• Welcome to the Checkmate Community Forums forums.

    You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions, articles and access to our other FREE features.
    By joining our free community you will be able to:

    » Interact with over 10,000 Checkmate Fanatics from around the world!
    » Post topics and messages
    » Post and view photos
    » Communicate privately with other members
    » Access our extensive gallery of old Checkmate brochures located in our Media Gallery
    » Browse the various pictures in our Checkmate photo gallery

    Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join our community today!

    If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact support by clicking here or by using the"contact us" link at the bottom of the page.

setback questions

I assume you have the standard 6" setback plate?

The Pulsare has no 'cons' as far as the transom is concerned, it's built like a brick firehouse.

Further you set the motor back, the better the hull is balanced at speed and the higher you can run the engine, and the less positive trim you need.
Con: When you have too much setback, you start to lose capabilities when doing family stuff like pulling skiers and tubers. Also, you can experience more porpoising at moderate speeds.

So far, our experience here has shown 10" setback for general use with the bigger outboards like yours. I had 10" setback for my feather-weight Promax 225 and I wished I had 2"-4" more. If all you care about is top speed, take a look at the setbacks that Wildman rigs on his boats. They're outstanding. 14+" with the big outboard like yours.
 
I assume you have the standard 6" setback plate?

The Pulsare has no 'cons' as far as the transom is concerned, it's built like a brick firehouse.

Further you set the motor back, the better the hull is balanced at speed and the higher you can run the engine, and the less positive trim you need.
Con: When you have too much setback, you start to lose capabilities when doing family stuff like pulling skiers and tubers. Also, you can experience more porpoising at moderate speeds.

So far, our experience here has shown 10" setback for general use with the bigger outboards like yours. I had 10" setback for my feather-weight Promax 225 and I wished I had 2"-4" more. If all you care about is top speed, take a look at the setbacks that Wildman rigs on his boats. They're outstanding. 14+" with the big outboard like yours.
thanks for the info. would a 10 inch screw up pulling skiiers or anything like that?
 
With a 5.5 Hydro setback my 245 hp on a starflite would pull like a mule at any setting of height. Put a 10 in + the 5.5 for a total 15.5 in setback, The height of jackplate had to be at upper half to get the prop close enough to the surface to get the rpms up and running fast. At the lower end of setting with the extra 10 in. it just buried the prop to deep to get the mota spinning in its power band. Which wasn't a proplem when I was doing the driving, But when it came my time to ski, Try explaining that to your 65 yr dad who drives a 70 hp bayliner!

The extra 10 in didn't add a whole lot of more top-end speed but the extra leverage allowed for more weight to be carried at speed. 5.5 setback + 3 guys and cooler 65ish - 15.5 setback +3 guys and cooler 70ish. And I always said the mota looks cool hanging way in the hell back there! With a Pulstar there is no upper lip to destory either. Good Luck and have fun! merc245
 
With a Pulsare the least I would run is 10". With 10" my boat did everything ok but did not excel at anything. My current set up is Hydro Dynamics 12" static plate with a Bobs 3 7/8 hydro attached to it. No #'s yet as still finishing up the resto on boat.

One thing to note is a few of the manual jack plates like a CMC just do not go high enough even when motor is bolted in highest setting. Also Bobs offers a 12" & 14" inch hydro jack plate that would be great for your boat now.
 
I have 14.5" set back and would not change a thing. It does not porpois at any speed. Pulls tubes and skiers just fine
 
I am going to be the voice of dissent here. To get any more significant speed you probably need to add 10 more inches (assuming you already have 5.5). However even if you add only another 5" and you will pull skiers fine but I guarantee you will porpoise at moderate speed unless you are trimmed right in, because the weight of an Etec is further back than any other motor. Most of the guys with Etecs have had to add trim tabs.

I have a 250 Etec with only 8.5" setback... and still run tabs. When I had a 2.5 motor I ran 13" no problem. If you have the standard 5.5" I would just use spacers or stack a plate. Mine is a 5.5" CMC hydraulic with 3" spacers. I might even drop it again this year.
 
My buddy (DS280) has a 2100BR with an Etec 225HO and did a 10" atlas hydraulic jack plate and he has no problems cruising at low speed, pulling skiers or cranking it up on the top end. Go for it!
 
Back
Top