Frequently Asked Questions About Jack Plates
What are the benefits of a Jack Plate, Drop Down Plate, Performance Plate and FAQ's
If you are needing to lower your engine into the water you can not use a Jack Plate because a jack plate only raises an engine. A Drop Down Plate is the plate best suited for lowering engines, click here for more information
A jack plate will compensate for a long shaft engine!
Does Your Boat Need a Jack plate? For this one, we consulted our network of industry professionals. Their responses were all varying degrees of a resounding YES. But how can you tell if your boat would benefit from a jack plate? What are some of the symptoms?
- Poor Holeshot
- Your outboard’s not perpendicular (straight up & down) in relation to the water at top speed.
- If you can trim the engine all the way up without the prop letting go or with no appreciable loss of water pressure at full throttle.
- The hull doesn’t seem to “lift” like it should.
Boats rigged with jack plates, but otherwise identical to yours, turn higher-pitch props and perform better
Keep in mind that these characteristics can also be indications of other, more serious problems, but if you’re experiencing any or all of the above, your boat could be a good candidate for a jack plate implant.
Review from 2006 Bass & Walleye Boats Magazine
What is a Performance Plate?
The performance plate option is a great add-on accessory to your jack plate! It is a solid aluminum plate we fabricate and install onto the bottom of a jack plate, closing off the cavity of your jack plate on the bottom so that water can not spray up through the jack plate. Simply put, the performance plate is like filler for a tooth cavity not allowing things to go where they should not. The performance plates' job of keeping water out of the inside of the jack plate not only increases your speed but it helps to improve your boats overall performance! A performance plate is only able to be installed when ordering your jack plate because we modify the bottom of the jack plate to facilitate the performance plate. However, you can remove the performance plate from the bottom of the jack plate if need be by simply loosening a few bolts. For more info and pictures regarding the Vance Performance Plate, click here.
If you still have questions as to whether a jack plate will work for you, contact our engineering and support team:
Email: support@vancemfg.com
Phone: 1-931-425-6820
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