustment so the prop shaft centerline is even with or an inch above the bottom of the hull at full upper travel. This would be measured with the trim at neutral(the prop centerline parallel with the bottom of the hull)
 
I’m the second owner. It was purchase at the Pittsburgh boat show originally. The boat is solid but there are some updates that need to be made. It’s a 2008 2400 with 300xs. Example, the hydraulic steering is a sea star unit, really needs to be upgraded to the sea star pro.

Is everyone still running the same tempest/trophy prop? Boat came with a 26 trophy plus and a 25 tempest plus. I have the trophy plus on the boat now, with 2 plugs and it’s horrible out of the hole. Lots of bow rise, slow to plane, if I give it too much throttle I’ll get blow out. Jack plate is set so prop shaft is 3.25” below hull when parallel.

Any help
Would be appreciated. Thanks
 
I have a 2020 Pulsare 2400 with a 300R and a hydraulic jack plate. I am using a Bravo 24P FS prop but I have tried 5 props. The Bravo FS will not blow out coming on the plane at 3" below, but the prop slippage is too high. At 3.5" below at WOT it is around 14% slippage but at 4 - 4.25" below it is 8% slippage. The Bravo is 15.25" diameter but the Trophy is much smaller. I think you should try to lower the prop shaft with the Trophy 26P and I believe Wildman ran those props around 4" below. The Tempest has less pitch and more diameter, how does it come on the plane at the same height?
 
The only thing about lowering the PS is during idling around the telltale is damn near at water line. I don’t want to submerge it. The jack plate is a CMC 10” and it’s set about 3/4 up. The tempest seemed to have a lot more midrange pull and higher cruise speed. With the trophy I’m seeing 45mph on gps at about 4000rpm. When I bought the boat I was told it cruised at 50 but I feel I’m pushing 4500ish around 50. Seems like a lot of rpm for cruising. Could be just me not used to a 2 stroke outboard. My trim gauge reads 0 all the way down which is negative trim, and from experiment it reads 1.1 at neutral trim. I’ve been cruising at 1.1-1.5 trim. I know it goes into trailer trim at about 5.0. The most I’ve had it trimmed out was around 3.

I went into a reasonable turn at 1.5 trim and had the prop vent with the trophy plus. Just trying to figure all this out. I feel like a newbie again. Been running big I/O all my life. Outboards are wayyyy different.
 
By your response I take it that your jack plate is not hydraulic, otherwise changing the height would not be an issue. The Tempest prop is larger diameter and has more rake. Perhaps a Bravo FS would work even better than the Tempest but you might be a mph or so slower.
 
I do have a hydraulic jack plate, but the gauge isn’t working or I would definitely be messing around with it more.
 
You could glue part of a tape rule on it or make 1/2" marks on it with a permanent marker. You might have to walk to the back of the boat to see it but you can easily put it back where you want it. Perhaps it would allow you to determine if the two props want a different engine height?
 
I would bet that the jackplate is likely set up pretty close to right from Checkmate or the dealer who rigged it. So you just need to adjust it while driving, General rule, the faster you go the higher the jack plate setting. For hole shot and water toys lower it down a bunch, maybe all the way. Simple, almost don’t need the gauge, but I would try to get it fixed if I were you.
 
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