Bracket placement on 23

[armandozx]

Good morning fellow seacrafter's I've been at it for a while and not yet done. A lot of mistakes here and there but they have served as a learning experience. Jumping to it.

I have a 23 CC with a closed transom. AS OF NOW the TRANSOM IS ONLY A SKIN. I have the composite foam ready to be installed and I want to use bracket holes for the bonding of the 4 x 8 foam, that way I don't have to close holes later on and use those.

The bracket is a dual engine stainless marine. I have gone to their website and they emailed me installation instructions which to some extent I understand, but following them to the teeth will set my BRACKET too high.

Any takes, recommendations, tips.

The set up with be a VERADO 30in shaft engine.

The current installation, puts the conners part of the bottom of the bracket close to the 2nd step of the hull, is there any issue with this? The previous set up was 2 x 225 hp fitch engines, not my set up ( previous owner ) I suspect the boat squatted quite a bite. The previous owner mentioned it rode like shit, which I find his set up to be at fault.

I was considering raising the bracket 1 1/4 in up from that set up, so I can get more elevation from that strake ( where the 2nd step begins )

Thanks in advanced.

If any pictures are need just let me know.

[manitunc]

you need to set the bracket according to where the cavitation plate will be in relation to the keel of your boat. I dont know if your bracket is V shaped or straight across on the bottom. On my boat, the cav plate is about 5" higher than the keel, with a 30" setback. My bracket is straight across on the bottom and is a twin engine bracket. The relation to the second step is irrelevant as long as it is above, since the water will flow off the bottom of the hull, not the bottom of the bracket. The bracket for your 30" shaft single engine should be mounted about the same as it was for 25" dual engines.

[armandozx]

Can you measure from your keel to where the bottom of your bracket lands. Mine is currently below the 13 in standard formula they want you to use on the installation instructions.

My bracket is also straight across on the bottom of it. I made a template of the bracket I can line it up and give exact #s of where it sat previously.

Thanks

[kmoose]

You want to have adjustment of the cavitation plate between 2 to 5 inches above the keel of the boat. This will be very hard to calculate without having the exact measurements of the motor and bracket together and the mounting hole to cav plate measurements.

This is one of the hardest things to get right and easiest to screw up. My recommendation would be to finish the transom completely and them mount the bracket template and drill afterwards. I just recently did this with the help of some very experienced friends and it was still quite challenging. One of the things you have to make sure of is that your finished transom is flat. Seems a no brainer but it is essential as most assume that it is all good until you put a straight edge on it. Focus on getting that right on the transom build.

Another thing I learned was that even with the best measuring.... no surface of any part of a boat is symmetrical or square. This is especially true if you are doing home fiberglass structural work like transoms. Your hull once relieved of internal support will conform to your trailer which will likely be off. Lastly, before you drill your bracket you need to make sure it "looks" right. It sounds silly but for me our carefully measured center was 1/2" from looking square on the back of the boat. Our plumb line was also off canter slightly when the template was put up. What worked well was to get the bracket template to the right height ay visible center and then put a screw dead center. At that point we were able to rock the template to match the hull and then lock it down and drill.

Good luck and take your time....

[manitunc]

I believe Armstrong states that for a single engine, you mount the flat deck of the bracket the same distance up from the keel as your engine shaft, that is, 25" for 25" shaft. the actual mounting on the bracket is raised about 4" which gives you the vertical height for your setback. then, if you use twins, you would use 20" shaft twins. For a 30" single you would use 25" twins. In all cases, the actual platform is set at the height of the engine shaft.


and yes, even after you measure up from the keel for height, and down from the transom gunnel for level, stand back and look at your bracket. On mine it was about 1/2 to 3/4" out of level, even though the measurements were ok. I'm glad I took a moment to stand back and check before drilling holes all over my transom.

[armandozx]

Well as stated above, the previous holes are about 3/4 shifted to the L more than the R. I have to square and line everything up and go from there.

My actual bracket is from stainless marine, I'm stuck with the whole from keel raise 13in and then add 30in which is the shaft length. That's insane, that puts my bolts all the way on top, that can't be correct. I'll measure from the keel 25 in to see if it's more reasonable.

[flyingfrizzle]

I will say this, no factory recommendations seem to get the bracket mounted right on a SeaCraft hull. I would listen to the wise up here vs the manufacture. The manufacture will have you mount the bracket where it will set the motor to low normally. The add an inch of height per inch of set back rule is normally not enough for the hull. When kmoose says 2-5 that would be a good adjustment range for the av plate above the hull bottom. Motor all the way down will give you 2-3 inches and then you will find as you raise it up from there you will get better performance. You don't want to be maxed out on adjustment just to get the AV plate 2-3" above stright edge or hull bottom. If you could run an stright edge off the keel several feet behind the boat and mock the bracket up and measure from the tab top down to the stright edge you will get best results figuring you motor height. Once you figure out how far down the av plate will hang from the bracket mounting tab you can do some math to see how high up the tab needs to be to place you AV plate where you want it. I would start out with the AV plate 2" or 3" above the stright edge with the outboards adjustment all the way down tight to the tab so you could raise the outboard on the bracket tab to go higher if needed. If your AV plate is at least 2" above the keel with the outboard all the way down on the bracket tab you should still be able to move the outboard upwards and have several more inches of adjustment up to find optimal position.

[Franksanzo]

I have 23' center console with twin bracket and single 300 30" I'm almost 7-8" higher on my cav plate if that doesn't confuse u I would stay high as poss I got no wood in boat and moved console forward can't say how much but my boat is completely custom and reworked in every way good luck and stay high and dry keep that power head out of water

[armandozx]

Originally Posted by Franksanzo

I have 23' center console with twin bracket and single 300 30" I'm almost 7-8" higher on my cav plate if that doesn't confuse u I would stay high as poss I got no wood in boat and moved console forward can't say how much but my boat is completely custom and reworked in every way good luck and stay high and dry keep that power head out of water

Frank, this is perfect, mind sending me a few pics from the back of possible, best at an angle. This is exactly how the set up is going to be. High and dry indeed.

Thanks.

[Franksanzo]

Hope this helps my bracket is 12" up from keel I would go 13" or a tad more
My bracket height where it hits boat is 15" but ur bracket may be different
I'm all the way up on my holes I even had to redrill higher ones
My thoughts on getting more floatation are the same as most on this sight but if u don't get the lower unit as high as possible when on plane it will never find topend ,highest efficiency and u will never figure out right prop also will feel like a tugboat hope that helps
Can't give u top measurements because my transom and sheer where changed and crowned