Tips on installing a jackplate

[Dano]

Ive got a jackplate coming for my Osprey 200. Im sure it will have some instructions and im pretty handy, but was just inquiring for any tips or setups that may make it go smoother. I have a Yamaha F115 and it is a CMC high speed unit.

[RickK]

I also have a CMC that I will be installing soon - it was used and no instructions.
I think it is pretty straight forward though once you figure out which is the front (against transom) side.  The wiring is pretty straight forward too from what I can gather from their site. What kind of control did you get? I bought a two button setup.
Do you have hydraulic steering?  If so (I also do) make sure that the cylinder will clear the aft side of the transom once the engine is installed.  I have Seastar and needed 7-7.5" of clearance, which I didn't have since the CMC is 5.5". I had to purchase a 2" spacer and then I also purchased a 1/2" bracket for my power pole that will fit between the JP and the engine on one of the sides of the spacer.

So that is the only help I can be right now.

[fitz73222]

I have a CMC on my flats boat and I spent the time to get the up and down relays, 12V postive, ground and circuit breaker all wired under the cowling of the outboard which worked out very well. Only wires coming outside the engine was for the up/down switch, wiring going to the pump, and the sender wire for the height gage at the helm. As for the engine mounting height on the jack plate, I set mine up with the jack plate all the way down, I set the engine cavitation plate 1" above the bottom of the boat, which is the optimum for most boats, so when the jack plate is all the way down, I'm at my perfect engine running height, no guessing if the engine is too deep or too high. If you intend to play with higher engine heights while you are running then spend the money on a water pressure gage for your engine or you risk cooking the power head.

[RickK]

That's good stuff Farley.   

So, you don't want to be able to drop it down below the hull bottom to get a better hole shot? I thought that is one of the big things about a powered jackplate.

I read somewhere about how to install the power connections inside the cowling and will probably do that also. 

Been going back and forth about getting a gauge though.  Pricey little things, and also need to get a water pressure gauge.

I'm getting closer to mounting time.

[fitz73222]

Hey Rick,
If you're not ventilating coming out of the hole then you're getting the best bite you can. Dropping the engine down lower than it needs to be is really a bass boat thing with over the hub exhaust propellers and getting more bite. I use my jack plate primarliy for blasting off out of a foot of water where I jack it up 3-4" higher and still get reasonable prop bite but she is ventilating when it comes over on plane and then I drop it down till the ventilation stops and it hooks up and works fine up too about 4000 rpm and I don't trim it out. The other reason of course is idling in shallow water fully jacked up which gets my gear case bullet even with the bottom. One thing I did that really comes in handy is I installed a decal on my stern bracket and a match mark on the moving part of the swivel bracket at the point where the engine skeg is even with the bottom of the boat with a little bit of positive trim, the engine can run in the same amount of water as what the boat will float in which is about 8" of water without the engine hitting bottom and have the most bite without having to tilt it up so much that the boat starts to squat in the stern. This really comes into play trying to idle in very shallow water in a strong current. Don't know if this makes sense but works very well in really skinny water.

[Dano]

Thanks for the help. Already have the water pressure gauge installed. I'll chec for the mounting to be 1" higher than hull bottom when installed. It is mainly as you suggested for idling in shallow water. I'll have to look to see how to wire it with solenoids under the motor cover as I was wondering where to put them. There isn't much room in the side with the fuel/ water separator filter in there. Some pics of your setup would be helpful.

[fitz73222]

Dano,
What engine do you have?

[RickK]

I have a Yamaha F115 and it is a CMC high speed unit.

[fitz73222]

 So you have an inline 4 four stroke 115. The hardest part is finding a suitable place to mount the relays, since they have a built in bracket, try to find an existing bolt in the back of the engine, that is the right size to pass through the hole in the bracket. I was lucky to find two tapped holes in the engine pan that were next to one another that worked perfectly to mount them. The power came from the battery cable side of the starter solenoid which is constant hot and for the ground, it came from where the battery cable grounds to the block. This allows you to run the jack plate up and down without having the keyswitch on and when you turn your main battery switch off, the power is also off to the jackplate. Just remember if you wind up using a bolt, like a head bolt or on your engine a camshaft cover bolt, make sure it is re- torqued to the specification for it. If that's not practical, you can make a bracket from aluminum or stainless to mount the relays on and use less critical mounting mounting locations. Just take your cowling off and drape the relays in the general area you want to install them, look at how you would run the wiring to get the power source and work from there.

[Dano]

That sounds like a clean way to set the relays up. So after that I will be left with the switch wire only to run to the console correct?

[Dano]

Thanks for the help. Got the jack plate on finally. Need to test to make sure I have motor set right. If anything it is maybe 1/2 inch lower at the bottom of the movement than prior. Should be great for shallow idling. Thanks Fitz for the wiring help. Did it as you specified and that is the cleanest way to go!

[Dano]

At full lift ....

[fitz73222]

Good job Dano,
They do look good all jacked up don't they? Where did you wind up mounting the relays? Also for the future, start saving your pennies for hydraulic steering. Besides the benefits of total smoothness and 0 feedback in steering torque at any trim angle, my experience has been that mechanical steering cables do not like to be jacked up and down and it will eventually break internally. My flats boat was about 3 years old when I installed my CMC and in about 18 months that cable broke internally. It was well greased, garage kept and not in a bind and worked perfectly. After running creeks all day, went to load the boat on the trailer and while powering on to the trailer it let go, I was thankful it didn't break while I was running or I could have been up in the woods! When I cut the insulation on the cable to see what happened, all of the woven cable inside had failed and I must have been holding by only a couple of strands. I surmised that raising the engine up and down often started a hinging action on those cable windings and one by one they started to crack, so I went to hydraulic and never looked back. I do notice that the span between where your cable comes out of the gunnel and your engine is pretty long so your cable may be fine. One my flats boat it is about half that distance so my cable may have had more stress placed on it and hinged more. Just my $.02 from experience.

[Dano]

Here is where I put the relays. Wired to the positive side of starter and engine ground for neg. it's nice having it all under the cowling. The downside is that the switch wires are now too short to reach the console so I will have to splice into them to lengthen the harness enough to reach. Steering cable has some room to move with the setup as it is...... No real binding or kinks.

Slowly but surely turning into my mini dorado........

[fitz73222]

Good location, high and dry for the relays.