The hydraulic transom jack plate is the "cadillac" of jack plates. This unit mounts between your transom and your outboard motor and moves the motor either up or down with the push of a button from the helm. The hydraulic operated transom jack can be purchased with a position indicator so you can tell the height of your motor without having to bring it all the way up or down. Hydraulic jack plates are manufactured in the United States by several manufacturers including: CMC, Bob's Machine Shop, Panther Marine, Stainless Marine, TH Marine, Land and Sea, Slidemaster, and Detwiler.
The manual jack plate is similar to the hydraulic jackplate in that it serves the purpose of moving your outboard motor up and down. The main difference with the manual jack is that you have to be stopped to adjust the height of your motor and of course you have to move the motor up or down with your own "armstrong" power. Manual jack plates come in 2 variations: the first is a 2 piece and the second is a one piece. The 2 piece manual jack plate usually has to be adjusted with your boat out of the water while the one piece can usually be adjusted by turning a nut on the jackplate to move the motor.
Manual Jack Plate #65012 is the best seller of CMC Marine Inc. It will set the motor back away from the boat transom 5.5" which will get your prop away from the boat in what is called "cleaner water". There is less water turbulence 5.5" farther aft than at your transom and the water goes under your transom, then sweeps up toward your prop. This will allow you to raise you motor on the average of 3" higher than you can at your transom and still have water pressure and a good "bite" with your prop. Also, the 5.5" set-back gives you leverage to get the bow of you boat up with less trim allowing you to raise you motor higher. Less boat in the water and less engine lower unit in the water equates to more top end speed, better fuel economy and more prop clearance in shallow water.
With a manual jack plate unit unlike an electric hydraulic Power-Lift, you will have to compromise on top end and hole shot. With the Hydraulic Power-Lift you have the best of both worlds. By using a switch at your consol, you lower the Power-Lift to come out of the hole, then raise under power for your top end speed. With manual unit, you would want to ultimately raise the Manual Power-lift as high as you can and still have water pressure at top end and be able to come out of the hole without prop slippage. The 65012 ML-65 Manual Power-Lift comes with a screw in the center of the structure to allow you to use a 1-1/8" socket with a racket. You simply loosen the 4-bolts on the side, then raise or lower the unit up or down, then tighten the 4-bolts on the side with the same wrench.