:P IT IS MADE OF PLASTIC ! YUK ! :o
I had two brackets shipped 2 day shipping to me and have the boat ready to go for the week end now. Repaired it the evening, 9/16.
I suggested the Arizona heat degraded the plastic, the young woman, polite and helpful, I have spoken with her before, suggested that Alabama is hot too. She is very helpful and has good customer service habits. I believe she is an asset to HB. They need to keep her. But she thought Alabama was hot like Arizona. Poor girl, who mislead her anyway?
NO WAY! Humid maybe but AL does not get a run of high temps like this summer here. I assure you that under the cover that boat sat at daily temps of 150 degrees F or more as that aluminum heated up.
AH HA! I think I see the problem. The new brackets come with a transducer plug or spacer that goes between the mounting ears. The original mount did not have that. Although it only stops the rooster tail and debri from becoming imbedded I believe it also eliminates extensive pressure that the rooster tail puts on the bracket as it is powered through the water. You can see the breaks look like they would be from an area subjected to stress. Combine that stress with a few months of cooking and you can see why a "bump" snapped those ears off.
I will send the broken part back to HB to examine. I had put some Gorilla glue and silicone RTV glue on it as a stop gap before the replacements arrived but they have no affect on the origin of the problem.
Checking your gear with enough time to repair it assures a pleasant trip. I would not spend money like this just to leave it home broken. The whole idea of owning it is to use it and enjoy fishing.
I know folks that never check out their equipment, thay are a "round-to-it. " When they get around to it they fix or repair. Fishing with them or for them is always an improvision!
(http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/9940/mountv.jpg)