hydraulic jack plate question?

[WTM]

i fish a lot of shallow water now, even fish drainage ditches and creeks in the backwater before they start raising the lake to summer pool. the bass tracker i have now can run in 18" of water but i have ran it in one foot with no problems to the boat but it cant be good on the engine trimmed up that high.

so i remember ott defoe has a grizzly that he modified with a tunnel and an atlas jack plate. then i found this video of roland martin and the way he had his classic set up.

so my question is would it be better to do it this way or continue to use the power trim? another thing i think that it would help is with a 4" backset, it would give my xducer clearance without having to trim up and probably have a little cleaner water.

https://youtu.be/4rt1ALdTnNs

 

[Pilchard]

i fish a lot of shallow water now, even fish drainage ditches and creeks in the backwater before they start raising the lake to summer pool. the bass tracker i have now can run in 18" of water but i have ran it in one foot with no problems to the boat but it cant be good on the engine trimmed up that high.

so i remember ott defoe has a grizzly that he modified with a tunnel and an atlas jack plate. then i found this video of roland martin and the way he had his classic set up.

so my question is would it be better to do it this way or continue to use the power trim? another thing i think that it would help is with a 4" backset, it would give my xducer clearance without having to trim up and probably have a little cleaner water.

https://youtu.be/4rt1ALdTnNs

I come from an inshore saltwater environment. Jack plates were a must. They increase your shallow water abilities and you can make your boat perform better from a speed and efficiency POV. Be aware, if you get a jack plate you will need a new prop 95% of the time.

 

[WTM]

thanks for the reply. yeah im going to order a mercury spitfire 4 blade 14p or a trophy sport 4 blade 13p for it anyway. my boat is a tracker 175tf with a 60hp 4 stroke and they came with a 3 blade 14p prop. i think theyve updated since i bought mine and now include the 4 blade prop. the boat is not built for speed and the stepped transom makes acceleration that much worse. with 2 people in the boat it takes forever to get on plane.

 

[Pilchard]

thanks for the reply. yeah im going to order a mercury spitfire 4 blade 14p or a trophy sport 4 blade 13p for it anyway. my boat is a tracker 175tf with a 60hp 4 stroke and they came with a 3 blade 14p prop. i think theyve updated since i bought mine and now include the 4 blade prop. the boat is not built for speed and the stepped transom makes acceleration that much worse. with 2 people in the boat it takes forever to get on plane.

I don't know much about TN and prop sales. In Fl, there were demo days at popular ramps where you could test props before you buy them. I would not buy a $500 prop without being able to test it first or at least finding someone with the same boat/motor/Jack plate setup and seeing if they have found the perfect prop.

Also, FWIW, different props run better higher on the jack plate, for example, when I was fishing tournaments in Fl out of my skiff I had different props based on what scenario I was in. If it was a shallow water deal for redfish in the winter time I would run a four blade that would stay connected with my motor jacked up and trimmed up. If I needed to make a long run and running shallow was not as important, I would trade it out for a 3 blade with better top-end performance. There is likely a middle ground for every boat so I guess what I am saying is I wouldn't want to find that combination by guessing on $500 props.

 

[WTM]

yeah thats exactly what i did instead of guessing. talked to a couple of guys that did some extensive testing on the same boat as mine PT175 txw and their testing that those 2 props where the best ones as far as hole shot, stability in turns, and top speed and rpm's. the aluminum spitfire is 180 bucks and the trophy sport ss is 350 bucks. i dont think the stainless prop will offer any performance advantage on a 60hp except maybe if i hit something. with both props hole shot time was reduced to 4 seconds and top speed only dropped about 2 mph. they also said that with either prop i could trim up more with no cavitation or slip. the guy with the 4" jack plate had a little better performance but not enough to warrant it for performance alone, but his aim is like mine getting in shallow water.

another thing i found out is that tracker marine voids the lifetime hull warranty if a jack plate is put on. they guy told me that was trackers way of reducing warranty claims.

so im thinking of just getting the cheaper aluminum prop and seeing how it does trimmed up and idling through.

thanks for your replies