diff --git a/config/pkg/pldconf/publictxmgr.go b/config/pkg/pldconf/publictxmgr.go
index f59476933..61301e033 100644
--- a/config/pkg/pldconf/publictxmgr.go
+++ b/config/pkg/pldconf/publictxmgr.go
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ var PublicTxManagerDefaults = &PublicTxManagerConfig{
 		},
 	},
 	GasLimit: GasLimitConfig{
-		GasEstimateFactor: confutil.P(1.0),
+		GasEstimateFactor: confutil.P(1.5),
 	},
 }
 
diff --git a/operator/config/samples/core_v1alpha1_paladin_node1.yaml b/operator/config/samples/core_v1alpha1_paladin_node1.yaml
index 238ec3be3..4ded537c6 100644
--- a/operator/config/samples/core_v1alpha1_paladin_node1.yaml
+++ b/operator/config/samples/core_v1alpha1_paladin_node1.yaml
@@ -15,7 +15,9 @@ spec:
     db:
       postgres:
         debugQueries: true
-      
+    publicTxManager:
+      gasLimit:
+        gasEstimateFactor: 2.0
   database:
     mode: sidecarPostgres
     migrationMode: auto
diff --git a/operator/config/samples/core_v1alpha1_paladin_node2.yaml b/operator/config/samples/core_v1alpha1_paladin_node2.yaml
index 7f022ffbf..d87d763ee 100644
--- a/operator/config/samples/core_v1alpha1_paladin_node2.yaml
+++ b/operator/config/samples/core_v1alpha1_paladin_node2.yaml
@@ -12,6 +12,9 @@ spec:
   config: |
     log:
       level: debug
+    publicTxManager:
+      gasLimit:
+        gasEstimateFactor: 2.0
   database:
     mode: sidecarPostgres
     migrationMode: auto
diff --git a/operator/config/samples/core_v1alpha1_paladin_node3.yaml b/operator/config/samples/core_v1alpha1_paladin_node3.yaml
index 73955eb26..5d44c30f5 100644
--- a/operator/config/samples/core_v1alpha1_paladin_node3.yaml
+++ b/operator/config/samples/core_v1alpha1_paladin_node3.yaml
@@ -12,6 +12,9 @@ spec:
   config: |
     log:
       level: debug
+    publicTxManager:
+      gasLimit:
+        gasEstimateFactor: 2.0
   database:
     mode: sidecarPostgres
     migrationMode: auto
diff --git a/operator/paladin-kind.yaml b/operator/paladin-kind.yaml
index 5c9bdb8df..258f8fcb9 100644
--- a/operator/paladin-kind.yaml
+++ b/operator/paladin-kind.yaml
@@ -9,24 +9,24 @@ nodes:
   # to up to 3 Paladin + Besu nodes per the samples provided in the project,
   # and the E2E tests.
 
-  # Open up ports on LOCALHOST only for the second Paladin node
-  - containerPort: 31545 # Besu2 - JSON/RPC HTTP
+  # Open up ports on LOCALHOST only for the first Paladin node
+  - containerPort: 31545 # Besu1 - JSON/RPC HTTP
     hostPort: 31545
     listenAddress: "127.0.0.1"
     protocol: tcp
-  - containerPort: 31546 # Besu2 - JSON/RPC WebSockets
+  - containerPort: 31546 # Besu1 - JSON/RPC WebSockets
     hostPort: 31546
     listenAddress: "127.0.0.1"
     protocol: tcp
-  - containerPort: 31547 # Besu2 - GraphQL HTTP
+  - containerPort: 31547 # Besu1 - GraphQL HTTP
     hostPort: 31547
     listenAddress: "127.0.0.1"
     protocol: tcp
-  - containerPort: 31548 # Paladin2 - JSON/RPC HTTP
+  - containerPort: 31548 # Paladin1 - JSON/RPC HTTP
     hostPort: 31548
     listenAddress: "127.0.0.1"
     protocol: tcp
-  - containerPort: 31549 # Paladin2 - JSON/RPC WebSockets
+  - containerPort: 31549 # Paladin1 - JSON/RPC WebSockets
     hostPort: 31549
     listenAddress: "127.0.0.1"
     protocol: tcp