am i running my motor too.high or too low

I just got a long shaft Johnson. i put a jackplate under it. it porposes a bit in rough water and i have major upspray on either side of the motor. almost like a rooster tail but right at the boat. my cavitation plate is about 2 inches below my transom . would you think its too high with the spray mentioned?

motor probably trimmed to high, move pin toward boat one or two holes would be my guess.

U want cab play even with bottom of hull. With porposing motor is too high.

Ok changed my trim...can't tell if it did anything. the plate is currently lower than my hull..but since porposing...is it still too high?

What kind of weight do you have up front? Try adding some weight to the bow and see what happens. Two of my boats I've had to do this when riding by myself to keep it from porpoising.

MsSixgun86 said:

You just want me to go so it will ride flat.

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Sixgun86 said:

Yup.

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What I have always been told is that the motor cavitation plate should be level with the bottom of the transom and that for every inch of setback with a jack plate you can go 1 inch above the bottom of the transom.

every inch of setback with a jack plate you can go 1 inch above the bottom of the transom.

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In you average boat for every inch back from the transom the water rises 1/8 inch.
Usually you can be a little above the bottom of your boat without a jack-plate,just make sure you don't go to high & not pump water.(ouch )

Well I'm still confused.

Raised my motor up to where my cavitation plate is about an inch below the transom. Lost tons of speed with just me...but with a buddy in the front, gained a few MPH. :|

I assume that means I need more weight in the front to run my motor that high..but should I run it that high if its just primary going to me? I wonder what will happen if I run me and a buddy with more weight in the front? lol this is getting out of hand.

To me, the higher I can get the motor the better. Less drag in the water, less chance of hitting objects and I can run shallower water. Seems to me that you might look at how the boat is loaded and play around with it some also play with your trim settings.

Based on my personal experiences, any time the amount of weight in the front made a difference in my speed, I needed to move my pin in or out to compensate for the weight. If adding more weight to the front (hauling your buddy) makes the boat go faster, I would think you need to move your pin in one hole.

It sounds like there are two adjustments that may be getting mixed in with each other in this discussion. Engine height is adjusted by moving the transom mount up and down on the transom - or using a jack plate or adjustable hydraulics on larger motors that are equipped with them.

Tilt is the angle of the motor shaft relative to the transom, it is typically adjusted by moving a pin on the bottom of the transom clamp under the motor into one of four or five different holes.

The height of your cavitation plate relative to the bottom of the boat has to be set by lifting the motor vertically, not by adjusting tilt. Your cavitation plate, as an earlier poster said, shoud be about one inch higher then the bottom of your boat. You make this adjustment once and then leave it alone.

Then you adjust tilt on any given day depending on how your boat is loaded. If you have a lot of weight in the front, you will set the tilt pin out a couple of holes so that the angle of the prop tends to force the bow up slightly as you are running. This is positive tilt. When you are running by yourself (presuming a tiller steered rig) you might want to tilt the motor in so that the shaft is closest to the transom. This has the effect of forcing your bow down as you are running. Sometimes called negative tilt.