procraft 180 jack plate?

I have a '99 Procraft with a 150 XR2. I'm getting upper 50s with just me in the boat, but have read where people are getting upper 60s gps. After having a Norris Craft before (which rides high on the pad) I know that this boat will not be able to run that high. But, I can tell with the procraft that there is definitely room for improvement. I can tell that the bow isn't riding quite as high as it could (starts to cavitate when I try to trim it up). I was wondering about getting a 6-8" jack plate for it to help with the bow lift, but also allow for more convenient adjustments.
Does anybody run a similar procraft with a jackplate? Also, is there much difference between a 5,6,and 8" jack plate? What brand is recommended for a manual adjustment? Will having a jack plate in this range hurt the transom? Plus, any other tips you don't mind sharing. Thanks!

Ooo, also one last question. Anybody know where I can find prop plugs for the rectangular vents in a 26" Laser II? The procraft currently has a 23" Laser II with plugs in it. I tried my 26", and it never got above 45mph... I assume from cavitation.

i used to have a 1998 180 bass with a 175 efi. i had a 8" j/p on it turning a 24 tempest and it would run 69gps. You should be getting close to 63-65 on that rig if set-up properly.

I agree..before you do anything you should get close with the setup you have now..Go to steves props and look at setting the ride height, then look at the work sheet and get all the info.
Prop pitch & RPM, motor height you now have, are real important.no one can tell you much without knowing this info..

i can get you the plugs for the laser II. they aint cheap.

yep. jack plate the boat!!

HOWEVER. your referring to a 23 laser II and a 26p Laser II

which gear case do you have. those two props have different size barrels.

I'm not sure how to tell which gear case it is. I know it's not a high-output. I just put the 26" on since I had it as a spare for my former boat to see if it would work. It seemed to fit fine, and didn't appear to sit any different than the 23". I haven't really pushed the boat to the max yet, but it can hit 6k with the 23".

Pm me about the plugs... I'm fearful since the round plugs looked pretty cheap.

I'm doing some measurements tonight and will report back. Thanks guys.

the 26p should have a 1/4" gap between the case and the prop's barrell.

the 26p laser II is for the smaller cases

the laser II vent plugs are 14.00 for 4 of them.

a-mac,
I have a 92 Pro 180 with a 6" jack plate and a 150 XR6. I'm running a 24 tempest. Alone I'll run 60, with a passenger or tournament load around 57 or so. I've tried to tweek the jack plate but that is as good as I can get. I'm turning about 5400 rpms and even raising the plate doesn't change the RPM's. I would like to get it over 5500 but I don't seem to be able to turn the 24 that fast. ProCraft's are heavy boats so I am always a little skeptical of real fast ProCrafts.

They are great boats though and handle rough water real well.

i had that same procraft back in the 90's with a 150 mariner efi on it.
i ran a modified 24p chopper on it. best it ever went was 64 (so much torque on the wheel i about crashed it when the wheel slipped thru my hand)
just not fast boats.