Troll Plate
 

Anybody here ever use a troll plate on a V-6 Merc? I really don't want to buy a kicker because we only troll till late May. I have a Happy Troller and had it on a 85 Johnson and it really works well. I was wondering about running the 150 Merc for 3-4 hours at 800-900 rpm and with the surface gap plugs loading up? Any advice would be appreciated.

cut a 4" hole in the middle so the exhaust will flow thru teh plate and not cause so much back pressure

On my old boat I had a Hussle Trolling plate. It already has the hole in it, which helps with reverse & exhaust as spare said. The very best thing about it is its spring loaded so no pin to forget to pull. It pops up when you get above a certain speed and acts as a hydrofoil. I loved it and caught soooooo many fish with it that it paid for itself many times over.

http://i.ebayimg.com/22/!BkkER(QBWk~...prYIw~~_35.JPG

Spare's right about cutting a center hole in the plate...it'll also help w/steering while trolling w/the plate down...
One thing you can try is to tilt the motor up just enough so the top (the end w/the spark plugs) of the motor block is above horizontal...w/the cylinders on an angle like that, unburned oil will not collect in the "top" of the cylinder which is what generally leads to two-strokers loading up and fouling plugs...I know that technique worked for my 150 Rude and sure worth a try on your Merc...lemme know...[

That's a good idea about tilting the motor slightly and it makes a lot of sense. Now I have a second question kicker motor L/S or S/S, my son and I are talking about taking the V-20 to Lake Ontario in the late summer it's only about 3 1/2 hours to Pulaski NY we used to fish there a lot and I'm getting itchy for salmon fishing again.

Blu...I tryin to figure out the question...can't determine the L/S or S/S...if the question is whether or not to take the boat, then I vote YES!!...provided good trailer and ample tow vehicle...

And BR's Hussle trolling plate has got to be the best I've seen!!...but then you know that DAWGs gonna have ONLY the BEST!!...

Reel its short shaft vs long shaft. Blu - long shaft aka 20" for sure. The extra 5" is needed when there its not dead calm. When the boat rocks, or if you shift weight around in the boat I'm betting a 15" shaft will allow the lower unit breach the surface of the water. You want that puppy to stay down no matter what.

Now if its always gonna be dead calm 1" chop the you would be fine with 15" short shaft.

Blue's .02 JMO

never seen a "troll plate" does that attach to the cavitation plate and you flip it down to slow the boat speed down when trolling? you guys up north have all the cool toys.

down here we just tie a couple of 5 gallon buckets on lines and hang em on the stern cleats.

Yes that's how it works. The one I posted with the springs on it you never have to flip up or down because its spring loaded. I liked having it for docking too. I wore the flounder out trolling the creeks with it at 1 mph. The downside is you do have to drill holes in your cavitation plate. It wasn't an issue for me on the '75 70hp Evinrude but on a new motor it would be harder to drill those holes.

Look at the L/U you can see the plate this type sits back from the prop does it need the hole or not?
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...PDR_0111-1.jpg

Opinions will differ on that. In my opinion the biggest problem with trolling plates is most require you to manually put it in the down position. This means in order to raise it up you have to pull a pin. You WILL forget to do this and your plate will either get screwed up or you'll crack your cavitation plate (or both). Its not IF its when. Some of the manufacturers have a shear pin so no damage is done. Still, manual intervention required and inevitibly you will forget.

The only negative I have to say about the Hussle plate is the springs were not stainless and would rust after a couple years. Not a problem cause Doug Johnson at Johnson Marine has the replacements but I never needed them! Check out the link:

http://www.johnsonmarinesupply.com/trolling_plates.htm