Idle Stop Bolt

I've never liked how deep under water the prop will drop when the engine is idling. This depth is determined by the adjustment bolt on the rear of the transom clamp. The obvious answer is to adjust the bolt out farther but with it adjusted to its maximum height I still felt the engine angle was too great.

With a little experimentation I determined the best length for my use was a 3 inch bolt screwed in so there is 1 3/4 inch from the top of the bolt to the top of the mount nut. Tighten the lock nut on the bolt below the mount nut. A real bonus to this longer bolt is in turns. The shaft can no longer drop and allow the prop to dig in if a little too much power is applied.

With this longer bolt installed the straight ahead running depth isn't affected but in a hard turn the cavitation plate is held just under the water surface and can be popped out if the power is too high.