Jack plate on ‘93 Bonefisher

[Forgottencoast]

Does anyone have any experience running a jack plate on an older hewes?  I sure would love to be able to idle/take off in less than 2 feet but am worried about the sacrifice of draft it might come with. 

[Just Gin]

also interested in this

[DanAdams]

I too was wondering about mounting a jack plate on the older hulls... see my post at ...

 

 

Though I have a 2000 18 Redfisher (exact same hull as a friend's '93 Redfisher and not dissimilar from the Bonefisher), my application is not that different from yours.  Like you I was worried about increasing my draft but I wanted to be able to idle more efficiently in shallow water and on occasion jump up on plane in the shallows.  

After doing my research and talking with folks I decided the pros outweighed the cons. I just finished the work myself about a month ago and I'm still in "testing mode" but so far I don't regret it. I will tell you it will change the way your boat performs but generally not in a bad way. 

I added a Bob's 4" setback model (I wanted to add the least amount of weight as possible for draft purposes) along with the Baystar Hydraulic Steering Kit because the cable was not going to work with a 6" vertical lift.  This added approximately 50 pounds to the stern which is considerable for a shallow water skiff but so far I don't believe it changed the draft of the boat enough to change the way I fish.  I also added a water pressure gauge because I'd rather be safer than sorry... remember that just because an outboard is pissing doesn't mean it's cooling properly!!

That being said, the main issue I had was deciding how high or low to mount the outboard to the plate because of tilting the motor for trailering and such is dangerous with the new steering cylinder getting very close to the transom (still playing with that).  Also, It appears I may re-prop in the future but I'm going to continue testing to get a real feel for what I need before that. 

Hope this helps.