Let's start out with me by saying I have a 135hp Mercury Black Max. Idling at its lowest setting with a 21 pitch prop pushes me at about 3.2 mph according to my GPS. I thought about having to buy a kicker motor to install and tie in with my big motor just so I could troll. I saw this ad and figured I would give it a try. The installation was straight forward and took about 15 minutes. I did have to drill a few holes for the install. My first try using the motor proved excellent. According to my GPS, I was brought down to 1.2 mph. I was brought down to .7 mph when I changed out props to a 19 pitch. I never knew perch would bite while trolling but sure enough, I caught 3 of them. In all, 6 northerns, 3 perch, and a rock bass. My only problem I have with this setup is that the actuator cord isn't long enough for ease of use and I had to replace it with another that performed as well. I installed some eyelets on my cowling and another at the back of the boat, ran the new 15' cord through them and was able to activate and re-set the plate on demand from my chair. Always remember though to verify that it locked in the down and up position before and after trolling. It's a great product that performs as described perfectly. The hinged plate at the bottom does what it was designed to do and prevents damage from being left in the down position while doing a hard take-off. I can't speak for the use of motors larger than mine but it works great with a 135hp. You may have to get a light pitched prop as well to further decrease your trolling speed to reach your desired level. Thanks for the great product. You saved me a lot of money that can be spent on more gas and family time on the lakes.

I installed this on my skeeter 195 with a 150 4 stroke. It really slowed it down and it seemed to plane out and smoother on rough lake. What supprised me was it seemed to increase my speed by 6 miles a hour.