# motor hieght on awkward skiff



## ggoodman (Jun 16, 2013)

So here's my boat, Runs fine aside from the fact if im sitting and running I cant see over the bow.... yes i'm short. the bow rides high as you can tell from the curve of the boat. Draft with motor up is about 5" loaded for fishing. with motor down I need near 18" to run. I think my motor is sitting very low.... I am in the process of making a manual jack plate. If this were a standard v hull id know where to start since it not I am at a loss for high I should start. it the anti cav plate 1" above bottom rule still apply?

I dont want to go to high as this boat currently handles nasty weather like a champ... your thoughts? new prop will be coming soon so I can change that as well.


----------



## firecat1981 (Nov 27, 2007)

Welcome, that is a pretty neat skiff there. What kind is it? 

From the pictures it is always hard to tell, but I'd say it is a little low, but not too much. Another inch or so wouldn't hurt. It won't help the lack of vision issue, does the bow run really high when you are on plane? Maybe better weight distribution or motor trim, would help it run shallower as well.


----------



## topnative2 (Feb 22, 2009)

cavitation plate(w/ hydrofoil) should be at least even w/bottom of hull or 1-2" above


----------



## ggoodman (Jun 16, 2013)

Right now cav plate is about 2" below, so 3" would be a big difference in running depth.


----------



## topnative2 (Feb 22, 2009)

1" above bottom of boat will probably do it for u>normally u start out w/ it even to the bottom sor so they say


----------



## oysterbreath (Jan 13, 2009)

Where did you get that stubby panga?
Nice boat! Be sure to post that jackplate build.


----------



## ggoodman (Jun 16, 2013)

> Where did you get that stubby panga?
> Nice boat! Be sure to post that jackplate build.


 Searched high and low would love to have had the 18 but im in school again and....... Thus far I love the thing, have been out 1-2 chop and it's been awesome. gave it a real try out last weekend went scalloping had about 1000lbs (350+270+150+ dive gear, ice chest, fishing junk) of weight in it. boat handled awesome the motor did not have near the pep it does with two average guys.  We still managed to plane off and run decent on the way back we picked up a ton of water in the boat and it really bogged it down. 

On order are electrical- night lights, bilge pump, proper trollign motor mount and wiring.

Motor- re prop, jackplate, hopefully find a 30hp carb from a mid 90's 2 cyl... member said he had two but I have not heard from him.

Fish- fish and dive the crap out of it, till i finish grad school then order up a 21-23 panga.


----------



## firecat1981 (Nov 27, 2007)

So is it a panga 14? from which company?


----------



## ggoodman (Jun 16, 2013)

looks like Panga marine, boat is an 04


----------



## Creek Runner (Sep 1, 2011)

Motor is definitely low, like other have said raise it up at least 1" above the bottom of the boat.


----------



## ggoodman (Jun 16, 2013)

Another question, how do you know when it's time to replace the prop due to gradual wear? The blade kinda has a point on the end so I assume it's time. The exixting prop is 10x13 have no idea what RPM is(tiny tach on order) With 2 guys(~310lbs) heavy arse 45qt yetti cooler, trolling motor, battery, and 3 gallons of gas it max was 24mph per GPS, however i phone said 23 knots. 

Boat came with a 10x15 i am afraid that would drop the RPM to much.


----------



## Brett (Jul 16, 2008)

I'm going to offer an opinion, based on real world testing.
In most cases raising the engine won't produce that big a change in performance.
Especially on a work boat style hull with a small engine. In order to take advantage of
an elevated engine running height, you'll need a cupped prop to deal with the aerated
water that is created by the forward motion of the hull. That's the reason most small
outboards have the shaft length greater than the intended designed transom height.
After purchasing the jack-plate, cupped prop, you may obtain a 1 to 2 % increase in speed
but only when running at full throttle. I rarely ran full throttle with my boats,
as sea conditions would turn my kidneys to pulp- if I did so.
My recommendation is to leave it alone and go fishing.
It's not worth the time or effort for the limited increase in performance.


----------



## ggoodman (Jun 16, 2013)

Ah but it would be worth the reduced draft. After getting the level out and doing some measuring at the moment I am going to raise the motor at least 4" to put me at the 1" above mark...I am preety sure my current prop is shot so a new prop will be on it's way when I figure out what to get.


----------



## fishinjeff (Mar 5, 2007)

I just had this same dilemma on a new skiff I bought. It has a extra long shaft nissan 15hp on it and the cavitation plate was about 3" below the bottom of the boat. It would do 15 mph that way full throttle. You could tell it was dragging in the water. SO I took a plate from a offshore Aux bracket and bolted it to the transom about 3 1/2 in. up now and it does make a big difference all around. With me it goes 20mph so I personally got 5mph difference. I run VERY shallow so I wanted as much lift as I could get away with. I wanted to and still do want to put my "short shaft 25hp on it. BUT I did not measure the transom when I bought the boat and now I either need to cut down the transom and/or jack plate it??? I have never used one so I am hopping I can run slow with it up enough to do what I need to do. Any thoughts? Or trade that motor for a long shaft???


----------



## ggoodman (Jun 16, 2013)

Jack plate in theory could work just as well to lower a motor as to raise it. 
I have a 21 allison GS with a 225 merc with hydraulic jackplate. I use it to get out of the hole easier(lower) and tune it when getting on the pad(raise). On that boat the when I get the prop shaft center line dead even with bottom of the pad on the boat it's a dream to drive . it's a whole different animal than the panga though.


----------

