There is a lot of play in my motor mount between the transom brackets and the outboard bracket. The motor can twist side-to-side, and also up and down. It also comes unlatched from either position very easily; I'll often be sailing along and I'll notice the mount has dropped from the up position and the motor is dragginng. The opposite happens when the motor is down and running. Particularly in reverse, it is coming unlatched and lifting a couple of inches.
I believe is's the original CP16 motor mount that appears to have been used on several compac models. I'm running a 55 lb trolling motor.
Time for a new motor mount. Why take chances?
I put a u-bolt through my transom and tie a small rope from the outboard handle to the u-bolt. If the mount ever fails, at least my motor isn't going to the bottom. With a trolling motor I imagine the wires would save it. Does the bracket use bolts (with nuts) to hold the various moving pieces together? Maybe they can be tightened?
I'm not worried about it failing altogether. It's mostlt just annoying that it doesn't reliably stay locked up or down and the motor has a little bit of play. I've tried playing with the tension on the bolts, but to get it to the point where the play is gone causes the mount to bind. I'm also wondering if there is supposed to be a spring or something that holds the locking lever in the locked position?
Sounds like it could be missing a spring, or something may be loose that should be holding it down.
Best to having it work as it should. Annoying now, but it could drop when you least expect it, and lead to more problems.
Can you post a picture? Maybe someone would spot something.
Holy cow, your trolling motor weighs 55 lbs? That's more than my 5 hp Tohatsu outboard. ?
Trolling motors are rated using lbs of thrust rather than hp. I'm guessing it's rated at 55lbs of thrust and weighing much less that 55lbs in weight. (Unless you count the battery)