Do i need to bolt my motor on?

[Expidia]

Re: Do i need to bolt my motor on?

You've got a point there....better get a hat to cover that up

Haha . . . that's always the excuse I hear that "locks are only to keep honest people honest" . . . no, that's what guns and Pitbulls are for . . . hahaha.

When I hear that over and over about locks it just tells me the owners are either to cheap or just lazy to put a little effort in to protect their toys!

I pay less than $150 a year for insurance on my rig and with accessories it was was around 19k. Did I have to think twice about getting the insurance? Nope, insurance is the "cheapest" thing you can buy.

I even had the stuff on my trailer spot welded on for $50 bucks at a local welder.

I love parking next to those beautiful bass boat trailers with all their shiny rollers and stuff glistening in the sunshine and held on there by just a few palnuts

I grew up in Boston and I can never remember ever locking the back door to our house. I never owned a set of keys cause the back door was always open when I came home from school.

Saddly, we are living in different times and slow economies don't help either.

So at least make an effort to protect your stuff and park next to boaters who don't

 

[NYGiants]

Re: Do i need to bolt my motor on?

i have a lock bar and i also live in an area where crime is non existent. ive never had anything stolen from me and no one around us has. i also tend to store it in the garage since i have a stand it fits on perfectly. when i store it in my friends "boat yard" (vacant lot with barbed wire fence) i will lock it.

 

[Expidia]

Re: Do i need to bolt my motor on?

i have a lock bar and i also live in an area where crime is non existent. ive never had anything stolen from me and no one around us has. i also tend to store it in the garage since i have a stand it fits on perfectly. when i store it in my friends "boat yard" (vacant lot with barbed wire fence) i will lock it.

Sorry, had to comment again when I saw you saying you live in an area where crime is non-existent and then I see TRENTON, NJ

So I figure you are either Mafia, Mike Tyson or you live in the middle of a Monastery

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Do i need to bolt my motor on?

My comments were not based on theft but security if it should ever want to leave the boat while under power..........

Dingr alluded to it and I agree.... when you have a motor jump off a transom........

 

[Captain Caveman]

Re: Do i need to bolt my motor on?

Regarding those lock bars... I had one on a 25hp. The p.o. had lost the keys so it had to be cut off. I did it with a dremel and a small cutting wheel in 15 minutes. now that I know where I should have been cutting, I bet I could have it off in less than 5min. Not as secure if your not close enough to hear the grinding noise.

So how is bolting your motor on more secure? I can turn four bolts on a 9.9hp motor much quieter than I can Dremmel off a lock bar.

Here is what I've gathered from this thread:

1) Bolting is less theft-proof than clamps and a lock.
2) Bolting may keep the motor on more securely if you use lock washers, but if not, those nuts can screw off a bolt just as easily as a clamp can unscrew itself.
3) It's mostly a personal preference.

 

[CATransplant]

Re: Do i need to bolt my motor on?

Bolting is a theft-deterrent. Most of the small outboards that are stolen around here are just a snatch and run sort of thing. To get mine off, you have to have a pair of wrenches, then something to drive the bolts out. Takes time. Takes planning.

Just about every other backyard here in Minnesota has a small boat with a small outboard in it. They're stolen fairly frequently, usually ending up on Craigs List, with a description and says "Haven't started it. No tank." Crackheads, mostly.

There's no way one of those morons is going to show up with a pair of 1/2" wrenches, a hammer, and a drift, to steal a 6hp outboard. It just doesn't happen. They can just walk down the street a little and steal one that's just clamped on.

So, it's actually a fairly good anti-theft mechanism.

 

[Captain Caveman]

Re: Do i need to bolt my motor on?

...and that was my point. Having a lock bar on clamps or having bolts is about the same level of theft deterrent, but taking out bolts is a lot quieter. Some folks on this thread were trying to tout bolts as a theft deterrent, but my point is that it's less of a deterrent than a lock bar since the bar is tougher to remove than a set of bolts. In the end, neither is much of a deterrent to a determined thief.

For the record, for three years I kept my 35hp Evinrude clamped with a lock bar parked at my corner house in South Mpls, right on Portland Avenue.

 

[RL Gman]

Re: Do i need to bolt my motor on?

