Armstrong Brackets

[pjitty]

Anybody with an Armstrong Bracket/Outboard Bracket on their boats, quick question, what are the up sides and down sides to extending your Outboard on this type of bracket. I like it because it frees up cockpit space and you don't need to cut out the Transom on the boat. Does anybody have any first hand experience with these brackets...

Joe D

 

[Ruckus]

My boat has an Armstrong bracket with twin F150s full transom with fish boxes Don't have to worry about a cutout taking water plus it ads length in the water, my hull is a 25' but my over all length is about 33'.

 

[shoefish]

I have a 21 Seaway with an Armstrong Bracket.

Plusses are that it makes it feel more like a 23/24, gives some room for a transom box that you can put all sorts of gear, etc, and a full transom makes it more seaworthy.

The minuses are that it's set further back so it's harder to get a line clear of the props when a fish runs from one side to another, and it does set the weight much further back (especially a 4 stroke).

 

[tunaorlater]

A lot of boats have problems with speed ranges with a bracket. You could loose all your midrange speeds. With the motor that far back it will not allow you to do 18 knots or so, it's either 10 or 20. Midrange it will not get enough power to pull the bow over. I have removed a few brackets from boats and the difference is night and day. Not all boats have this issue though and I'm guessing that the flat bottom of a downeastbwould make it better. I have a stainless marine single bracket with swim platform if your interested. I would have to look at the setback and angle though, it came off a 20 ft seacraft.

 

[Raider Ronnie]

I had a Parker with a bracket & outboard.

Plus-
- A closed transom is much safer than a cut transom.
- the boat went straight and never really had to hold the wheel to keep to going straight. This was most noticeable slow trolling.

Negative-
- The boat sucked trying to back into my slip. Water just got pushed against the transom backing up.
- My marina made sure I paid for every ft of the boat, engine tilted up, bow pulpit to prop.

 

[burley]

I am currently putting one on a 32 panga. I think the pros will out weigh the cons.

 

[burley]

the manufactures claim better fuel economy plus higher top end

 

[pjitty]

I will be putting it on a 19' Downeaster/Lobster boat. Just wondering if the underwater configuration would have any effect on backing up at the dock. I'm building the boat [almost finished], so I'm thinking I might as well build the bracket. I'm putting an 85 HP 2 stroke on the boat and I think it's about 200lbs, so I'm wondering if some bouyancy should be added to the bracket. Any thoughts...

Joe D.

 

[jrg]

I have an armstrong on my Eastern 24. I think the addition of a swim platform and the closed transom are the two benefits that outweigh any of the negatives. The few things that bother be are the extra length needed in slips and the fact that my armstrong access port cover leaks in a heavy rain. I periodically need to bail the bracket.

 

[Ruckus]

I had a Parker with a bracket & outboard.

Plus-
- A closed transom is much safer than a cut transom.
- the boat went straight and never really had to hold the wheel to keep to going straight. This was most noticeable slow trolling.

Negative-
- The boat sucked trying to back into my slip. Water just got pushed against the transom backing up.
- My marina made sure I paid for every ft of the boat, engine tilted up, bow pulpit to prop.

Your right about backing in to a slip you have to make sure you tilt up the motors or you just push water into the transom and wind up against the dock. learned that the hard way the 1st time I ran my boat luckily it was early in the season and no other boats were in the marina.

 

[traditions]

I know of a guy that got a rope in his outboard on a windy day.The boat came stern into the wind ,and when he power trimmed up the motor to cut the line,water came over the cut down stern ,and in seconds he was swamped,and the boat rolled .He had a cell phone in his shirt pocket and called for help.A full height stern would have prevented this from happening,definetly a safety factor.You may never encounter lobster gear,but it could be an anchor line .

 

[MDI45]

PJitty,there is a guy Jofishes on this site that has a armstrong bracket on a 26 seaway....you can see pictures of it in the classified section