1993 Merc bracket

[boater1234]

I did something i never thought was possible, i torqued down my merc and snapped the port side bracket.I hand tightened it then torqued it with a wrench like i have to many other outboards and it snapped.I don't want to bolt it because i don't know how long i will keep it so is as tight as i can go with hand tight good enough to hold it on the transom with a safety cable of course to running through the brace of the transom??????????I have most of the time just hand tightened it and never had any issues but i have torqued the last few outboards and i never thought the aluminum bracket would snap.

Also only the port side snapped and the other side seems fine,would i have weakened the (stbd) side as well or should it be ok and really strong still if it didn't snap as well as the other???????Thanks for any info.

 

[boater1234]

No matter what i don't want to bolt this engine because i don't know how long i will keep it,

I had an idea of taking two pieces of plywood and making like a transom pad like on the new lowe jon boats,just much thicker and of course run bolts through the wood to the inside to secure the wood.Then it will be at least an inch and a half thick which the outboard will still be able to be clamped on and i was thinking i could run two thick screws threw the bolt holes on each bracket into just the wood to hold the motor from at least moving around and i'm sure it will keep it in place as well.That will save holes in the transom other than the holes i did for the permanent plywood pad on the outside of the transom.

Bad idea or just clamp as hand tight as possible and a cable as tight as possible?

 

[Chris1956]

If you don't bolt the motor to the transom, it is likely to fall off durning use, especially if you hit bottom or something else. Of course, that fits with your plan of "not knowing how long you will keep it".

 

[boater1234]

Well what i'm going to do is fix it first,bring it to my local lake make sure it runs perfect after i just completely retuned it and replaced many parts on it,if i love the way it runs then i will more than likely keep it and bolt it on.I keep looking at my transom and i may be way over thinking this as my buddy just told me but like i said the transom has a nice lip which the actual clamps sit completely under and i just don't see how it could ever come up when tight unless like you said i could hit something hard which i have never done in my area of boating cross my fingers.Plus i am going to have a cable lock it down extremely tight were there is no play in the cable so if it did come lose which is unlikely it wouldn't be able to lift at all.When the clamps are lose it is hard to get off,lol.

I would guess bolting it would be the likely thing though if i keep it long term.Once i get all the wot speeds and how it completely performs then i will decide to either go with this outboard or get a new 20hp 4stroke suzuki that i once had and should of never got rid of.Good thing i can get a great price on a new one again.