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buckcarraway.
First post on the board from a new Puma owner. Excited to get my boat up and going. Here are the specs. 2008 Puma with 250 Pro-XS and hydraulic plate. Can anyone give me a good starting point on the plate? Right now, I am starting out with the center of the prop at 3.5 inches below that pad with everything level. As I am still learning to drive this boat after coming out of a Ranger, I would like to know that I am giving myself the best chance to learn the boat. One person has told me to drop the motor as low as it will go and another has told me to set prop at 2.5 inches below the pad. What are some of you doing with a similar set up? Thanks in advance, CC
After running my Cat for 2 years with a hydro. plate, I can tell you the sweet spot changes from day to day. If you put the plate all the way down, it will be very hard to drive on the top end. This will make the chine walk at its worst. Ideally, you want to raise the plate until you feel a touch of prop torque when running all out. The other difference from the Ranger, you do not need to trim all the way out. My boat runs best with the nose down. Get her going and trim it up high to lift the bow and trap air underneath. Then as she starts to scream, bump your trim down a time or two and the nose will drop, the prop will bite and you will gain speed. If it is trying to walk, bump your plate up some and it will stabilize as the prop torque increases. If there is too much prop torque, bump the plate down until you feel just a touch of torque. The Short story: Higher Jackplate= less walk and more torque But, dont get the plate too high as it will loose water pressure and tend to throw blades from the prop (Trophy props). My boat planes best with the plate just low enough to allow a quick blow out as it tips over (A touch above the half way point) Last tip, on rough days, trim down, and drop the plate to the bottom. That helps my Cougar ride on top of the junk for an outstanding ride. Now this is advice from the old style hull, the new hulls may change this a bit. Congrats on making a great decision, you will love your boat more and more each time you are in it. I actually told mine goodnight last time I put her up:)
As I am still learning to drive this boat after coming out of a Ranger, I would like to know that I am giving myself the best chance to learn the boat. To give yourself the best chance to learn the boat with your equipment you should allow or take someone with you that knows how to drive a boat with a hydraulic jack plate! This way they can show and tell you how and what to expect . Your boat has the potential do 75-80+ mph and is NO toy! Do not try and run it to full potential without getting to know the personality of the boat. There is no set height that can best help you through the learning curve. It is more than likely going to take you many hours behind the wheel to learn how to drive it. It is going to start chine walking at speed between 65-70 mph and I suggest that you not try and drive it any faster until youre able to control the balance of the boat. In addition, do not think something is wrong with the boat. For starters, and to give you a starting point, the height of the jack plate should be at a position that doesnt blow out more than 1-2 seconds as it breaks over on plane. If it does, then lower the engine with the jack plate until you get a sufficient hole shot with limited cavitation. Leave the jack plate there until you learn how to drive. This may take a day, a month, 6 months, a year, etc.!Once you learn how to drive, then you can play with jack plate heights. This is one of the advantages to owning a boat with a hydraulic jack plate. You can adjust for all types of conditions that you cant with a manual plate to achieve optimal performance. When on plane and trimmed out, raise the jack plate at a height that will give you the best top end speed or the desirable steering wheel torque that you are comfortable with. If the jack plate is too high, the boat will slow down. If youre too low, the boat will slow down. This also assumes that youre using tilt/trim correctly. Dialed in your engine should be running in an rpm range of 5700-6000 rpms w/ minimal prop slip. Tips An engine too low will cause the boat to chine walk sooner than one that is at the right height or even a touch high. A 4 blade Mercury Trophy prop is easier to drive than a 3 blade Tempest prop. It is very hard to raise the jack plate too high on a Bass Cat as they tend to run at lower settings. At wide open, water pressure should be maintained at approximately 20 psi. Your engine will run cool at less than 15 psi, but this would be an extremely high engine setting for your boat. Holeshot is adjusted by removing the black plugs from the prop not by raising or lowering the engine. Engine bog is caused by too few plugs being removed. Cavitation as the boat breaks over on plane is caused by too many plugs removed from the hub of the prop or the engine height being too high. Top end speed is achieved by trimming the engine all the way out and then back down a two or three clicks. Common knowledge with a Bass Cat is to drive with minimal amount of steering torque at wide open. Allow your engine to warm up sufficiently before putting the hammer down. It should be at least 105 – 115 degrees before hitting the throttle. Temps lower than this signal that you have stuck thermostats and you may need to have serivced if you dont know how to remove trash from the thermostats. Running your engine at a temp of less than 100 degrees youre asking for it to blow up! Your engine will run most of the time between 115 -130 if Im not mistaken. Temps above 140 and you have cooling issues. Once you get to know your boats personality and learn how to drive, then you can play around with props, etc. Until then though, dont worry about changing props to prop for max performance! Again, the best way to shorten the learning curve is to take someone with you that has experience. There are way too many factors to describe here in words in what a short period of time on the water with someone showing you what to do. Good luck!
PhilAddison wrote: It is going to start chine walking at speed between 65-70 mph and I suggest that you not try and drive it any faster until youre able to control the balance of the boat. In addition, do not think something is wrong with the boat. As someone who also came over from the second best boat built in Arkansas, I can tell you first hand that is the truest of things you will hear from anyone. I was afraid of getting the jackplate too high for fear of losing water pressure and losing grip with the prop. As a result, it was undriveable at 70+. Once I conquered my fear of the plate, I realize most of what Phil is saying and you will too. I am still learning but you will be amazed at how easy it is to drive the boat at top speed. I am still not at a point where I can get top speed and comfort, but I know it is there. I am in an 08 FTD with the same setup. Top speed so far is 77.1 with just me, 30 gals of gas, and way too much stuff. Fully loaded with two people and tournament load 75.7. The 75.7 was a piece of cake driving. I was working at 77.1 though I am sure it is my lack of feel for where the plate/trim needs to be rather than the boat. This is just a long rant to tell you that, like Phil said, seat time will cure all and you will love the boat.Bill Spence St. Albans, VT [url=mailto:billspence@yahoo.com]billspence@yahoo.com[/url] http://www.twinstatebassin.com Bass Cat Boats http://www.basscat.com Vexilar Marine Electronics http://www.vexilar.com
Depending on the brand of plate, with a Bobs Hydraulic, we would try to keep it in the lower two LED lights first, then once you have lots of experience play with it. Though do not get over that second light on top end trying to hook it up if you dont know what the water conditions are in front of you. The rumble strips on the water are not forgiving at 70 to 80 mph. If this is a Detwiler, then set it just below a quarter mark on the gauge and start there. Some like it around and up to a 1/2 mark, though not many are able to adjust fast enough there. It needs to be second nature as the more skeg, propeller and gearcase you get out o, the water, the less control you have of your rig. Take your time and play in little increments. Work your way up and have a safe time on the water! Welcome to the Family! BCB
Thanks for the replies. Looks like I need to burn some $4 per gallon gasoline.
I have the same boat and set up (Thanks Phil!) and i am getting more comfortable with it every time I go out. The best advice Phil gave me is put in “seat time”.
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