re-powered the Finest Kind...again!

Finest Kind

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Dunno why, but for some reason all the pics posted here are cut off on the right side of the original pic...anyhow, here's another..
 

1998sailfish

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Looks great and welcome to the G2 club ! I think you will be very pleased with your selection.
 

ROBERTH

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Hi Len, what is the deal with the Hermco flotation bracket? Did your boat previously have the springfield bracket from Grady? If so, how much more flotation does this provide?
It seems the G2's weight a bit more than the 200 HPDI's so not sure if a few pounds would hurt me if I ever decided to repower.
 

Finest Kind

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ROBERTH said:
Hi Len, what is the deal with the Hermco flotation bracket? Did your boat previously have the springfield bracket from Grady? If so, how much more flotation does this provide?
It seems the G2's weight a bit more than the 200 HPDI's so not sure if a few pounds would hurt me if I ever decided to repower.

Hi Robert
Yes, my boat had the OEM original aluminum bracket...after the first couple of years it began to leak like a sieve. I drained out buckets full of water every Fall no matter how anal I was with scraping, resealing and repainting every spring.
The new fiberglass bracket eliminated all that, gave me better gas mileage, the flotation aspect lifted my stern so that the scuppers came up higher out of the water, and the deep V feature improved the rough water ride.

There is more information and some pics in these threads about the Hermco bracket:

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=13464&hilit=scuppers+finest+kind
and
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=22370&p=146053&hilit=hermco#p146053

Unfortunately, the old Hermco website link does not work, so I'm not sure if they are still in business?
However, Dusky Boats makes what they call a "Dusky Drive" which looks to be the same.
http://www.dusky.com/parts/outboard-brackets

Regarding the weight of the G2's, if your existing steering is in good shape, you can save around $3000 dollars and over 60 pounds on the stern by going with twin 200 HP G2 TRAC models (which is what I opted for), which do not have the integral power steering built in, and utilize the tried and true Evinrude mid-section instead.
 

ROBERTH

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Thanks Len, sorry but not getting the notifications anymore when someone responds to a post. Sent to Jeff, but no response so far on how to fix this issue.

Good info. Do you have any pics of the bracket from rear showing the bottom side to transom angle view? Sorry, bad way to explain it..... :mrgreen:

I was not aware of a fiberglass bracket system. Any idea on the weight of it vs the aluminum bracket?.

In regards to transom weight, after I purchased my boat, it had 2 group 24 batteries in the transom. I changed over to 2 Group 31's and then added 2 more on the opposite side for house batteries. I did not suffer any water coming into scuppers with all this added weight. However, I figured out it would be better to move the two house batteries up under the helm behind the berth, midships and it helped with balance. I then proceeded to add more lead weight to keel and now she rides much better in heavy seas. I have more response on tabs as a result.
So point is weight does matter, but think I can handle some in the back, but prefer not to go there if possible.

I too worry on the integrated power steering as it is one of a kind and wonder on long term reliability and parts availability. However, my former boat had the OMC Seadrive bracket system and it is is still going today from what I saw a while back, was on the water by the new owner.
 

Finest Kind

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ROBERTH said:
Thanks Len.....Good info. Do you have any pics of the bracket from rear showing the bottom side to transom angle view? Sorry, bad way to explain it..... :mrgreen:

I was not aware of a fiberglass bracket system. Any idea on the weight of it vs the aluminum bracket?. ....

For a pic of the bracket from the rear, see the posting #11 in this thread:
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=13464&hilit=finest+kind

Can't answer regarding the weight of the fiberglass bracket vs aluminum, but I'm sure Hermco, Dusky and/or Armstrong can get you that data.
 

Lt.Mike

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Boat looks great and I'm guessing the hype of etec performance isn't just hype?
On the pics that are cutoff, if you save the image to your device and view it there the saved image is complete. So that's one way to get around a technological glitch to enjoy a pic someone's shared.
Mike
 

JeffN

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Nice job great looking boat. Great to see the old ones still out being enjoyed.