Jack Plate

Hello, new guy here so I thought I’d start out with a stupid question. I have a 83 Ranger 395V and I have had a 10″ manual jack plate sitting around. How bad of an idea is it to put on my boat since it has fiberglass over wood transom? I have a 225 ficht ( don’t hate she’s been a great motor so far and not going to re power just because people hate them lol). Thanks in advance for any input.

I have an electric jack plate and love the hole shot and the ability to travel slow in shallow water with less of a rooster tale. My jack plate saves me gas too. Can’t comment on a manual one, though.

I say if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. Seems like a big hassle. Just my 2 cents.

Could be good overall, then again could cause some porpoise at lower speed. Also will affect your trailering by affecting the weight ballance on your trailer unless you are able to move your winchpost forward some. Then there is that matter of losing 10″ of space behind the boat in your garage if that matters. You might gain 1 to 2 mph if that is what’s important to you plus the ability to more finely tune your prop height to what ever prop you use.

Thanks for response I’m more worried about strain on the fiberglass over wood transom, I know it will put a lot of leverage on the transom and I don’t want the only thing attaching motor is cables heading back to ramp lol.

As long as your transom is solid it should be fine. If you do decide to put it on, make sure your steering cables are long enough for the extra 10”. Bass boat central website has a Ranger owners section and it would be a good place to ask this question.

Maybe try to sell that 10″one you have, and buy a 6″ manual one, or possibly trade your 10″ for a 6″ one. A 6″ would be a much safer option with less possible things to go wrong, yet still give you the benifits you want.