ADVANTGES???

WHAT IS THE ADVANTAGE OF HAVING A JACK PLATE? CAN YOU USE ONE ON SMALL OUTBOARDS(40HP OR LESS?)

It's only an advantage if you are running a long shaft outboard and need the additional height on the transom to ensure that the cavitation plate on the motor is aligned with the hull of the boat.

I made a jackplate for a jet outboard. Got rid of the jet and stuck the prop motor back on the boat with the jackplate still installed and there wasn't a bit of performance increase. It might come in handy if I need to get through some skinny water one day.

I used a mini jacker on my 1542 alumacrafthttps://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=17299 because I had a long shaft motor (designed for 20' transom) and wanted to put it on a 15" transom. The jackplate was needed to raise the motor up so it didn't hang down a foot below where it needed to be.

I have seen lots of guys use the same mini jacker when they really didn't need to. For instance I saw a guy with a 25hp short shaft outboard on a 15 inch transom which you would think is a perfect fit. I asked him about why he had it on there and he said that It ran fine but he wanted to dial it in perfect. With the 4-5 inches of setback he was able to raise the cavitation plate over an inch above the bottom of the hull.

The Jackplate allows you to fine tune your motor height so you can get it just perfect for the best performance.

There are also hydraulic and electric jackplates that allow you to not only adjust your tilt/trim, but you can raise it up or lower it down for different conditions.

I have a setup like a jet boat. I have a 20"transom with a long shaft but it porposed bad until I raised the motor. So handling/performance. I got 2-3 mph more when I raised it. Now the cav plate is 1" above bottom instead of 3" below.