Hydro Jack plate

This topic has 7 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 18 years, 9 months ago by Bass Cat Boats.

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September 1, 2007 at 7:28 pm #302808

Anonymous
Inactive

I noticed as I was letting my motor down on my toter that I had some slack in my jack plate. When I got home and did some checking , seems like one side will start to come up or down before the other, one of the bolts was a little more loose than the others also. Is it normal for the 4 bolts to be loose? The slack is from front to back slack, not side to side, and its only probably about quarter inch. I sure dont want to loose the Opti in the lake..

September 1, 2007 at 7:33 pm #302809

Bass Cat Boats
Keymaster

Year model, brand of jackplate? CMC, R & R Slidemaster, Detwiler, Bobs????Boat year model and does it have four or six bolts for mounting to the boat?

September 1, 2007 at 7:41 pm #302810

PhilAddison
Participant

The way you explain this deal makes me think your engine is loose on the jack plate or the jack plate is loose on the boat. There is a total of 10 bolts that hold all this together. 6 bolts holds the jack plate on to the transom of the boat and there are 4 bolts that hold the engine on to the jack plate. All need to be checked for looseness and all should be retightened.

September 3, 2007 at 12:36 am #302811

Bass Cat Boats
Keymaster

its on a 2000 P3 with a 200 opti. The serial plate on the jackplate says “cook”.. It has PRO LIFT on the side of it.I just tightened up the 4 bolts on the side of the motor with the bushing in the middle. It seemed to tighten everything up.

September 3, 2007 at 12:48 am #302812

Bass Cat Boats
Keymaster

That us what is described as a CMC Hydraulic made in Oklahoma. Those side bolts should have lock nuts on the inside, and you need to have them secure, not overly tight. If you do not have all of the parts, then CMC does sell that bolt kit.On a CMC plate watch the frame rails where the bronze bushing rides. The plate has an old and new style rail. The new style rail we inspired and it has a raised area where the outside bolt face and bushing rides. This makes the plate thicker than the original 1/2″ plate thickness.If yours is the 1/2″ think plate in the bushing area you should watch it ever so mush closer. That area where the bushing rides tends to mushroom from the weights of those 500 pound Optimax engines. The plate was designed and used more with the small 2.5 block motors. The increased weights of larger blocks will mushroom those frame rails in either style of plate. The newer with the 45 degree chamfered and raised ledge will not mushroom as bad. Watching the bolt tension will help also.BCB

September 3, 2007 at 3:50 pm #302813

Guest
Participant

Thanks so much BCB. I think your right on with the post. I noticed the side washers are squashed or mushroomed pretty bad. I tightened the bolt on both sides and it seemed to be working better. I m just not gonna be raising and lowering the plate. Ill just let her be..

September 3, 2007 at 3:51 pm #302814

Bass Cat Boats
Keymaster

Thanks so much BCB. I think your right on with the post. I noticed the side washers are squashed or mushroomed pretty bad. I tightened the bolt on both sides and it seemed to be working better. I m just not gonna be raising and lowering the plate. Ill just let her be.. Do you guys have the address to the CMC in OK.? Ill go ahead and get some on order. thanks again

September 3, 2007 at 4:13 pm #302815

Bass Cat Boats
Keymaster

Actually what causes those Nylatron washers to wear is the mushrooming of the actual frame rail. If you feel the slide notch where the bushing rides, you will notice that the aluminum has flared. Actually mushrooming on front and rear of that slot where the bushing travels. The bushing is fine, the aluminum is the issue. This wears those Nylatron washers as the aluminum eats into the washer. Those Nylatron washers are held in place by an aluminum stamped washer. The tension needs to allow them to travel. You may want to clean up those flared edges and this will reduce the wear on the Nylatron. It is not a problem to use occasionally, though it will increase the wear. And this is a major reason we left CMC for Slidemaster. We built a two piece bronze bushing with a lip (shoulder) on the outsides. and then used a thinner nylon washer outside of that instead of nylon. It worked very well and the shoulder contained the mushrooming, while the tension was controlled with the bushings meeting in the center. CMC did not want to follow this design. And we saw future problems increasing as the weights of engines increased. No jack plate is fail proof, though they are all improving yearly. BCB
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