What is a Jack Plate?

Numerous bay boats and flats skiffs now feature jack plates to increase top speeds while saving fuel during rough waters.

Jack plates elevate your lower unit to reduce friction between its transom and propeller and help improve performance, providing more distance between them for reduced friction and greater performance. There are various jack plate options available; including:

Hydraulic Jack Plates

When shopping for a bay boat or flats skiff, chances are you have seen that most feature jack plates. These plates serve an important purpose by increasing distance between transom and engine thereby decreasing vibration that affects propeller.

Adjusting jack plates on the fly is particularly useful when navigating difficult waters. A hydraulic system uses an electric pump to raise and lower the plate, making this more convenient than manual options which require you to tilt your engine manually by hand. These types of plates offer easy solutions for maneuvering in shallow waters.

Jack plates can save you a substantial sum over time by helping reduce fuel consumption, and operating at lower RPM’s leading to improved mileage. A fisherman will always want to get maximum value from his or her money!

Jack plates also offer other advantages; for instance, they will protect against propeller impacting with the bottom of a waterbed and stirring up sediment, which could otherwise cause murky water and reduce visibility. Jack plates are essential pieces of equipment for fishermen. Not only can they prevent your propeller from hitting any vegetation found nearby and damaging ecosystems, they also serve to prevent it from hitting wildlife that lives there and their habitats being damaged by your propeller. Therefore, having one in their arsenal makes an invaluable difference for the fisher. Jack plates can help ensure that users don’t damage the marine habitat and increase your chance of catching more fish in the future. When looking to add one to your boat, Wholesale Marine offers a great selection. With options from T-H Marine, Bob’s Machine and SeaStar among many others available we carry top brands for easy shopping experience.

Electronic Jack Plates

Jack plates are mechanisms placed between an outboard engine and transom of a boat that allow its operator or installer to raise and lower its height on the transom without altering its angle of thrust. There are jack plates of various designs – some hydraulic, while others electric; they may even be adjustable on-the-fly for optimal performance in any water situation. They’re an effective way of increasing performance while adapting your vessel for new situations.

Jack plates allow your outboard engine to operate in shallower waters than is possible with standard mounts, giving it an advantage when fishing shallow waters that may damage habitat through propeller or skeg strikes. They’re also useful when competing in tournaments where timed starts are required – helping get on plane faster!

Your propeller may catch on stumps, rocks or debris at the bottom of lakes or rivers you’re fishing in; additionally, this prevents your skeg from tearing up their bed and disturbing animal habitats that live there.

Fuel economy can also be improved by channeling outboard thrust directly parallel to the surface of water rather than at an angle, leading to greater savings throughout its lifespan.

There are various kinds of jack plates for boats available on the market today. From fixed models, which cannot be adjusted manually, and those powered by hydraulics or electricity. Fixed jack plates tend to be the least costly and most straightforward way to go, yet only offer limited functionality compared to electric or hydraulic ones such as those offered by T-H Marine which offer greater adjustability even while underway.

Both hydraulic and electric jack plates can be found for various boat applications, including bass boats. Their use is ideal when fishing shallow waters where an outboard motor could become damaged from hitting objects or the bottom, as they help the vessel quickly get up on plane. Furthermore, these devices help increase fuel economy as they allow faster plane-up.

Adjustable Jack Plates

Jack plates allow outboard boat owners to adjust the angle and height of their motor, lifting it further off of the transom. There are fixed, hydraulic, and electric models of jack plates available. Wholesale Marine has an assortment of T-H Marine, Bob’s Machine and SeaStar outboard jack plates designed for most boat sizes.

One of the primary functions of a jack plate is optimizing boat performance in shallow water by raising its engine higher off of the transom and raising it further away from propeller. This minimizes water being pushed by propeller, creating more efficient runs – an especially helpful feature on bass boats, bay boats or tunnel hulls that may need to perform in less-than-ideal conditions.

Jack plates also play an essential role in improving boat stability in rough waters, helping prevent cavitations or bouncing that could put both people and boat at risk. By raising outboard engines higher off of the water and placing jack plates under them, these devices help stabilize boats so they don’t jump out of the water and cause injury to themselves and others aboard.

jack plates can help anglers who find themselves fishing in shallow water quickly get their boat on plane more quickly by raising up their outboard engine higher off of the water and decreasing trim usage. By raising up the outboard motor and decreasing trim usage, this method can get your vessel on plane faster than ever.

When in shallow waters and need to move out of the way of a school of fish quickly, raising and trimming down can save both time and effort.

Though not every boater requires a jack plate, investing in one is definitely worthwhile for anyone who spends an extended amount of time out on the water. A jack plate offers increased stability and efficiency that makes your ride more pleasant; all while adding no unnecessary weight or taking away space that could otherwise be used for storage on board your vessel. Installation can also be accomplished quickly!

Manual Jack Plates

Have you ever attempted to put your boat up on plane in shallow water before? It can be a tedious and time-consuming task: first trimming the engine all the way back, and then using throttle forward and trimming tabs to bring the boat up at an acceptable level for running safely. This task becomes particularly difficult with larger powerboats with powerful outboard motors as you have to avoid hitting bottom and stirring up sediment with their propeller.

Jack plates provide the solution, with various types available on the market ranging from fixed models to adjustable ones and hydraulic versions. You should consider if you would like the ability to change settings while traveling or just on dry land; this will have a major effect on its ease of use.

Fixed jack plates are exactly as they sound: metal plates that attach to your boat transom and hold an outboard motor. Used to raise and stabilize a vessel in its desired location, fixed jack plates can raise and level your vessel at an affordable price point; however, manual adjustment of engine height through turning a bolt at the top can make their use cumbersome and challenging.

An adjustable jack plate can be more beneficial. It has a mount that bolts directly to the transom of your boat, as well as a hydraulic ram powered by an electric pump, and can be quickly adjusted when fishing shallow waters to lower or raise your outboard motor for optimal performance when underway. Having such an option makes fishing in shallower waters much simpler! It will make all aspects of the process much less complex.

Hydraulic jack plates are the preferred choice of most boaters. Similar to an adjustable plate, but it allows users to make adjustments on-demand at the push of a button – providing instantaneous performance optimization!

About the Author