Back in my earliest days of boating, I spent the night on an island for not bolting on a motor. 3 small swells (less than 2 feet) as I started to plane the 14 footer with a 25 hp (bounced the bow and stern up and down) plus the side forces from the prop was enough force to slip one of the clamps...the engine came out, because it was an engine steer - the throttle turned in my hands as the one side jumped up, yanked me around and had me staring at a 25 HP WOT prop about a foot from my face. I jumped forward, the engine slowed and gravity dropped it back to the transom but instead of sliding on, it hit the transom and was enough to force to knock the other clamp off...bye bye engine. I threw the tank overboard hoping the hose would hold it up if the engine somehow had neutral buoyancy (from the air in the cover) no luck. That engine was about 4 days old, and it still has less than .8 hours on it on the bottom of the barge canal in Florida. (if anyone cares to find it )

I tightened those clamps with pliers, and then used a socket on the end nut...25 hp + vibration was just too much power to clamp on.

Can you clamp on as asked in the OP, answer: yes. My personal recommendation - life insurance and a chain with clamp, or bolt on with lock washers (and two nuts for each bolt)...

PS. I (at the time) wasnt concerned about the actual security since the engine was Kept in the garage and I have never used the locking mechanism mentioned before...so that may also be a viable option.

 

[DECK SWABBER 58]

Re: Do i need to bolt my motor on?

Depends on where you keep the boat and if you want to leave it mounted.

I have an 18 on my 14' Starcraft and I have it locked to the knee brace for security AND if it should ever kick up the transom on a tight turn I will not have to dive overboard to find it.

It's really a personal preference but I would safety chain or cable it.

Great thread. I had no idea this was a concern. I'm guessing not all that likely
though??!!

As part of my pre-season check over I just today removed the lock
bar and made sure the clamps were tight.

I'm gradually upgrading stuff on my 16' jon purchased new last year.
Maybe I will add bolting to the list. Probably not at the top of it though.

 

[JimS123]

Re: Do i need to bolt my motor on?

Great thread. I had no idea this was a concern. Probably not at the top of it though.

Now that you admit you know the potential consequences, and that the cost is $5, and that it takes 5 minutes, why wouldn't it be at the top of the list?

 

[DECK SWABBER 58]

Re: Do i need to bolt my motor on?

Now that you admit you know the potential consequences, and that the cost is $5, and that it takes 5 minutes, why wouldn't it be at the top of the list?

Because although it's an excellent idea I feel fairly safe
with the clamps holding the motor on. (10hp jon boat)

 

[northernmerc]

Re: Do i need to bolt my motor on?

Interesting discussion. I've run countless boats over the years with clamps holding the motors on and never lost one. On the other hand, I've also owned boats with the motors bolted on. The biggest I ever ran without bolting it on was a 35 Johnson on a 16' Lund.

I can't see anything wrong with bolting a motor on, if it's done properly. But I do have a concern about using a safety chain or rope to act as added security in case the motor comes off. If a motor comes off the boat with the prop spinning, I would be concerned that a chain or rope could pull the prop towards the boat and damage the hull. It might be better to just lose the motor than to be in a sinking boat with a hole in the hull.

 

[northernmerc]

Re: Do i need to bolt my motor on?

A good reason for bolting the motor on is to reduce the possibility of theft.

Someone I know was fishing on the Fraser River and stopped at a restaurant for a bite to eat on the way home. The boat was on a trailer behind their van in the parking lot. As they came out of the restaurant, they noticed two guys taking the motor off the boat. They ran towards their van as the thieves sped away in a pickup truck, with the motor. As luck would have it, the driver dropped the keys to the van as he went to unlock the door. The keys slid under the van and by the time he retrieved them, the pickup was long gone.

 

[JimS123]

Re: Do i need to bolt my motor on?

Because although it's an excellent idea I feel fairly safe
with the clamps holding the motor on. (10hp jon boat)

I go out im my boat all by myself and don't bother to use a PFD, nor do I bother to connect the safety engine cut-off lanyard. Why bother, I feel FAIRLY safe.

I don't bother to use a seatbelt in the car. Why bother, I feel FAIRLY safe.

Get my point? I'm not a guy with a boat. I'm a boater! If crap can happen, it surely will. I don't want to be the guy who has to ask to ask for a tow.

 

[DECK SWABBER 58]

Re: Do i need to bolt my motor on?

I go out im my boat all by myself and don't bother to use a PFD, nor do I bother to connect the safety engine cut-off lanyard. Why bother, I feel FAIRLY safe.

