“The G-forces are greater on the road,” said Dean Devore, OMC director of product development. A bump in the road can cause more damage than a large wave, they said. But representatives from both companies told us otherwise. We figured the brackets would face much more stress at sea than rolling down the highway. We were surprised that OMC and Garelick’s instructions advised that the motor be taken off before trail-ering the boat. All except the Triangle and Minn Kota included raised strips of polypropylene or stainless steel on the mounting boards to prevent the motor from sliding off. Most used some sort of spring as its primary lifting and lowering mechanism. Minn Kota failed to offer this information, and the Triangle came with no directions.Īll but one bracket-the two-stroke Fulton-offered clearance between the motor and the bracket handle when tilted. Instructions that came with most of the brackets were fairly good, advising where to mount them so the outboard could perform properly. Minn Kota and Triangle included no hardware. This was annoying as no one likes to interrupt a project with a trip to the hardware store. The three Garelick models, the four-stroke Fulton model and the OMC bracket included 3″ bolts the other Fulton bracket came with 2-1/4″ bolts, too short for the 2-1/2″ thick transom. We hauled the boat, mounted each bracket and tried all three outboards on each one. Three motors were used-a 2000 Nissan 5-hp four-stroke, a 1980’s-era 9.9-hp Mercury two-stroke and a 1970’s 15-hp Evinrude. To test, we collaborated with our sister publication, Powerboat Reports, whose editor owns a 21′ walkaround with a large outboard his interest was mounting a small backup “kicker.”We had a local machine shop weld up a stainless steel plate that could be bolted to his boat’s transom and used to mount the brackets. We also measured the range of motion, or vertical distance, of each. We noted how sturdy each bracket was by shaking the motor from side to side and fore and aft while placing the bracket in several positions-a “wiggle test,” if you will. The main criteria for evaluation was ease of use, but also considered was the ease of assembly and mounting, quality of materials, price and instructions. The four-stroke’s greater force imposes more stress on the bracket therefore it needs to be stronger than a bracket for a two-stroke. “It’s the increased torque and thrust of a four-stroke,” said Jayson Klade, a Fulton Industries technical representative. We understood why weight and horsepower make a difference but weren’t sure why a four-stroke would require a special, and subsequently more expensive, bracket. All are manually operated, except for the electrically powered Minn Kota.Įarly on we discovered that your choice depends not only on the outboard’s horsepower and weight but also on whether it’s a two- or four-stroke. We rounded up eight brackets from five manufacturers-Fulton, Garelick, Triangle, Minn Kota and Outboard Motor Corp. Brackets should be strong, durable, and, most importantly, easy to operate without having to hang out over the transom. These generally have two positions-up and down-for lowering the motor’s prop into the water, and raising it. More common, perhaps is the mounting of a bracket on the transom. Such arrangements conceal and protect the motor but may not allow it to be tilted up to get the prop out of the water when sailing. On some boats, it is mounted in a well forward of the transom. The most common form of auxiliary propulsion for small sailboats is the outboard motor.
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