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I have been considering a new jack plate for my Sx Skeeter. I have one on thr ZX series because of the horse power but horse power on SX is 130 and 18 foot boat. The 130 is attached directly to transom with no Jack Plate. Would there be any benefits or advantages to adding a jack Plate to the 130 on an 18 foot boat? I am getting very good fuel economy and it runs about 63 MPH now with Stainless Ballistic prop. any input would be greatly appreciated

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Life Jackets and Kill switch's save lives! Soft baits catch fish softer baits catch more fish!
I carry a gun cause a cop is to heavy and when seconds count the police are only minutes away!!

Doug,
If I were going to put a plate on an 18'er I'd go with a 6". I'm a big fan of the Rapid Jack line from Hydro-Dynamics. They are easy to adjust and are a quality product. Advantages are that you will put the prop in to cleaner H20 and you will/should be able to get more bow lift as you are changing the fulcrum point on the boat. Dis-advantage ya gotta pull the motor off the boat to hang one and you'll have to play with the set up to get it dialed back in. CM

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I'm not fluent in Idiot could you please speak slowly?

I put one on a sx 190 and like it. It seems like the boat runs flater now. I mean that when I hit a wake at higher speeds the bow doesn't jump around as much. I didn't see that much as far as speed it concerned but I havn't messed with set up to much. I am turning a 25 M on a 150 HPDI and am thinking about buying a 23. My motor has never turned over 5200 RPM.

Thanks guys for the info. I have just been pondering over it because I think the boat is fast enough for what it is. It has a great ride according to others that have rode in it. It does a true 63 MPH GPS readings and it will chine walk from time to time if I push it beyond it's limits as I have only done a few times running late for a weigh in. I have turned it up to 6 grand on several occassions and that is when it chine walks. Has never blown out but close a few times. Had a major problem with it slinging blades off the props for about a year until I got this new Ballistic stainless from Detroit Wheel. I found out that Ballistic was being made in Mexico and then Detroit Wheel bought them and started making them here and when they sent me one from Detroit it stayed together If I do decide to jack plate it I will contact you CM and let you get me a plate and I will let the guys at Riverside put it on and make it work................. you do know them guys don't you CM?

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Life Jackets and Kill switch's save lives! Soft baits catch fish softer baits catch more fish!
I carry a gun cause a cop is to heavy and when seconds count the police are only minutes away!!

Doug,
To my knowledge CW is still at RM, John (Rusty) has moved on to Music City Marine. You can order direct from Ms. Debbie via phone. Here is the site www.hydrodynamics-usa.com if you do a UPS business 2 day ship you'll save a few $$. Cool thing about them is you can get it powder coated to match your hull. If they won't give you a good deal go to www.pitstopmarine.com he can help you out too. No sense you having it shipped to me then up to you and pay double shipping.

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I'm not fluent in Idiot could you please speak slowly?

I'd check the Skeeter Board at BBC ( www.bassboatcentral.com ). The owners forums would be a great help.
Heck someone may already have on on the same boat and usually they tell how many rpm's and gps speed they are now going and the height above/below the pad.

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Dave
(Michigander at heart! Go Red Wings!)