I don't bother to use a seatbelt in the car. Why bother, I feel FAIRLY safe.

Get my point? I'm not a guy with a boat. I'm a boater! If crap can happen, it surely will. I don't want to be the guy who has to ask to ask for a tow.

WTH

Just today I found out that some people bolt a 10hp motor onto
a little fishing boat. Many of the posts refer to theft. The few
that came off while running well.....I believe their was some
negligence going on there.

I am VERY careful on the water. You can die in an instant.
That said, since I'm diligent in making sure my motor clamps
are always tight I think the chances of my motor falling into
the water are slim to none.

If you read my original post I was quoting what BobVT said
about the motor coming off the transom on a tight turn. I
was unaware this could even happen. He has an 18hp I have
a 10hp.

FYI, YES I will probably "bolt" the motor but it's not
a high priority.

Painting little smiley face's on the side of the boat is much
more important.

 

[Mel Taylor]

Re: Do i need to bolt my motor on?

My current boat is a 14' Mirrocraft that I bought in 1984 with a 30 horse, tiller steered, Evinrude that I bought in 1994. 20 inch transom, long shaft motor. When I bought this motor the dealer bolted it on for me. This was the first time I had even heard of bolting a small motor on.

I left the bolts for a year or two then took the motor off for some reason and left the bolts out when I put it back on. I didn't bother with a locking bar or chain either. After all, I had never had any trouble in all the many decades of operating various boats before that.

All went well until a couple of years ago when I was fishing on Elephant Lake here in New Mexico. I was cruising up the lake at full throttle, probably around 20 to 25 mph wiith the engine tilt lockdown in the tilt (or unlocked) position in 45 feet of water when I hit something that was completely submerged. I never saw what it was. Most likely a log floating just beneath the surface.

The motor kicked up back and sideways. One clamp slipped off the transom as the motor rared up sideways with the prop completely above the top of the transom and the rpm's suddenly going wild. I managed to shut the motor off and the second clamp stayed on the transom far enough to prevent the motor from ending up in the bottom of the lake.

I came home that weekend, immediately dug out the bolts and bolted the engine on. That's the way it's stayed ever since and that's the way it's going to stay from now on.

I would not have believed that just hitting something under water could have caused that reaction.That little episode made a believer out of me.

Now, if I'd only had a safety cord of some kind on the four hundred dollar, hand held, GPS that I dropped in 400 feet of water at lake Novillo down in Mexico? ahh but that's another story for another time.

 

[RL Gman]

Re: Do i need to bolt my motor on?

The few
that came off while running well.....I believe their was some
negligence going on there.

I was one who mentioned my engine came off while running...I was a young boater, but negligence was not the issue. Murphy was teaching me a lesson...as he will everyone.

All went well until a couple of years ago when I was fishing on Elephant Lake here in New Mexico. I was cruising up the lake at full throttle, probably around 20 to 25 mph wiith the engine tilt lockdown in the tilt (or unlocked) position in 45 feet of water when I hit something that was completely submerged. I never saw what it was. Most likely a log floating just beneath the surface.

Another great situation where negligence was not the issue. Murphy just reminding an experienced boater he still exists.

Again, you have the responses needed to make the correct decision, just NEVER assume that because you are

I am VERY careful on the water

Murphy won't visit.

 

[DECK SWABBER 58]

Re: Do i need to bolt my motor on?

Well said.

 

[Expidia]

Re: Do i need to bolt my motor on?

Ya, good reply on the hitting a submerged log . . . That's going to take a clamped outboard off pretty quick

I never bolted my 5 hp Honda 4 stroke or my 9.9 Merc 4 stroke, but anything over that get's bolted. And if it has clamps they get the lockbar!

Even with a lock bar if I'm in a restaurant I park and get a table where I can watch the rig while eating.

If I can't do that, I just go to the next restaurant down the road!

 

[Expidia]

Re: Do i need to bolt my motor on?

Interesting side note: I was flipping through my Merc manual for something else and just came across this:

"Models with clamps screws:
Some models come with transom clamps screws, using alone, is insufficient to properly and safely secure the outboard to the transom. Proper installation includes BOLTING THE ENGINE THROUGH THE TRANSOM".

Bolts and a lock nut is about a $1 each . . . .
Even seat belts come in all cars, yet many still don't use them