Considering putting a manual jack plate on an older Glass boat but concerned about stress on the transom.The outboard is a 200hp and I am not sure of the weight. Anyone have any input regarding doing this on a twenty year old skeeter? Thanks in advance.
I say save your money! I put a electric one on my skeeter and it has been about the biggest wast of money ive ever spent! might have got me about 2 to 3 MPH top end but it sits in one spot at all times!
I guess for what you gain to what you spend is not good! just sayin!
I , too, have an older boat.. and I also wonder what the stress level is on the transom? but I rarely run my boat for “speed”.. its mostly, just fast enough to get from here to there..
I guess that I doubt that a jack plate would make a difference at this point in time.
I have been thinking about one on my Crestliner 182 TS not for the extra speed but being able to run skinny water. A good 4 blade prop low water pickup, wonder how skinny I could run setup like that. I have seen the bass guys run in water I could not float acrossed.
Older skeeters sure weren’t known for their strong transoms (which is why they probably beefed them up and now claim the strongest in the industry). I’ve got a 98 with a 10″ manual and sort of saw transom failure. What I found is that they relied on the top cap being folded over the hull and screwed together at the transom with 2 cent wood screws to provide strength. All the screws along the back of the boat broke and the weight of the motor was enough to flex the transom. There was no fiberglass damage and Skeeter wouldn’t do anything for me so I peeled the rub rail back and bolted the thing together. This was about 5 years ago and she’s still rock solid.
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Older skeeters sure weren’t known for their strong transoms (which is why they probably beefed them up and now claim the strongest in the industry). I’ve got a 98 with a 10″ manual and sort of saw transom failure. What I found is that they relied on the top cap being folded over the hull and screwed together at the transom with 2 cent wood screws to provide strength. All the screws along the back of the boat broke and the weight of the motor was enough to flex the transom. There was no fiberglass damage and Skeeter wouldn’t do anything for me so I peeled the rub rail back and bolted the thing together. This was about 5 years ago and she’s still rock solid.
Off the top of my head I’m going to say your transom is probably not going to be up for it, I’d guess the same of any early 90s fiberglass transom. There will probably be a point in the nearer future that you’re going to have to address the transom, after which I would think a jack plate would be fine.
I agree with *NICK*, your transom on the old skeeter is not going to be able to support the “extended” weight. 
Off the top of my head I’m going to say your transom is probably not going to be up for it, I’d guess the same of any early 90s fiberglass transom. There will probably be a point in the nearer future that you’re going to have to address the transom, after which I would think a jack plate would be fine.
If this was directed towards me, I’m not so sure you could even mount the engine to the boat without the use of a jackplate…
Your opinion of the older transom sounds like the guy who is going to do some work on the rest of the boat this winter. He told me up front that he is not a big fan of jackplates period as they cause alot of stress.I just wanted a few second opinions from the pros. Thanks again!
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