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Hello All,

Just acquired an old Montauk and wanted to see what motor height people set there engines at. I have a 1993 70hp johnson powering this vessel. I can tell from experience that I think the motor is set too LOW. The stern bracket is resting on top of the transom with no gap.

When at WOT, the motor is creating a rooster tail (wrong), when I trim up a bit I can get rid of this, but than the boat starts to porpoise badly, even on glassy water. I can hit about 31MPH as it sits right now, and the hull does have some moisture in it (can't tell how much, was drilling holes to fill with 2 part resin to fasten down the console and seating, prior owner DID NOT do this, so of course water could enter the hull).

I am a mechanic by trade and have already used a measuring stick to line up the anti-ventilation plate with the keel. At full trim down with negative tuck nothing is lined up. With trimming up and both items in line, the boat porpoises. Even with plenty of ballast in the front this is still happening, so I surmise the motor is too LOW.

Just wondering if anyone else has run into this and found a 'sweet spot,' to help save me the effort of getting out the motor crane and going through the whole trial and error process, not to mention drilling additional holes in the transom and re-tapping the motor to accommodate the height change.

Thanks.