Bass boat, 20" mid to 15" swap...pros and cons and general comments...

I really want to swap out my 20" to a 15". Other than a 15" mid and clamp in hand, what else am I looking at as far as parts required. Anyone have some suggestions or comments about this being a good idea vs a bad idea? Pros and cons?

If I sell my 20"mid and clamp, what can I expect to get out of it money wise?

Other than my huge love for how the shorter mid looks, I'd love to get my powerhead down a little to reduce drag and I'm sure being 5" higher on the transom has some ill effects as far as leverage is concerned.

Slimm

lowering powerhead 5 inchs closer to the water eliminates the need to flush your motor. it will self flush every time you slow down to fast or trim down in a idle zone. myself I would think 5 inchs higher would be helpful to keep my motors dry.. then again some people think cars slammed on the rocker panels is cool.

I didn't think about the possibility of the engine being swamped when I come off plane or trim all the way under when idling. Thanks for the input.

Slimm

I forgot about the possibility of having my mid shortened. Is someone doing it that is a financially viable alternative to purchasing a 15"?

Heavy in rear bass boat and short motor = motor under water id stay 20"

My Nephew Switched From A 20" To A 15" On His Allison XB03'. The Motor Is Lower Yes But, Not Enough To Cause Issues. Now, He Does Run The Allison Skid Planner And That Helps! As Far As A Cut Mid. It's About 1/2 The $$$ That You Will Spend. Michael Chapman, Marty Powell, And Ronnie All Three Do Excellent Work. Pick One Depending On Where You Are Located!. Only Reel Gain(s) Though Maybe A Slight Reduction In Transom Stress... But Very Little... But The "Cool Factor" Well It's The $hit!! In My Opinion Of Course! Some Folks Like The Tall Motors I Guess!

Advantages:

Air drag if you are going really fast (my guess is 85 and up are the only speeds that you will notice having less cowl in the wind).
CG-lower is always better.
midsection shape-if you go to a taylor mid from a bass can the looks and sound are night and day.
overall looks-I like low and beefy.

Charlie "Chaz" has done a lot of short conversions and does very nice custom work.

Joe

Don't waste the money

You will loose some trim effort. Whether it's detrimental depends on your specific setup. A heavier boat (particularly up front) is harder to trim to reduce wetted surface. The shorter the mid the harder it is to trim to reduce the wetted surface. No doubt shorter is a better cg, but will it come at a cost? Everyone I've seen go from 20" to 15" mid has gained nothing top end (some have been arguably, slightly slower), handling in offshore conditions has improved however.
Unless you have bucket loads of power on hand I wouldn't bother.

Thanks for the input everyone. I think I have found the answers I needed, many aspects I hadn't even considered.

Slimm

Most answers I've read aren't from experience
above 100 it is faster
cg's handling is better
cool factor is awsome
no negatives
trim is no issue

Attachment 319069 I disagree from first hand experience that trim IS in fact an issue. Ive had two of them shortend. The front of the lower unit hits the bottom of the trim ram when trimming down and limits the amount of down trim. The factory 15" mid has an extra 2" of setback built into them to prevent this negative trim issue. You can have the front of the nose cone notched to clear it and use transom wedges like I did as seen in this picture between the jack plate and the clamp to help get more negative trim by leaning the engine back some. In my case it was a light weight tunnel for drag racing so I needed very little negative trim when launching. A heavier hull may suffer a little when planing due to the fact the engine cant trim down as much as you would like for when carrying a load. I think the cool factor alone is worth it and gets the cowl down for wind resistance also lowering the powerhead can make for a more stable ride (slightly). Hers a pic of one of mine. Click on the pic to enlarge it. Definitely a cool look :D

You could always add negative wedges to gain down trim.

What motor and mid is currently on your bass boat?

waste of money on a bass boat

All good info. I bought two single ram mids and started on shortening one offshore and one bass mid but got hung up on the clearance "problem"... but now I have a new idea; so thanks everybody for your thoughts!