Motor falls off boat and onto highway

[HollaGeo]

Re: Motor falls off boat and onto highway

The guy probably didn't clamp the engine to the transom properly. "They walk among us"...

 

[crabby captain john]

Re: Motor falls off boat and onto highway

Never hear of an outboard 'falling off' while being towed IF it was installed properly. I have towed outboards for years, many 15 HP - 40 HP on jackplates as kickers and never had to retighten one down when properly installed.

Have heard of lots being lifted by light finger passers by no matter the installation.

 

[DanMC]

Re: Motor falls off boat and onto highway

For $4000, I'd make some posters and go back down that stretch of road and put them up where ever I could. Your chances of it being an honest person that found it are just as good as one that wasn't.

Good luck!!

Sorry about this . This is exactly what i would do (posters and maybe a small reward) , there are still a lot of honest people around.Stay positive,
Dan

 

[mommicked]

Re: Motor falls off boat and onto highway

If the clamps are hand tightened, like a C clamp to speed on/off mounting, it could be gone in less than a minute at a stop to P or stretch legs on a long drive. If it fell off, it was probably shot when it stopped bouncing down the highway.:facepalm: The only outboard motor jetisons Ive seen or heard about involve rotten transomes and or hitting a log or other object while under power on the water or someone forgetting to tighten the knobs. Trolling motors are not immune to this either.

 

[northernmerc]

Re: Motor falls off boat and onto highway

A friend lost a nearly new motor off a boat when he stopped to get a bite to eat. He saw the thieves loading up the motor as he came out of the restaurant, but the thieves were too fast on the getaway. This happened near Vancouver, which has more than its share of thieves it seems. The police there wouldn't even respond when someone broke into my car and stole a bunch of stuff - talk about a perfect place to be a thief.

If the motor did fall off while driving, having it tied to the boat with a rope or cable might not have helped much. Can you imagine what the motor would look like after dragging behind the trailer for a hundred miles or more?

I use a Merc 2.5 kicker as a back up and trolling motor. It's tied to the back of the boat with a piece of strong nylon rope to stop it from going to the bottom of the lake if it comes loose. But it has occurred to me that tieing it to the boat might not be a good idea. If it ever came loose, the rope could pull it into the main motor's prop and leg and cause a lot more damage than the 2.5 Merc is worth.

 

[BloodStone]

Re: Motor falls off boat and onto highway...

Re: Motor falls off boat and onto highway...

I concur with others here, unless you're as stupid as Peter Griffin from Family Guy and totally forgot to make sure your motor was screwed down or secured at all, then it was stolen. I've been boating since I was a kid of 5 (I'm now in my 40's) & I have never had or personally seen an outboard motor fall off a trailer-ed boat & onto the highway. Food for thought; IF the OB Motor had "fallen off" on a fairly busy highway, then wouldn't somebody have perhaps hit it (God help them) or maybe flagged you down to let you know you lost it off the back end of your boat? But for what it's worth, I'm sorry for your loss.

 

[MrBigStuff]

Re: Motor falls off boat and onto highway

I must be missing something because I have no need for a rope or tether for any of my small OBs. They all have holes in the ends of the clamp levers. You crank them down tight, get the ends close to each other and slip a pad lock through both holes. NO WAY that is coming loose while boating or trailering or a casual thief is going to make an opportunity out of a quick rest stop.

 

[WaveJumpingMaxum]

Re: Motor falls off boat and onto highway

didnt he say he didnt stop in 3hrs? kinda hard to take a motor off a moving boat on a trailer and if it wasnt bolted on the securely how didnt it fall off when you were boating? water would put alot more force on it then air and a bouncy road would.

