Tritoon - Jack Plate / Motor Height

[Southerntoon]

Hello

Before winter I installed a manual jack plate on my tritoon. I took it out once and in my opinion the motor is a good bit to low. attached are photos and you can see the water line from my boat sitting in dock all winter. Please look at the pictures and tell me how much you think I need to come up to start with.

Thanks
Charles
Brandon, MS

[Bryden24shp]

Only way to really tell is to get it planed up at cruising speed and look at the cavitation plate. It should be skimming the waters surface. If you think its too low, split the difference of where its at now, (all the way down, judging by the picture) by raising it and try it. Try to keep your trim level about the same and watch how your RPM's free up and speed (with a GPS), climbs. You'll get her dialed in!

[STEVEBRENDA]

The motor looks about right in rerlation to the transom, but the pod itself seems to be low in the water.

[Southerntoon]

I agree and I think that is what makes this difficult is that the actual bottom of the middle pontoon is a good bit lower than the bottom of the transom. However everyone keeps saying raise the motor until you can see the cavitation plate skimming the top service of the water. I have yet to see the cavitation plate at wide open throttle.

[Bamaman]

Looks are kind'a deceiving on a pontoon boat, and it's not a bathtub ring that's important. You have a Honda outboard, and they're heavier than most motors. It's how the boat runs when going forward that's really important.

I have found that hulled boats with jack plates run with motors higher, as the water curls up off the bottom and grabs the propeller. Pontoons are different in that they have pods that are splitting the water flow somewhat. Tritoons may be more like a hulled boat, however.

Bryan said that you should be able to look at the anticavitation plate from above with minimal splashing at medium speeds. I too believe this should be the case.

On my new boat, all I see is splashing over the plate. Otherwise, my boat seems to be running at optimum speed, and it only ventilates when trimmed high and going in a very tight turn. I'm good to go as my dealer set the engine up 3/4" or one notch above the lowest point on the transom.

The tachometer and speedometer tells you when the engine height is right if the boat's not ventilating in tight turns. And since pontoon/tritoons are such different animals, you have the capability of making adjustments to get your motor height exactly right. Your addition of the jack plate should serve you well.