hydraulic Jack Plate

I have a Porta-bracket on my 20SF and I have very mixed feelings about it. I wanted to remove it when I got the boat last year but decided to try it for a while. A year later and it's still there. I'm not sure what good or bad it is because I have not run the boat without it. I do know I can idle in water 18 inches deep with the bracket all the way up - from that standpoint it is very good! But it does make the boat stern heavy and when the bracket is down, the water level is way up on the engine. Also when stopping, I get a lot of water washing way up on the engine - not real happy with that. I guess a bracket would not be as bad - that Porta Bracket puts my engine 18 inches off the transom.