Sanger wake plate?

Met the dealer at the river for a test drive and was surprised the wake plate was fixed on the 215. The salesman didn't know how or if it could be adjusted. Looked like it could with tools and would mainly want to surf. So do the Sanger owners leave it the way the factory set it or do you adjust it and how? Looks like some good wake surf pics for my price range. Thank you.

I've never touched my fixed plate. I highly doubt you could get enough deflection off of that plate to make a difference, nor would I want to try to bend that plate.

There is an option for a hydraulically adjustable plate though, that if you're that concerned, may be a good option for you.

I love the surf wake on my 215. I usually just run stock ballast in mine and use bigger boards (I'm not a hardcore surfer) but have sacked it out per dennish's recommendations. He did a thread a while back in the wakesurfing section on dialing the 215 in.

I do run the acme 911 prop and it makes a big difference with the bigger weight.

Do you have a link to that thread?

http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/87668/709622.html?1245805595

Here's one of the latest. I think dennis does his run down about every other week.

Always happy to help people get their boats dialed in.

If you want to surf you'll want to replace it with the Bennett tab from Sanger. It's not a complex job but you have to like drilling into your boat.
I changed mine over as it too came with the fixed plate. You can adjust the plate but not enough to make the surfing as good as it can be, and then you lose other performance that the Bennett plate makes better.

I've never done anything with mine. Sangers don't have much bow rise at all so it's really not necessary but I'd be interested to see how it effects the surf wave to have an adjustable trim tab.

Here's the fixed plate


Her's the adjustable


I don't have good pictures of the difference when you adjust the plate but the shape and length of packet change as you adjust the trim. I normally run with the adjustable plate at full up to 25% down.

I have the adjustable plate on mine and you can really tell the difference as you adjust it on the fly. I also use it down to get on plane when I have a lot of weight in the boat, then as I plane I put it back up.

I should clarify that. I run with the plate up to 25% down for surfing. For wakeboarding it's 25-50% down. For starts, towing kids, and anything that doesn't need a bigger wake it's 100% down. Cruising over 30 mph I start trimming up slightly to get a bit extra speed. Max speed is 42 with the plate at about 40% down.
100% down is 3/16" down at the trailing edge from level with the flat at the stern where the rudder sits. Full up is about 1" up at the trailing edge.
Running into storm waves the plate is 100% down.
Running with big strom waves the plate is full up.
The meter mine came with reeds 0-100 and is not deadly accurate, but close enough.

Thanks guys, very helpful to know there are options if needed and sounds ok without. I got into boating last year and it seemed weird not to be using a trim all the time like I do with my run about.

Eric I'm curious about the 911 prop. Does that make the wake shape better or does it just help propel the boat better with all the added ballast weight?

(Message edited by duckboat on August 10, 2009)

My v210 has the Adj plate and I too can tell a big difference when the boat is weighted down pretty good. It helps plane the boat out when the boat is loaded with people

Art -

Can you give me an idea of how much it cost to put the bennet plate on your boat? Any links to where you bought the plate? Where in the dash did you mount the adjustment switch? How many hours did it take to install?

Thanks.

Rob, I bought it from Sanger through the dealer. (He didn't know it existed, but now he orders some with it I think) I installed the gauge and switch above and in front of the Morse shifter on the right gunnel. The switch immediately ahead of the riveted plate and the gauge just in front of the switch. There is still room on mine for another 2" gauge in front of those if I decide to add something else. That's the vertical portion of gel coat above the upholstery and just below the windscreen. (Sorry, no photo, my bad)
I did the installation in stages over a couple days. First the hydaulic pump, Then the gauge, switch and wiring, Then the plate install so my boat was only out of commision for a short time.
The hard part was screwing the plate onto the bottom of the hull. everything else was easy. When you remove the fixed plate there are large holes to fill where the bolts went through. There is little pressure where those holes are as the new plate covers them. The adjustable plate is held on with screws that you need to drill and then set in with adhesive. The fiberglass was not completely straight on mine and so the screws had to bend the mount plate slightly to get a tight fit. I did not drill quite a big enough hole and I had a couple of screw break while doing the install. Then I had to drill the stainless plate while it was mounted and then drill new holes to replace the broken ones. Then knock down the broken off screws. My fault but a royal pain to do while lying on my back. (Note to self: Fiberglass and epoxy are really strong and I don't need all that tight a fit on the screw to hold)
Wiring, running the lines and mounting the rams were all easy. Watch for the speedo tubes and any wiring running behind where the switch and gauge mount when you drill and install. Brace a straight edge that is against the bottom of the hull to get the plate level, then space the straight edge down evenly to give you the amount of drop you need. Sanger can give you the exact amount but I think mine worked out to 3/16"

If I had to do it again I would in a heartbeat. (but I'd drill those holes a fraction bigger in the glass. It's really thick on the bottom of the hull) I am a big fan of being able to adjust the attitude of a boat.

I've been playing around with a plate on mine. So far very encouraging.
http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/3183/714713.html?1249192560