***PLEASE HELP CAVITATION/ AV PLATE LOCATION ***

[SPICY-D]

I purchased a 2220 Fisherman and received it just under a month ago. It came with a Mercury Opti-Max 225 Pro-XS/ 20" shaft. The 2220 Fisherman has a 20" transom. I also have a 10" Bob's jack plate on the boat. WOT I can barely trim the motor up before I lose water pressure (max psi 18.1 and is normally around 13.0-13.5 @ 5,200 RPM). I was having some slight cavitation isuues with the boat when I first took it out. Prop was a 3 blade Tempest plus 21P. I sent the boat back to Blazer for that issue along with several other issues (missing extras, scrathes in the gel coat, 3" + crack in the fiberglass on one of the strakes, approx 5' of the keel was scratched and peeling, and a chip the size of a quarter down to the composite material on the right rear corner of the boat), the plastic nut that holds the ignition to the console was stripped, the forgot to send a seat, forgot to install the swim platform, etc, etc, etc. Anyway, blazer took it back and made all of the repairs and ran the boat to check out the cavitation complaint. Keith Craft ran the boat and said there was nothing wrong with it (they also made the other repairs, but the keel repair is starting to peel again) and sent it back with a Revolution 4 23P. I still see the same problems. With the motor @ level trim and the Jack plate all the way down, the cav plate is 5 1/2" above the Keel. My jack plate is mounted at the top of the transom. I talked to a Rep at Bob's and they stated that it should have been mounted in the center of the transom, as it states in the installation manual. I spoke to a Mercury Rep. and they stated that I need a 25" shaft. I spoke to several other people and they all say the same thing. It needs a 25" shaft. I've also talked to some people down in houma that said G&F down in Raceland had this problem with several Blazer's.
Everything on the boat was installed by Blazer. I only ordered extras such as the swim plat, boat cover, etc.
Can anyone give me some input? I'd like to know what I should do and if anyone has had this problem, because I think that I am about to go into battle for a 25" shaft or returning the boat for good.

PICTURES OF SOME OF THE ABOVE CAN BE VIEWED AT THE FOLLOWING LINK http://www.brookfacey.com/Blazer/

Thanks

[KJN]

Try and see if you can drop your motor down on the jack plate. But those other problems seem unacceptable

[SPICY-D]

The motor is in the last bolt holes (as low as it can go) the jack plate has only 4 holes to accept 2 top and 2 bottom. There is no more adjustment, the only other options are putting 4 more holes in the transom (not gonna allow that), 4 more holes in the jack plate, (not gonna allow that, also that would not leave enough meat on the jack plate), welding an aluminum plate to the jack plate which would then be in between the jack plate and the transom, (not gonna do that), and last, which is the only solution that "We've" come up with is, (what they should have done) putting a 25" shaft on the present motor or putting a new motor with a 25" shaft. Once again niether me nor my dealer ordered the boat with this motor set up, this is what they sent. I like Mercury but when I went shopping I expected to find one on the yard with a Yamaha. They told me that Blazer was sending one with a Mecury 225 Pro-XS. That's what I took.
To add insult to injury, there is a short in the trolling motor switch and it turns off sometimes when trolling. This began yesterday. While washing the boat this morning I found stress fractures in both sides of the transom.
What next?

PICTURES OF SOME OF THE ABOVE CAN BE VIEWED AT THE FOLLOWING LINK http://www.brookfacey.com/Blazer/

[neverenough]

i think you should run a few different props, one that does not have so much lift. i run a 20" shaft on a 2220 10" jack plate. no problem - i do know if you run a prop with extreme lift, you could blow pre-maturely i bet the guys at blazer are gonna fix you up.

what kind of trolling motor?

[SPICY-D]

Trolling motor is "Minn Kota". As far as the prop is concerned, a friend spoke to Baggy at "Baggy's Propellars" in Houma LA, and he stated that he had several people with Blazer Boats from G&F in Raceland with the same problem. Some of them went to 25" shafts. His best reccomendation was to go to a 25" shaft. He stated that a prop would not solve the problem.

[Isle of Palms]

Did you run the boat with Keith, I would try to do that and that way you can both see what the other is doing and can better illustrate your problems. I would call Keith and see if that is a possibility. I KNOW they want to get your boat right.

[SPICY-D]

No I did not run the boat with Keith. The boat was sent back to Blazer per thier request to fix all of the other problems as well as run the boat. My dealer had Butch from Blazer on the speaker phone (Butch ran the boat with Keith), my dealer asked Butch "Would you take the boat this way with the way that the motor's set up?" Butch's reply was, "No I wouldn't".

PICTURES OF SOME OF THE ISSUES CAN BE VIEWED AT THE FOLLOWING LINK http://www.brookfacey.com/Blazer/

[sags]

Spicy-D
We have a 2220 fisherman 07 model and have no problems with blow out. We only have a 6" plate but the top of the JP is even with the top of the transom, with a yamaha 200 20" shaft, we have ithe motor mounted on the bottom mounting hole (as high as it will go) with the JP all the way up the cav plate is even with the top of the pocket tunnel on the boat. I don't know but the 4" more set back you have should be able you to run the motor higher and still have water pressure, you might try and block the upper 2 holes on your intake and see if you gain the pressure back. Also I know a guy that this was happening to and the high speed pick-up on the bottom of the boat was causing the water to get alot of air in it to where the motor wasn't picking it up, just a thought. It might be worth giving up the 10" for a 6" unless your really into speed and be done with it.

[SPICY-D]

I only had two people mentioning plugging up some of the pick-ups, however my concern is, warranty if the Motor burnt up. Would it be covered under warranty if some of the pick-ups were plugged?
There was no mention from anyone about reducing the set back on the Jack plate. If I remember correctly, when I spoke to a Rep. at Bob's he stated that for every 3" of setback you can go up 1/4" to 1". That's contradicting what everyone else says, but I'm sure that Bob's knows what they're talking talking about.
I'm currenly not home and I spoke to my dealer about all of the issues with the boat, old issues that were not corrected at all and some that were not repaired properly. It's really disheartening at this point since we've had the boat just a few days over a month now and are having more problems with the Hull and the same issues with the performance of the Motor set-up. He and his employees have gone above and beyond to help us out and make all of this right. He's picking up the boat from my house today and will be calling Blazer sometime between now and Friday to address all of the issues.
Who knows, maybe we got one of those TEN PERCENTERS?
I know that it cannot be perfect all of the time. My hopes are that everything works out fine.

[neverenough]

the farther the offset from the boat, the higher you can run. if i run my solas scorpian i can blow out with my jack plate all the way down, when i run my revolution i can take off with my jack plate all the way up. to say props do not effect lift or blow out that drastic is goofy.
was gonna try to help trouble shoot your trolling motor, as i own minn kota service center. you should have a dealer within a 50-60 miles though.