Hey guys wondering if I could get some advice. I was wondering what the difference is between a jack plate and a tilt and trim performance wise? I'm looking for something that Would work well in the shallow rivers and lakes in Florida. I have a 1448 semi v with a 88 25hp Johnson. What do most of you guys use? Has anyone combined the 2, can you even do that etc. I'm just looking for the basics on the 2 and trying to see which would be better.
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Jack plate vs tilt and trim
- Thread starter lgpjr49
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I have seen them stacked before. PT&T against the transom and jack plate bolted to it, then the motor. Gives it 11" of setback, and it was a tiller steer motor. Was it fast? I don't know. I didn't stick around to watch the boat races. I would imagine trying to steer that thing through the flooded timber with the 11" of setback would be interesting to say the least.
Performance wise, if your current manual tilt motor is currently bolted to the transom, you're far better off with PT&T than with only a jack plate. A jack plate won't let you tilt the motor up with the flip of a switch, so you'll be still manually pulling on the top of the cowling to get it tilted.
Bob's machine has a PT&T/Jack plate combo for smaller motors. it's awesome. It's pretty. And it's expensive. But they flat work. On one boat that I know of, it picked him up from 31.3 mph (bolted to the transom, av plate level with the hull) to 37.8 with the bob's combo. But for almost $1800, it better pick it up! If I had the money to spare, I'd have one. For what I use my boat for, it'd be handy. Mine's a big ol' heavy 4 stroke and manual tilt, so PT&T is almost required and I use the boat often in a shallow river where we find ourselves dragging bottom fairly often.
Usually (not always) a properly set up PT&T should pick up the speed about 2-3 mph. And you get the benefit of more tuck (on plane faster with less bow rise) and obviously power tilt for when you're trailering or jumping over a log or whatever.
Performance wise, if your current manual tilt motor is currently bolted to the transom, you're far better off with PT&T than with only a jack plate. A jack plate won't let you tilt the motor up with the flip of a switch, so you'll be still manually pulling on the top of the cowling to get it tilted.
Bob's machine has a PT&T/Jack plate combo for smaller motors. it's awesome. It's pretty. And it's expensive. But they flat work. On one boat that I know of, it picked him up from 31.3 mph (bolted to the transom, av plate level with the hull) to 37.8 with the bob's combo. But for almost $1800, it better pick it up! If I had the money to spare, I'd have one. For what I use my boat for, it'd be handy. Mine's a big ol' heavy 4 stroke and manual tilt, so PT&T is almost required and I use the boat often in a shallow river where we find ourselves dragging bottom fairly often.
Usually (not always) a properly set up PT&T should pick up the speed about 2-3 mph. And you get the benefit of more tuck (on plane faster with less bow rise) and obviously power tilt for when you're trailering or jumping over a log or whatever.
Skiffing
Well-known member
^^^
Great info
Great info
The tilt and trim will give you more adjustability if you change the weight load/distribution in the boat often (ie other people). So you would be able to fine tune the trim setting to get the best performance for each time you go out. If you are by yourself most of the time and don't carry extra gear/weight, the jack plate will allow you to raise the motor to the perfect height for your setup. If you end up fishing in shallow areas, the tilt and trim will give you more peace of mind being able to adjust it as the conditions dictate. But it also depends on your combination. On my Lowe 1652, it would porpoise with either the 40 hp prop motor or the 60/45 jet motor with both trimmed all the way in so the trim didn't help performance. I had to install transom wedges and moved my console/battery forward to get better weight distribution to help. I installed PT&T on the 60/45 Mercury because I found a new one relatively inexpensive on Ebay and my 150 lbs trying to tilt a 200+ lb motor got old last year. Do you have a console or are you running a tiller?
