Dave, KC1DI wrote:
"You would be better off mounting it in the Horizontal plan(e)...(at
other than 40 m)

Performance versus polarization depends on soil loss in the antenna
area.

Over poor earth, horizontal polarization is better for take-off angles
above 35 degrees. Below 35 degrees, vertical polarization is a little
better, but not much, maybe 2dB.

Over good earth, vertical antennas work much better than they do over
poor earth. For take-off angles below 30 degrees, the large loop in the
vertical plane may be 10 dB better than a large horizontal loop.

Antenna height tends to lower take-off angle.

If you want expert testimony, see "ON4UN`s "Low-Band DXing" page 10-9.
ARRL is the publisher.

Best regards, Richard Harrison, KB5WZI