 

[crackedglass]

Re: Motor falls off boat and onto highway

Isn't it common practice to have a safety chain or cable on any clamp on motor?
I've never mounted any clamp on motor without a safety chain.
Also, we're talking about a 125lb motor here, it don't take long at even the shortest stop for it to grow legs.
I've been boating for the better part of 40 years and have never heard of a motor falling off a boat. If it was secure enough to be used on the water it was certainly secure enough to hang on the transom for the ride home.
I agree if it did fall off, finding it is a waste of time, there won't be much left of it after a 65mph bounce down the highway. Even if it managed not to get run over.

 

[Silly Seville]

Re: Motor falls off boat and onto highway

And here's some more food for thought...the OP should be thankful that he hasn't heard from the cops or an attorney that he's being SUED by the person who may have slammed into that motor on the highway at speed!

 

[mommicked]

Re: Motor falls off boat and onto highway

My dad got a clamp locking device that came w a 25hp he bought. Its basically a metal box and plate that covers the screw handles and makes removal difficult.

 

[mr.vrooman]

Re: Motor falls off boat and onto highway

havent been on the site for a while but to respond to some of the posts, I am sure the motor fell off, the marks and scratches on the transom make it pretty clear, the fuel line was also ripped off the garstank. Yea I feel pretty stupid about it, but given the circumstances with the flat deck trailer, and the motor being in the upright position, I had not much choice.

I had to take the motor off of the boat when I took the boat out of the water ( we had to take the boat out by hand because there isnt a boat launch where I was)

I placed the motor on the transom, and tightened both clamps up myself personally and made double sure they were as tight as possible without breaking off the plastic clamp handles that are on the new yamaha's.

When i got home and found the outboard missing, I phoned the RCMP and reported it as falling off the boat..the cops patrolled the highway looking for it, phoned the next day saying they couldnt find it. I have a police report number on it and gave them the serial number and a description.

I have never had the clamps loosen on this motor since i have owned it, in the water or the highway...I should have wired the clamps together i guess but who would have thought of that

 

[jim765]

Re: Motor falls off boat and onto highway

it was stolen,had a guy here had a 90 stolen right outa his back yard ,so, i would never loose a motor,it was stolen plain and simple.

 

[mommicked]

Re: Motor falls off boat and onto highway

Im sorry for your loss. Im sure your heart sank when you figured out what happened. From what Ive seen of Canada's rural areas on the TV that motor could be in the ditch or woods on the side of the road for years or never be found, if it slid off the road in a curve or valley.

 

[RandyJ]

Re: Motor falls off boat and onto highway

If it fell off then it's gonna be kind of easy to figure out by the marks left on the transom. A physically weak or rather uncoordinated thief is gonna leave marks but probably not the same. So, not knowing all there is to know I can't say if it was stolen or fell off... but I've towed a lot of boats and have had occasion that the motors were not clamped down good. I do know that if towing with the motor up it is going to bounce a heck of a lot more than if down... that's what prompted the invention of transom savers! I've got a couple of old junkers with damaged transoms from this very reason. As for the o.p..... I've had some similar losses, made me feel like super dumbazz... I feel your pain.

 

[mr.vrooman]

Re: Motor falls off boat and onto highway

I will post a picture of the transom sometime when i get a chance. The last stop we made was 3 hours away from home and the motor was still there as we drove off...we stopped for a **** on the side of the road a few times, but there is no one even on these highways...got back into town, drove right home, and when we got out it w as gone, I am positive it bounced off..

On another note, do all of the new portable 4 stroke motors from all manufacturers have plastic transom clamps? seems like it was a bad place for them to cheap out on.

I just hope one day i will be able to walk down the boating aisel at Canadian Tire without tearing up.. haha

 

[erwinner]

Re: Motor falls off boat and onto highway

My 2010 15hp Merc has metal clamps.

 

[woodsyfeller]

Re: Motor falls off boat and onto highway

For $4000, I'd make some posters and go back down that stretch of road and put them up where ever I could. Your chances of it being an honest person that found it are just as good as one that wasn't.

Good luck!!

I'd go this route if you do nothing thats what you get as a result,better to try and hope then to do nothing.