jack plates

[oldad]

Getting ready to put a jack plate on 20' xpress with yamaha 115
Any major difference between manaul and hydraulic jack plates?
What about salt water and hydraulic seals?

 

[blackhawk180]

Re: jack plates

Considering the same thing, oldad. Looking forward to some feedback myself!

 

[glenn property of pam]

Re: jack plates

theres fixed, manual and hydraulic

fixed is cheaper but is a pain to set up as the motor is heavy and its not easy to adjust but once set will work fine.

manual is no better than a fixed except it is easier to set up and has fine adjustment where a fixed only allows you to move a hole at a time (some one will tell you that they marked the plate and reset depending on where they are fishing or what they are doing but thats hard work realy)

hydraulic is the best but it costs alot. just like trim it can be adjusted on the fly so you can change the set up depending on what you are doing. when running in shallow water you can also lift the motor.

the hydraulics are the same as the ones used on the tilt trim of the outboard so they are ok in salt water

 

[robert graham]

Re: jack plates

A 20' Xpress is a jon boat, right?...so jack plates are usually associated with more performance based boats like Bass boats and such.....so what would you hope to gain with a jack plate on this rig?...just curious...

 

[oldad]

Re: jack plates

A 20' Xpress is a jon boat, right?...so jack plates are usually associated with more performance based boats like Bass boats and such.....so what would you hope to gain with a jack plate on this rig?...just curious...

Mainly to get the foot closer to the surface when running in shallow water
We fish in marsh areas where there are sand bars and tidal movement
But any improvement in performance and mileage is appreciated also
And this is not a jon boat, it's a 20 center console

 

[Frank Acampora]

Re: jack plates

For running in skinny water you definitely want a hydraulic unit- it's a no -brainer

 

[robert graham]

Re: jack plates

Mainly to get the foot closer to the surface when running in shallow water
We fish in marsh areas where there are sand bars and tidal movement
But any improvement in performance and mileage is appreciated also
And this is not a jon boat, it's a 20 center console

O.K., that makes good sense, and a hydraulic unit will be required so you can run it up or down for depth of water. For shallow water I usually just tilt the motor up a bit for additional clearance, but of course a jack plate would be nice. You'll probably get some better performance, speed and efficiency with the hydraulic jack plate also....Good Luck!