panther 4 stroke bracket

tal

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Nov 21, 2003
Messages
214
Once I figure out if I need 10" of travel or 16" of travel I'm going to order one of these. Anyone have any experience with this particular heavy duty model?

Part # 550410 or 550416

I can't find any reviews or information regarding how well it works/holds up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6gRYBu6LCg
 

Boatist

Rear Admiral
Joined
Apr 22, 2002
Messages
4,552
Re: panther 4 stroke bracket

I was not able to see your video because I do not have the adobe player.

However I can tell you if the 10 inch lift will work for you then it is better.
Two reasons.
First the 10 inch lift the motor has less leverage on the springs so it is easier to lift.

Second when down the kicker is closer to the transom so with big offshore swells
the motor is less likely to go completly under the water as the swell approches and
the prop is less likely to come out of the water as the swell passes under the boat.

My bracket has 15 and 1/2 inches of lift.
With 8 foot steep swells 8 seconds or less apart backing slowly into the swell the motor
will go completly under the water then as the swell passes under the boat the prop will
come out the water.
The motor does not miss at all but when the prop comes out two things happend.
First it throws water all over my Starboard stern Fisherman.
Second if above idle the motor revs up when the prop comes out and when it drops
back in the water it can sheer the flywheel key from the sudden change in speed.
Of Course if this happends then the motor will not start untill you pull the flywheel and
install a new key to get the motor back in time.
My motor has a long (20 inch) shaft.
If you have a 25 inch shaft extra long then this may not happend.

The higher the lift the more lilely you will have the same problem.

In my case we use the motor to slow our drift a lot of the time.
My bow will always turn down wind so we are backing into the swell to slow our drift.
With a 10 inch by 7 pitch 4 blade high thrust prop idle speed slows our drift enough
that I do not back above idle so the motor does not rev up and throw SaltWater on my
starboard fisherman.
Also when the prop drops back in the water their is no shock and the I do not break the flywheel key so the motor keeps running.

Again this is only a problem when we have 8 foot or over Steep swells 8 seconds or less apart.
 

CatTwentyTwo

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jan 11, 2005
Messages
424
Re: panther 4 stroke bracket

Google Garelick motor brackets and you will find lots of information and they are available here at iboats. Panther must have purchased the product line because the brackets look identical. I had the 10" model for many years and it was okay but what I didn't like was that the instructions said to remove the motor while towing. I don't know if the Panther instructions say the same thing but that was not an option for me with a heavy 4 stroke so I was always worried while towing. I had a friend pass me on the highway one day and he said that the motor was bouncing all over the place even though I had it strapped off to a cleat. I got rid of it shortly after and am much happier with a fixed bracket.
 

tal

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Nov 21, 2003
Messages
214
Re: panther 4 stroke bracket

Thanks for the replies. On my other thread (similar) I was asking which was the best way to go or to do the install.

Fixed seems the best but I don't think I'll have a place on the transom where a stationary mount will be the best for changing water conditions and running without the engine dragging in the water (not sure it'll tilt up high enough).

I've seen some reviews on the garelicks that were semi negative which is why I was asking about the panther.

I too agree unbolting the engine from the mount while traveling sucks but I'm 4 hours from the coast which is a long ways to bobble down the road. What sucks more is the idea of trying to find a secure way to haul it in the back of my truck (upright) with all the other gear and crap I have with me for a week long stay.

I'm going to pull the boat out this weekend and take some measurements since the kicker came in. If I can get away with a fixed mount of some sort that's small enough to mount on the transom, I'll go that route, otherwise it's the wobbler style.
 
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