Manual jack plate installed

Ok, just got the plate installed. Its a 6" manual vance manufacturing plate. Plain and simple plate with one bolt on the top for adjustment.

The odd thing is that the place that put it on, which is a reputable place and has been around forver said if you need your motor to go up any more (I had them put it at 3.5"), just holler. I asked, cant I just loosen side bolt and turn that top one? He told me, no you will probably need a joist...you can try. You can go down, but not up.

This isnt right is it?

alot of center screw jack plates are like that.


that's one reason i obsoleted mine a few years ago.. i only make a few a year for the racing crowd.

I dont care as long as I get my motor set decently...I was under the impression that manual jackplates were adjustable...just "manually". All the googling and searching I never really stumbled across one that mentioned having to use a hoist.

This is the specs from the manufacturer

Specifications
Single Adjusting Jackplate
Made of high strength polished Aluminum
Bronze and Brass hardware eliminate binding
Adjusts easily by turning one stainless steel bolt
Offers 4 inches of Vertical movement
6 inches of setback
weighs 27 Ibs
225 maximum horsepower

they should be "easy" to adjust.

vance does a good job.

only one way to find out... loosen the side bolts and make an adjustment.

note: make a mark so you will know where you started and how much your adjusting. 1/4" at a time.

oh.. if it's rated for only a 225hp .. then it's made of 3/8's metal. should also have a max weight rating of
385 lbs.
mine are the same way.

any 3/8's metal plate has limitations. / 225 hp max. and 385 lbs max / 2.5 ltr engine max.

Guessing my 94 Johnson fast strike falls in the weight limit rating? The hp is under at 150hp.

I had one of Steve's manual plates, and as easy as it was to adjust, I never did much with it just because I didn't want to have to hang over the transom twisting wrenches. If you are going to use it for anything other than to provide setback, you really need to go hydraulic.

Nah...I want setback and want my motor at the correct height to get overall better performance (handling, speed, efficiency, etc...)

I dont care in my current application to be able to do this on the fly, but I do want to be able to get all this setup and lock it in.

my boat was almost 5" prop to pad prior to plate, so the total of $300 I paid to have it put on and the price of the plate was worth it IMO.

if you pay attention and very careful you can use tha trailer dolly jack to "raise tha motor".. trimed down level, 2X under skeg, all bolts loose... and for tha na sayers that have probably never done it it works jus fine if ya pay attention ta whats goin' on...........

put pressure on tha jack then tha "big screw" should turn with ease. might need ta be done a tad bit at at a time but will work without a hoist.....

I can see that. Awesome. I havent had time to take out and start fine-tuning. But I can see how that would work great. All you need is pressure relief.

Couldn't you also do it using the power tilt on the motor, using same principle as the trailer dolly?

not really.. trim goes in and out from almost a center point.. motor/jack plate need ta go up and down as straight as possible

Just a thought since you only need to take the stress off the raising bolt.