In between a long and standard shaft - which to choose ?

[Ironhorse2022]

Interesting. I just assumed there would be wood for the screw clamp feet to bite into. Thanks for the eBay listing - didn’t think of looking there for some reason. I really appreciate the help - wish I could help you guys in return. Some day …

 

[Ironhorse2022]

Update: the suzuki is actually a standard shaft but for some reason, suzuki makes them a bit long at 17” from transom top to AV plate. This explains why the plate is two inches below my hull. Perhaps this motor needs to run a bit deeper for some reason, don’t know. In the spring, I’ll start where it is and then move it up gradually using spacers and see what happens. I don’t have enough transom height above the motor clamps to raise it two inches so a Jack plate of some sort might be required. I appreciate everyone’s input.

 

[cyclops2]

Boats are SUPPOSED to be either 15" or a 20" transom in the small size boats on this site. The O B motors SHOULD be a perfect fit......Used motor with used parts ??? Anything can happen.

 

[Ironhorse2022]

As far as I can tell, the suzuki is unmolested and considered a standard shaft despite being 17”. The boat measures 15.

 

[cyclops2]

If it is 17" ? It is a Molested odd ball & will need a goofy jack plate to get right. 1 size of B S fits all boats ? Not

 

[skeet]

I bought a new 20 hp tohatsu in 2017.to go on an alumacraft 15 ft jon. The tiller handle hit the back of the drivers seat, causing me to fold up the tiller handle in tight turns. Curiously i looked at the cavitation plate vs transom height. The transom is 15 inches but the cavitation plate is about 1 1/2 inches lower. I made a homemade jackplate that moved the engine back 2 inches and raised the engine up 11/2 inches. Also went from a 9 pitch 3 blade to an 10 pitch 4 blade.prop. everything now works well. The boat when planed out has plenty of lift from the 4 blade prop. I am 300 lbs and with a 2 gallon gas tank and battery in the rear. It sits well. Also put on transom pods. They helped even more.

 

[Ironhorse2022]

Excellent info, thanks skeet. I think I’ll end up with a small spacer on top of the transom as well. I have no idea whether my 3 blade prop is optimized or not. I’ll be getting a wireless rpm sending unit in the spring to see where I’m running and go from there.

 

[skeet]

I mentioned the pods. They are worth their weight in gold. I have two aluminum boats and have pods on both. My experience with them has been that they raise the transom up about 4 inches.higher out of the water. Moving the engine back helped a lot too.....i worked at a johnson dealer back in the 70's before factory complete packages came on. Every bass boat sold got the cavitation plate up 1 inch on the transom above the bottom. It helped to pick up another mile an hour or so. And kept the water pump in a safe area.

 

[thill]

Have you actually lake tested it with the 17" motor yet? I strongly recommend that you do before making any decisions, and here is why...

I recently bought a Tracker 16 with a 15" transom, and it came with a 17" Johnson 30. I thought it was too long, so I put a 1" block on the transom and clamped it on. It ventilated badly during turns and I had to accelerate gently or it would blow out. You can see the block of wood if you look at the bottom left side:


I pulled the block and ran it again. It ran much better, didn't blow out at all. In this video, I tilted it up one hole, and it was a bit light in the nose, but it was perfect once I had a trolling motor and battery up there. But the 17" motor turned out to be perfect for my 15" transom. So definitely water test before making any decisions:

 

[Ironhorse2022]

I did test drive it before buying but that’s the only time I’ve had it on the water. It felt a little nose heavy and was carving a bit Which I think I can fix by adjusting the tilt by one hole. It didnt cavitate on the straightaways but I didn’t try any turns at speed as I was on a river. Good advice never the less. I may play with it a bit in the spring before adjusting the height (primarily because I don’t want to drill 2 new holes in the transom if I don’t need to.