Do I need a jack plate?

[Sportfire135]

I was looking into getting a manual jack plate for my 16'7" checkmate with a 135 blackmax. I was looking to get this one http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B004MZ...A21C4U5X700J66. I was wondering I anyone has experience with this model. What advantages can I expect to see after adding a jack plate. I just want to make sure it's worth it before I spend the money on a plate.

[wired247]

Get the motor up high you'll go faster with a surfacing prop. Not sure how much faster you'll go with a 135 though. You should be able to run 65 ish with the right prop and tighter steering.

[Sportfire135]

Here's picture of the motor as it sits now with no jack plate. Also how much added stress wil adding a jackplate put on the transom?

[wired247]

The setback will put more stress on the transom. You might want to consider a transom rebuild although with a 135 I don't think it would be that much of an issue.

[groundloop]

IMO Checkmate transoms are built pretty well. In the photo it looks like yours has the steel transom plate as well, which adds even more strength. As long as the transom is solid it'll have no problem handling a jack plate.

You can do a couple of things to test the integrity of your transom:

Push/pull as hard as you can on the lower unit, there should be absolutely zero movement of the engine compared to the transom.

You could also drill a few holes into the transom from the inside (only go about 3/4" deep) and check the wood for any hint of moisture or darkness, then seal the holes with something like JB Weld when you're done. It's an unfortunate fact of life with wood cored transoms that sooner or later the sealant on a screw hole, engine bolt, drain, etc. fails and lets water into the wood and once that happens rot is unavoidable. I've been there and done that, I bought my Checkmate as a project and had to replace every bit of wood in its structure.

[pyro]

I'm guessing it presently runs around 58-62 mph at 6000 rpm on a 23 pitch Quicksilver or Turbo stainless prop. Am I far off?

You could start by moving the motor up to the middle set of bolt holes to see what kind of gains you get. Full-down is too low, unless you only use it for skiing. Dealers often sold these setup on the middle set of holes. You can go higher if you have a good prop that tolerates mild surfacing, such as a Trophy Plus, maybe a 24 pitch. They run a little 'taller' than marked. I'm guessing around 65-66 is the performance ceiling with that combo.

[Sportfire135]

It'll run low 50's with a merc laser 2 stainless 3 blade 19p prop.

[transomstand]

Save your money for a bigger motor and a decent prop, you'll knock yourself out to gain very little.

[pyro]

I'll second that. Solid motor mounts and dual-cable steering will be must-haves once you get over 55-60.

[gonefishin485]

You could start by moving the motor up to the middle set of bolt holes to see what kind of gains you get. Full-down is too low, unless you only use it for skiing.

id try that first and see what you come up with, it dont cost a dime to do a little tweaking. lift the motor up another hole or two but make sure your water intakes are still at or below the keel.

[pyro]

It's easy to tap out the top two pairs of water intake holes and thread set screws into them with Loctite... This will permit the motor to run at the highest setting if desired, but at these speeds, the loss of prop bowlift will hurt performance more than the reduction in gearcase drag from running at such a high setting. That's why I suggested the middle set of holes as a starting point.