difference between Portabracket & 10" jackplate

[HIFLUTIN]

Have a early model 196 Iam doing a Full transom on
What is the big difference between & Portabracket & 10" jackplate?
Have used jackplates extensively, never had a Portabracket.
Pretty big $ jump

[love2fish]

mainly: more of a set-back option on the porta-bracket...
if you're enclosing your transom, you might not have enough room to fully tilt your motor out of the water (while at rest obviously). I think the porta brackets offer a fuller range of height adjustment as well as the further set-back options.

[Aswaff400]

the smallest porta bracket has a 17 inch setback, and lift height of 12 inches, most other jackplates only have a lift height of 5 or 6 inches which l2f said, if you go with a closed transom, you wont be able to tilt the motor up all the way. i will be going with the 17 inch porta bracket on my flatback

[dbiscayne]

Be careful with how far you set back the engine on that 19, too far & your boats gonna be sittin low in the back, makes for nasty slow speed rides in chop too.  At least use a bracket with some floatation.

[Capt Matt]

Ive used both and just love the porta bracket, its way faster and better made so it is problem free.
I went with 21 inch set back. For shallow water operation its worth the $
Capt Matt

[melba toast]

I know of a guy here who put a 17" porta on a 18' Mako and it was set back too far. The boat sits too low and doesnt ride right. I also know that brackets with  floatation (armstrong or stainless marine) can be another viable option for boats the size of your 196.

For me, I am looking at putting a 12" or 14" jackplate (bob's machine now makes a 14") on my 20' proline with a 25" shaft motor, instead of a porta. I may have to build a slightly recessed splashwell in my full transom to tilt the motor fully, but I think it would be worth it, if the boat rides correctly.

I am still researching all this myself. Good thing it takes forever to rebuild a boat by yourself, you get plenty of time to think.

[fitz73222]

The fundamental difference between the two is that a fixed setback jack plate only lifts the engine vertically while an articulating lift brings the engine further back and up allowing the engine to run at a higher height and maintain water pressure. As the hull propels through the water, the displaced water exits back and upward allowing the engine to take advantage of the upward water flow and run higher. My biggest concern with the articulating lift is the stress on a stock transom. I'm confidant that the stress is multiplied the further back the engine is running. Back in my Bassboat and high performance days we played a lot with setback and actually damaged some new boat transoms by running to much set back on wood cored transoms. It often showed up at the splash well connection points and under the cap trim piece and eventually caused complete delamination of the core from the fiberglass. Granted these were boats that we were trying to squeeze every bit of speed and hole shot out of but the damage was real compared to less hopped up boats with the same engine and boat brand. So my advice would be to make sure the transom is stout enough and with some kind of gusset system, tied directly to the stringers to get the load spread as much as possible. Some of the old Allison's actually had aluminum plate sandwiched in the transom core that kept the flex and load stress within reasonable limits.

[Capt Matt]

Going with a porta bracket is all about weight balance and a strong transom
If your boat is not balanced right it will never ride right
Capt Matt