DaveC Posted April 4, 2019 Report Share Posted April 4, 2019 I have a question that is more out of curiosity than anything. Do any of you run a Porta Products transom bracket? Could you determine a difference from say an Atlas or a Bob's? Trying to gather some info? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killer Posted April 5, 2019 Report Share Posted April 5, 2019 Porta brackets go up and down as normal jack plates such as an atlas or bobs just go up. My biggest dislike of the porta bracket is there is no gauge to let you know how far up and down the bracket is. You constantly have to look behind you to see the position of the bracket while driving. Personally I would not install one on my personal boat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveC Posted April 5, 2019 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2019 12 hours ago, Killer said: Porta brackets go up and down as normal jack plates such as an atlas or bobs just go up. My biggest dislike of the porta bracket is there is no gauge to let you know how far up and down the bracket is. You constantly have to look behind you to see the position of the bracket while driving. Personally I would not install one on my personal boat. So... what if they had a gauge? I look at the geometry and the action of that trapezoid design and since I run in shallower water it should also allow me to go even skinnier and keep my prop / shaft parallel to the running surface without trimming the motor right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finbully Posted April 5, 2019 Report Share Posted April 5, 2019 Atlas is very maintenance free. Don't know about Porta bracket, but Bob's needs to be greased. I had a Bob's and now an Atlas (on tournament bass rigs). The Pathfinder I'll pick up in the next couple of weeks (YIPPIEE!!!) will have an Atlas. Happy MBC chose them for their default jackplates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mulligan Posted April 5, 2019 Report Share Posted April 5, 2019 I don't run one but a lot of the tower boats run them around here. The big difference is setback and lift unless they changed something. Portas start at something like 15" of setback and have 2-3 times the amount of lift to them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linesider 159 Posted April 5, 2019 Report Share Posted April 5, 2019 13 hours ago, Killer said: Porta brackets go up and down as normal jack plates such as an atlas or bobs just go up. My biggest dislike of the porta bracket is there is no gauge to let you know how far up and down the bracket is. You constantly have to look behind you to see the position of the bracket while driving. Personally I would not install one on my personal boat. X2 My 2008 SCB has a porta bracket and my 2014 SCB has a Bobs plate. I hate the porta bracket even though it has probably twice the travel distance. No gauge drives me nuts because you constantly have to look back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveC Posted April 5, 2019 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2019 I understand that the Porta Bracket doesn't allow the motor to torque and move, I saw a cool vid on you tube of a 115mph boat and the motor was rock solid! Granted my boat isn't in that category but we are hanging some high HP stuff on the stern so I want something that doesn't rack and keeps my motor driving forward rather than changing the angle of thrust to run shallow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lap it Up Posted April 5, 2019 Report Share Posted April 5, 2019 3 hours ago, DaveC said: I understand that the Porta Bracket doesn't allow the motor to torque and move, I saw a cool vid on you tube of a 115mph boat and the motor was rock solid! Granted my boat isn't in that category but we are hanging some high HP stuff on the stern so I want something that doesn't rack and keeps my motor driving forward rather than changing the angle of thrust to run shallow. Bobs is synonymous with high performance and boat racing. Much more than I would think Porta is. I like Porta plates a lot but they do have a bunch of setback so that's why you see them mostly used on bigger Florida west coast bay boats. If I remember right, the gentlemen selling the black 21 MA with the green seadek ran one for while. Perhaps reach out to him for details. I know he went back to a Bobs. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Porta Posted April 20, 2021 Report Share Posted April 20, 2021 After reviewing the comments on this thread, it’s clear to me, the majority of respondents posting performance issues are uninformed about the porta bracket. First, we have offered a mechanical height gauge for more than 20 years. We now have led guages along with the POD (position on demand) electronic guage with four memory presets that allows you to fine tune adjustments once, instead of having to watch a guage while underway. Second, porta brackets have been on the market for over 30 years and have five times the load bearing surface area over guillotine style jack plates in the down position, and ten times the load bearing surface in the full up position where jack plates are at their weakest. Also, no motor has ever been lost while underway from a porta bracket failure. Find a hydraulic jack plate manufacturer with a track record this good and I’ll retract this statement. We offer setbacks at 8”, 10”, 12”, 17”, 21”, and 26”. With travel of 2.5”, 3.5”, 6.5”, 12”, 15”, and 24” respectively. We are the only manufacturer able to move and hold rock steady, any outboard, from the heaviest , seven marine, to the merc 450, the Yamaha 425, Oxe and Cox diesels. We also build single brackets for up to six of any outboard currently manufactured with max horsepower ratings of 750 horsepower each and 1000 lbs per engine. Try a you tube search of jack plates moving around under power at any speed. You won’t find a porta bracket among them. Have a look at portaproducts.com for more information. This product represents my life’s work and we have never stopped producing the best products technology will allow. We look forward to making loyal customers out of each of you. All the best, Scott Porta. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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