Compac 16 Outboard Motor Bracket
Although I know a number
of people trailer their boats with the outboard on the stern motor mount,
I've always worried that this would put strain on the bracket and eventually
damage the motor mount, boat transom, or both. After a year or so
of having the outboard ride in the car with us, I decided to build a bracket
for trailering the outboard on the tongue of the boat trailer. My
design uses two pieces of structural grade 2x8, glued and screwed together.
I cut a half-lap into the lower section of the 2x8s to the exact height
of the trailer tongue and about 1/8" less the width of the trailer tongue.
This allowed me to secure the mount to the tongue and pull it tight with
two U-bolts.
The U-bolts held the mount
to the tongue extremely well (it was rock solid - I could move the trailer
around by pulling on the motor mount held in place with just the U-bolt,
and there was absolutely no give in the motor mount). However, I
gave the mount some added insurance by fabricating four "struts" that attach
the mount to the trailer's winch stand. The struts are made from
1 1/2"x1/8" galvanized steel bar-stock cut to length to attach from the
center of the mount to the existing bolts on the winch stand.
The mount has three coats
of marine varnish to protect it from the elements. I lock my motor
to the stand when trailering, as well as made a strap to hold the motor
to the stand should the clamps fail (not pictured). It works great
- keeps the dirty, smelly gasoline engine out of my van and gives the trailer
about 30 pounds additional tongue weight, which brings it up to the recommended
12% of the overall trailer weight.
