The transom on my boat is lower than the sides. In other words it slope down, its not straight across. My mud motor runs to far down in the water like a outboard. What I'm thining of doing is getting a long thick peice of treated lumber cutting it to the boats width driling four holes in each of the side of the transom and putting four bolts with heavy duty washers as fastener. I did all the measuring and math and it will bring the motors prop more on the surface, and I will not have to Crouch as I'm running the motor.

Has anyone done Anything like this before? The motor is a 05 9hs go-devil and is worth more than the boat. I can't afford a new boat so I'm trying to make due with what I have. I know the motor is not running the way it should right now. Any thoughts or suggestons would be great! Thanks guys!

Go for it!

what size is your boat?

If you are only running a 9hp, you can probably try about anything as you aren't creating that much torque that you will hurt it...

BUT,

As for me, when I had the problem, i took it to a welding shop and had them raise the transom for me. I had them wrap a piece of alum diamond plate (it is what he had) from the bottom back up across and down to the bottom inside, and then taper it down on either side so it looked like it came from the factory that way... then I had him weld a brace across the boat about 15 " forward and tie in two more braces to the back of the boat-then I ran some bolts thru the transom (sealed with 5200) to tie it together-it was solid as a rock and it wasn't that expensive....

If the boat is otherwise solid, then that will put you in a position to upgrade the motor later as well....

Good luck on sorting thru it....

My mistake, I forgot to mention it's a old 73 fiberglass Jon. Otherwise the welding idea sounded good! If you don't mind about how much did that set you back?

just curious, what's your boats length and width measurement? v-hull? have you looked at your cavitation plate? it should be level with the boat when the prop is at the waters surface.
im 80% sure that with longtails, the closer to the water the motor is (or the lower the transom), the better because you get more forward thrust instead of upward thrust. but if you get your transom real low you need to change your cav. plate as neccesary

i'd like someone to agree with me on that cause i may be wrong, but i'm pretty sure i'm not

It's 14 ft long about 32 34" wide. Not sure how deep but it's pretty shallow. I hunt in lake with heavy vegitation and when I run the motor with my hand all the way down to the bench it runs great. A bit uncomfortable! However when I run the engine standing the motor is at an extreme angle and the plate gets hung up on the vegitation. No one else seems to have the problem I'm having. However all the boats I've seen on the lake have straight transoms and when I see thm run the plate is just below the surface. Mine is buried unless I push the handle down all the way.

thanks for the additional info..

After reading your last post, I think I would consider a manual jackplate.

U can pick one up for $100 (ck ebay if you are having a hard time finding one) or from someone on here maybe.

I think that would be your best solution and even give you some room to "fine tune" it a little...

Just make sure you mount it in a good spot to start with... (made that mistake once. .and you don't want additional holes in your boat) and make sure you seal your bolts with 5200...

and oh, my transom cost me around $200 I think .. don't remember for sure.. just know i was happy as a pig in .....

good luck.

YOur motor needs to be able to dig down low to get you out of some situations. If its running too deep in the water then you need to adjust your cavitation plate.

Hey guys... Please be patient with me in the next 3 days when I get a chance ( I work long hours) I will take some pictures of my rig and show you first hand what I got. Someone told me about adjusting the plate, then they looked at the boat and suggested to do some work to the boat. When the motor is running at "0" it should be running at the surface of the water. Then if I need more torque I should be able to pull up and dig deeper. Right now if I do that the engine is at a real bad angle and then I hear the engine ping and clunk. So I bring back up to "0" and dig in again. I kid you not this vegitation is real thick! Guys I've talked to at the boat landing that laughed at me coming in said a motor like mine should not be having any problems getting through this stuff. The plate is acting like a dredge. ( I hope I'm not sounding like I'm beating a dead horse. ). I'll try to get those pics up in a few days for all of you helpfull dudes to take a look at!!!!

What's the height of your transom? A standard length GDLT works best on a 15 inch transom. If the transom is too high the cavitation plate pops out. If the transom is too low the cavitation plate runs too deep. The rear of the cavitation plate can be bent up or down for minor trim adjustments, but it sounds like you might be beyond that.

Have you considered altering your tiller so that you are not banging on the seat when the prop is where you want it on top of the vegitation?

A picture would help here.

Mark F. Cheney

that may be the best thing to do is to call the local dealer of whatever motor your running. if it's like godevil or someone that builds motors to be put on theor boats, then see what the recommended transom height is for the boat your motor is built for. get what i'm sayin?

then set your 2x4 or man. jackplate(whatever you choose) at that height.

Sorry guys I haven't abandoned you. Work has been killing me! ( I suppose I should be glad I have a job.) I plan getting pics up soon!

hey most people wish they were bust woth work, but if they were then MMT wouldn't be as popular

On my boat(aluminum) the transom was cut because it was to high and when i bought the boat I took a piece of 1x2 and cut it to size and had a aluminum plate bent in the shape of a transom would look like and drilled holes through plate and transom and bolted it on. It works great.