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Wing, Galileo once said "...give me the moon as a fulcrum and a lever long enough, I can move the earth with my pinkie...". I am in complete agreement. I admit I am experimenting with this option and it may very well fail. I have also bid construction projects and lost more than the cost of my boat with improvements. I am taking the fulcrum and am displacing it throughout the transom and the stern. The bottom of my fulcrum would be 3" above the keel. I believe the closed transom/stern hulls displaces the weight (jack plate not mounted on top of transom but middle) more evenly and structurally. My bottom reinforcement is as integral as the top of the transom.

Kamie, thank you so much for your post. Like I always said, wet feet never bothered me. My goal is to have the motor completely outside of the stern. That allows the splash board over the back of the boat (closed transom). That 12" cantilever was a killer (leaves only 2" of clearance) and too much for the original design. That is why I never launched. I just want to drift fish without a wave or wake overwork the bilge for water removal. The hydraulic feature in the jack plate allows me motor adjustment (the pump and valve are in a cabinet in the front of the boat).

Quite honestly fellows, I have failed in experiments in the past. My goals are the advantages of a motor outside of the boat without the space taken up by a Whaler Drive or Armstrong Bracket (or similar). Honestly, I did not think what I was doing was so drastic or unconventional. I thought I would install the jack plate and motor into the sunset. My nickel. I will not launch without complete confidence.

Garris