New GW owner intro and a question on kicker bracket

[Herman quail]

Hello all, My name is Steve. Home town of Black Mountain NC. Grady White was the gold standard growing up on the coast of Mass..Fast forward to retirement and I now have a 228 Seafarer bought in October. I love it. Let me say it again, I love it.
Thanks to everyone on this Forum for all the information on these great boats.
My question, I want to have the kicker motor bracket with a quick release and also mount it under the swim platform. This way when removed ,the swim platform will be free of obstructions. I have read the the greatest stress to the swim platform is when towing, which mostly I will be doing hense quick release. If I remove the kicker when towing would/should I support the swim deck.
Thanks

 

[glacierbaze]

Congrats on retirement, and on the new boat. What year, the platform has changed over the years.

 

[Timcan]

Congrats on your new Grady. Here is my setup on a 1999 seafarer 228. For my needs I needed it to be a permanent install. It’s nice to have it there and not worry about remove and install.

 

[glacierbaze]

Tim, do you steer the kicker, or point it straight ahead, and use the big motor as a rudder?

 

[Herman quail]

My 228 is a 1999. Just like the picture. I see you have supported the swim platform..do you use a strap to support kicker when you travel. Is the motor up or down when transporting.
My problem with that bracket is when motor is removed the bracket gets in the way of using that side of platform. Any options where the bracket is attached under platform.

 

[Timcan]

I designed a removable steering arm that attaches to the main engine. For the throttle I went with ControlKing( it’s left of the Vhf)

 

[Timcan]

When traveling on the trailer the motor is in the down position so there is no need for a strap or support arm. This was the other bracket I was considering. You can probably design something like this bracket less beefier and flatter to go under the platform.

 

[Herman quail]

Thanks.
I was thinking of putting a plate of aluminum on top of swim deck and have the main bracket under the platform. The under side would be tied into the support bracket to give extra bracing to both swim platform and transum.
I don't know how much stress will be on this system, or how beefy to make bracket. Any thoughts?
Another option is to use a bracket on top of swim deck an remove when not in use. I could remove kicker motor easily, then unbolt bracket. Seems like a lot of work.
I did see a removable bracket that looked like a hitch receiver. Looks easy to remove but is it a good solid system. My car bike rack hitch system wiggles a lot in the hitch, how would it be having a motor wiggle while under power

 

[Timcan]

I like the idea of the removable bracket. Here is an idea and it will completely free up your platform. This removable kicker bracket will sandwich your platform. The plates on the transom could be from inches to a foot long with with 2 or 3 pins (vertical or horizontal) on each removable bracket. I’m no expert but it’s just an idea. Hope it helps.