Construction issues with my bracket?
 

I'm looking at a 23 that was redone in 2002 that have some issues with cracking on the bracket where the swim platform meets the upright portion of the engine mount. Below the top two mounting holes for that portion Meats the swim platform it's cracking away is definitive crack all the way across. It looks like a homco bracket but I have no confirmation on that. Was this ever an issue with any Hermco bracket? If it is or even if it isn't a Hermco is there a fix for that? If so, how much work might that be? Also, there are two inspection ports on the deck of the swim platform, is that common with a hermco bracket of that era? And no I have not been able to look up inside those brackets to determine if there's cracking or delamination up inside of it in that area.

Pictures?

Its fiberglass, but have no undershot to see if its a dusky drive
 

Attachment 19215

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Don, I sent you a PM.

If I remember the Dusky drive has visible bolts on the mounting flange which is outside of the tub. Yep, I just Googled "dusky drive" and the bolts are on the outside.

That’s a high stress area for any bracket. This is the Hermco on Bushwacker’s Seafari. I notice these by maybe S. Carolina pulling her from Florida to New York. Didn’t get any worse so I concluded the cross-country trip didn’t cause them.

As a trailer boat with bracket and outboard, Denny used a transom saver to carry much of the engine weight. I bet the one you’re showing didn’t have that care. At least as far my Hermco bracket I was lucky enough to talk to Don Herman and he wasn’t at all concerned but these, of course he knows his construction.

Cracks
 

You might want to check “somehow” if the boat has been rear ended while being Trailored.

I’ve owned two brackets, an aluminum one and I got a hand me down
(That was built in Stuart) Only reason I don’t have it anymore is because my boat got rear ended and ended up half way in my truck bed. Two week old outboard slit the guys truck hood like a can opener and it ruined the bracket.

Also there’s a fict on the back of that thing, the guy probably kept backing it into things so he could justify to his wife that he needed a new motor.��

Thanks guys. I have come to the unprofessional conclusion that it is not a Hermco bracket.

SSPBill, thanks for the pictures and ultimately the input from Don Herman. That's reassuring kind of thing to hear.

DeathFromAbove, the rear-ending thing is a good point which could also happen backing into things. Cuz I backed into a metal building the other day. Fortunately I only overshot by like an inch and it was into super lightweight corrugated aluminum with no support behind it so the building just dented where I kissed it. Yeah those ficht engines I have a terrible Legacy to live down basically shutting down production 4 a year between the transfer from OMC to Bombardier. However, it's my understanding that it was just some really poorly executed parts that they were able to work out, in fact the design was very good and once they got it squared away the engines of late 2003 didn't have any of those problems at all, and people are very happy with them. It's also my understanding that in many ways a lot of that technology was precursor to the etec, but I might be pushing it there.

Don V, yeah that first thing I was looking for was the Telltale Dusky bolt flange. Can't be seen in this picture but I don't think it's a Dusky Drive bracket after having compared to few in pictures. Might need to get JV's info from you. What town is that?

I just want to be clear the conversation I had with Don was specific to the pictures I posted and of course he knows lay-up, core material, etc. I didn't intend for his comments to me to be extrapolated to this particular bracket especially since it isn't his. Just pointing out this is a high stress area and I wouldn't be surprised by some spider cracking in those corners. You will need to decide if its cosmetic or structural.

Am I able to edit the title of the post to remove hermco so it doesn't get picked on the internet as a possible negative for somebody that didn't read the contents of the complete posting?

Its common for these to stress at that joint like SSPBill says. I believe Don started doing something a little differently at one point to combat it. There has been threads on it in the past.

I took care of the title edit for you. That bracket looks like it has been under undue stress !

Thank you for the edit Chuck.

As you can see in the pictures it has a seam along the side and top back Edge of the motor mount portion indicating its two piece construction. I imagine core material would be laid up along the back Edge of tub portion and then capped by the swim platform. Any void, no matter how small between the coring material in the top front portion of the cap would be enough to create stress cracks in that seam overtime. Considering that bracket been on that boat since about 2002 so we're looking at 16 years of stress without knowing Construction it's hard to determine if it's something to be concerned about or not. But considering that it's to part construction with a seam that has constant direct exposure Plus mounting holes drilled through it, there is a real potential for degradation of core material due to moisture. Dating to 2002 core material is likely wood.