[Pictures Below]
Hello Whalers … I recently picked up a 2002 – 13′ 130 Sport Boston Whaler with a 40HP mercury 2 stroke. I just got a lightweight Minnkota 55 Trolling Motor and thought it would be an easy job to mount it on my transom. Not!
After much wandering on the internet, and even calling the manufacturer, Brunswick (who answered me VERY promptly), I discovered that the few people who seem to have tried this, gave up, and went with a bow mount. The issue was/is that the transom is not very long, and where it is thin it is crowded with the main outboard motor. Everyone suggested I not try this, and go with a bow mount. Well, glad to say I persisted. I just finished the job, and it was absolutely possible. Here’s what I did.
I picked up a universal kicker bracket, white, made for a 2 stroke engine (rated for a 7.5 to 20HP). It cost me $50 on eBay plus shipping. It has 8 mounting holes, lined up in two columns (left and right) 4 inches apart. This is key to the installation, since there is not much space to ensure you get at least part of the thin portion of the transom behind the mount. I figured I would push the transom as close to the motor as possible (on the Port side), checking that it did not touch it when the main motor was turned. I found later that depending on the position of the mount (when placed in the lifted position vs. lowered position) it may touch!
When I received the kicker mount, I set it up on my work bench, to test it out with the MinnKota. Bolting it to a fixed piece of wood (my workbench), i quickly noticed that the butterfly nuts on the Minnkota, conflicted with the lever handles on the kicker bracket. I could force them closed but it was very impractical. Solution, I flipped the kicker around, to mount it upside down. I removed the screws of the white plastic mounting block and flipped that upside down as well. That left me with the kicker mount lever handle on the bottom and the butterfly screws on the top, no more conflict!
I then placed the kicker on the transom finding the exact location I would do the mount. My transom has two U shaped bolts (one on each side of the motor), for water skiing hookups. I thought at first that I could use those holes, but they were not the same size as the holes for the kicker motor mount. If you place the kicker mount up flush against the U shaped bolt, you can see that drilling through the transom at that location is fine, because the bolts and washer can be secured on the inside of the transom/hull (there are 4 holes to drill lined up along the right side of the mount). Looking at the other 4 holes, on the left side of the kicker mount, I was concerned about how those would be fixed, since on the inside of the transom/hull, the wall begins to curve around the boat to the port side. The wall of the boat is very thick at that location of the kicker mount holes, almost 4 inches thick, as opposed to the 2 inches of the thin portion of the transom. As you move away from the middle of the boat, towards the side, it only gets thicker, to 6, 7, or 8 inches! I figured I might use self threading wood type screws (stainless steel of course), that could grab the fiberglass and foam interior. I was not sure if I would find wood in there, and was concerned that if there were no wood in there that those screws would simply not hold very strongly. In any event, I took a chance and kept going.
I drilled 4, 5/16th holes for the right side of the mount where the bolts would go through the transom completely with 2.5 inch long stainless steel 5/16th bolts, two washers and nut, and drilled 4, 13/64″ holes for the left side of the kicker mount. These holes would take a 3 inch long stainless steel 5/16 self-threaded stainless steel screws. Total purchased screws, $25. The idea was to ensure the screws would grab as firmly as possible to the interior of the hull, but not be so long as to come out the back side (inside the boat). The right side bolts/nuts I figured would do all the stronghold of the mount and motor, and the left side could be less strong but ensure that the mount did not get pulled off the boat. But to my surprise, as I drilled out these 13/64 inch holes (on the left side of the kicker mount), I found wood in the transom, so the interior was solid and would take the self threading screws perfectly! Could not be better!
I placed a white acrylic sealant (like bathroom tile caulk) on the screws, and tightened them firmly, and did the same with the bolts/nuts, placing sealant on the nut ends of the screws. The ideas was both to get them to hold inside but also avoid water seeping in from either end. I have since bought nylon self locking nuts to make them more secure and ensure they don’t fall off!
Well, everything is on and firm. Now, I gotta go fishing!
Cheers all. Daniel
(hope this is useful for someone, as I had a lot of trouble figuring out how best to resolve the tight space!)
here are the pictures!
