To through bolt or Not to through bolt...

[John the Barber]

Hello Gentlemen,

I purchased a '04 Mercury 430 HD from a guy across the state. It came with an '82 Evinrude 25 HP (100 lbs...maybe). Well the Evinrude is not what I wanted, carb a mess and needs work and I don't want to work on it (smoke, noise) so today I bought a tiller 25 Suzuki 4S (152 lbs) new.

I have it on the transom with the clamp screws But, it just doesn't seem sufficient enough in my opinion.

Should I through bolt it? I'm leaning toward YES as I don't feel the clamp screws are going to hold it. Though I don't know. My first inflatable.

Second. There are four holes on the clamp bracket. Two on either side on the bottom and two more on either side mid way between the top of the bracket and bottom. My problem is the bottom through bolt holes are one inch below the boats transom backing plate.

I'd show pics though it appears since I haven't been on Photobucket in a year or so, I can't post pics.

Thanks. It's nice to find a forum are for just the inflatables.

 

[CATransplant]

Re: To through bolt or Not to through bolt...

Just bolt through the middle ones and keep your transom mount screws tight. Don't worry about the bottom two holes.

Bolts are good insurance. Your new outboard is worth a pile. A couple of stainless steel bolts, washers, and nylon insert nuts is going to leave you change from a $10 bill.

Pretty cheap insurance, I'd say. I have my 6hp bolted to the transom of my aluminum boat.

 

[Drowned Rat]

Re: To through bolt or Not to through bolt...

I wouldn't worry about it. We hang 30hp Hondas on our inflatables at work all the time with no bolts. Never a problem. Run a padlock between the clamp screw handles if you're worried about it.

 

[John the Barber]

Re: To through bolt or Not to through bolt...

Thank you very much.

 

[TOHATSU GURU]

Re: To through bolt or Not to through bolt...

Through bolting will give you piece of mind...But, most people don't bother. Your a wee bit under powered with the Suzuki 25 so you might want to consider dropping down an inch in pitch for hole shot.

 

[John the Barber]

Re: To through bolt or Not to through bolt...

The whole underpowered thing...I'm good with the 25. I understand your position, though where I live near the ICW and our inlet. If I was to have more power, I'd probably hurt myself. The main purpose for the boat is a shuttle in skinny water. Plenty of big boats to get me 12 miles out or to Lucaya. The other is for spearfishing & diving just outside our inlet. It's a short run to our spots and a whole lot quicker launch, recovery & maintenance wise $$$. I didn't really want to spend a ton of money on the boat either. Got a great price on the outboard $2500 OTD. So it beat the Yama and Honda hands down. The company I got it from also maintains the twin 250's Suzuki's on my other boat, so all told I'm into my "new" boat for less than $5K.

BTW, I really like the setups some folks here have come up with, very ingenious.

Also, I'm using a sidescan sonar to search for a brand new Yamaha 40 that fell into the ICW in an area some kids were wakeboarding. It cracked from their transom of the Avon they were on two weeks ago. Local commercial salvage guy told me the general area, less than 3/4 square mile. So that would be a neat little present to recover.

Thanks to all who have given advice on this subject.

 

[deejaycee_2000]

Re: To through bolt or Not to through bolt...

I would bolt on ... I have lost a few ... rather safe than sorry Ps. you have about a week to recover the motor if it is fresh water and less than a day if it is salty water, otherwise the motor should just stay down there ...

 

[John the Barber]

Re: To through bolt or Not to through bolt...

Yep, that's what the Sea Tow guy told me. Oh well. I could still sell the cowling and prop.