What about the 25" Motor ?

[Bigshrimpin]

Hermco - Here's a chance to add a tunnel mod to one of your brackets

[cadeco]

Thanks to all of you guys! Bushwacker: The boat does not stay in the water(kept on trailer). I would love to get a Hermco bracket, but instead i will have to save some "doe" on a metal bracket, even if i can find a used one. The question arised fro reading posts that say that when they are using 25" on brackets , they had to have the motor on the last hole ( raising it) to get a good set up, and maybe do something else to raise it even a bit more. So, i thought the 20" would be the answer..

[flyingfrizzle]

Originally Posted by Bushwacker

Frizz, how high did you end up mounting the motor on your 20' Sceptre and what is setback on that bracket?

The bracket has a 22" swim platform with the motor mount tab offset outwards behind that for a full 23.5" of set back.
I have been as high as 5" up from the keel and could run at that with a rev four prop as long as I didn't trim it up to far. The mirage didn't like that height. The best all around setting seemed to be 4" up. I went as low as 3.5" and back up to 4". I could run 4.5" with a clever or surface prop but for every day use 3.5-4" for max performance and handling. If offshore I would stop at 3.5" but if you run the back creeks or rivers like I do in my 20' then you can get that extra 1/2" and pick up a little more speed. Even at 3.5" there is a lot of spray off of my av plate. It is not under but not running clean either. I haven't ran it yet with the light new motor so that may change everything. All these test were with the 435lbs 225 mercury 3.0 2 stroke. The 2.5 I have is a little under 400 lbs and should help the balance some plus I still don't have gas in the hull yet. I have ran off of 2 6 gallon pony tanks at the rear. Gas weight forward may change things a lot too. I haven't got 2 hrs on the hull so I haven't ran it enough to really be sure how it will do in real world conditions, I have just been running it up creek a mile or 3 and back down to the ramp.

cadeco:
If you tried to do a 20" shaft on a bracket you probably wont find one that will work that is a production model. You could build one or set one super low on the transom maybe like an inch up from the keel and get the mounting tab low enough maybe but at rest you will see that the swim platform will be at the water line almost. Your hydraulic steering will be the only thing above the water on the outboard mounting clamp. The mounting tab will have to be super short and the 4 mounting bolts will be under the swim platform or the top two will be an issue with clearing the swim platform where they need to be drilled at. With a 25" leg the bottom 2 mounting bolts are high as they can be on mine to get the 5" of motor height with my platform 2-3 inches off the water. There are so many different variables it will be different from bracket to bracket due to the way they are made. Also there are a lot of things that can fowl the install up if you don't take good measurements prior to making your own. Not only dose the top of the swim platform need to be above the water you don't want it to high. You can only go so low with the flotation tub to allow the water to cleanly exit the hull bottom with out spraying off the tub and dragging you down. The tub height has to be dead on and work well with a chosen mounting heigth. The motor mount tab has to be figured in to that so the mounting bolts will clear the platform or tub top plus at the same time it has to have the correct av plate mount height. All of these need to work together so there is little room for error. What I am getting at is buying a random bracket and hoping it will work on you hull is not as easy as you may think. Not only that but it needs to have the right degree lay back to match the transom angle. Hermco has done a good job getting the dimensions right so it will work well on these hulls. I would go that route or get one built to the seacraft hull spec so everything will work out right. You may get luck and find on that fits well or find one that can be modified to fit but pay attention to the details or your boat will not be happy.