Hello everyone looking for some information, may 21 2018 I purchased a 1448 tracker grizzly with trailer, and was sold a 20hp merc long shaft with it, since then I've had some issues, before I took the boat out for the first time  I called the dealer and told them that the motor looked as if it was very low to the ground and that I wanted someone to double check and ensure I had the correct motor, they told me I did. After taking it out (and having the Skag drag on the ground) it felt sluggish from the start and at higher speeds the water would come from under the transom hit the moter and splash back into the boat, I was told to adjust the trim, with no affect. I then checked measurements on the boat and found the anti-cavitaion plate was 4 inches below the bottom of the transom, I then spent two weeks phoning the dealership, the boat manufacturer, and mercury. it seemed like every second person I spoke to would tell me either short shaft or long shaft, ultimately the dealer built me a piece to raise the motor and three inches and solved the problem, except for the paint and metal damage to the skag, I'm wondering what motor anyone else who has purchased this model is using or was sold with the boat

According to their website, that boat has a 16" transom, which would typically get a short shaft engine. I ran a 1648 with a 15" transom (Lowe) and also used a short shaft Merc. Long shaft, as you saw, is not ideal for that boat IMO.

Hi - I had a 2016 Tracker 1448MVX Grizzly and ran into similar issues (sluggish). I found it sits somewhere between a short and long shaft and I think either one is okay but neither one is ideal. The short 15 hp I had on it seemed to churn a lot of air, and the long (after conversion) sat a little low, just as you said.

 

I bought the 1448 about 8 months ago and built it up over the winter, taking most of the parts off my old boat (Haggard), including the 1976 Evinrude 15 hp 2-stroke, a short shaft motor. Haggard is a ~1966 Starcraft Jupiter riveted aluminum deep V and has a low transom, and got 15 mph max with that motor. It felt much lighter than the Tracker. The Tracker feels way more solid and has a higher transom and the cavitation plate sat almost flush with the bottom of the boat, maybe a tad higher, but got only 8 mph top speed with the same motor.

 

I thought the problem might be I need a long shaft, so I converted the short to long (additional 5 inches). Literally no difference in top speed, even after adjusting the trim.

 

I concluded either short or long shaft is fine, but just needed more than 15 hp for the boat. That tracker has nice thick gauge aluminum and seems a little heavy on the back. I got hit taking the boat to camp several weeks ago so boat and motor are totaled so never figured out what the magic solution was. The boat is rated at 25 hp max. Have you measured your top speed? What other equipment (weight) are you loading the boat with?

 

You've got a great boat... I loved that 1448. Hope you can land in a good spot with the motor.

 

Every aluminum boat I ever owned the motor is never sitting flat on the transom.

 

The  anti-cavitaion plate is somewhere around 1 1/4" above the bottom of the boat.

 

This is accomplished by bolting through the transom like the Tohatsu or with a jackup setback plate on the Mercury.

 

I have a similar aluminium boat with a long shaft 20" transom, the anti cav plate sat about 3" below the bottom of the boat. I made a temporary wooden transom raiser and tested it and yesterday got a shop to weld on a 3" aluminium extension. Anti cav is now level or fractionally above the bottom of the hull and it's much better for the modification. Not sure why boat builders design it like this, but most boats need modding in some way, nothing ever suits every situation.

If a dealer was idiot enough to install the wrong shaft length motor on a boat and try selling the buyer on the idea it was fine, I would be taking him to small claims court to make him replace it, at his cost.  It's amazing what some people will try pull.

Under no circumstance should the anti-cav plate be below the bottom of the boat.  It should be a couple of inches above the bottom on most boats.

Really? I can't believe I could raise my motor another 2". It starts sucking air and cavitating with very little extra trim as it is. Flat bottomed shallow draft boats probably set up differently to deeper hulled boats.

I've never run into a boat I couldn't run the anti-cav plate a small amount above the bottom, how much depends on the setback.  That's probably over 100 I've owned from the 60's to now (I used to do a little wheeling and dealing with them), and bunches I've helped others with along the way.

It's very common for a properly set motor to cavitate if trimmed out/tilted out to far trying to compensate for too much load or over weighted bow.

I should also mention, if you are having cavitation problems when you try to raise  anti-cav plate a little above the off the hull, you probably have prop issue's.  I've seen a lot of people running damaged props and wonder why they are having problems.  A good prop with a little bit of cup can do wonders.

A lot of Dealers & boating “enthusiasts” believe setting up a small outboard (50 hp & under) is unnecessary. Their thought process is stick a motor on the transom with no thought given to proformace.

 

Luckly our local Dealers race small outboards & understand the importance of a properly setup boat.

Yep, I've seen 14' jons  running over 40 mph with a 25 on them.

I got passed one time like I was sitting still by a jon boat,  while cruising along at 60.  I had to get to 72 to match his speed.

Found out at the ramp, his was a racing jon he was testing his new racing motor on.  It had to 3cyl 70 probably running close to 150 hp.