motor bracket stuck on up position

[jfair1954]

Good day! After some days of strong winds and waves, with my boat on a mooring, the bracket mount is now stuck on the highest notch and the lever became loose and useless.
Cannot lower the motor anymore.
Has anybody ever had this happening ?
It is the old original motor bracket that came with this CP23 1990 !!!!!
I have distance to cover before I get to my winter marina and will need motoring.
Can this be fixed temporarely until I am on the dry,and how ?
Jean Francois Riel

[Bristol14]

Do you have a picture of the issue?  Thx.

[Andre]

Not being familiar with your mount it's hard to say.

The standard duty mounts being used in the recent past have been Garelick which I believe are now sold by White Water.  If it looks like one of theirs try contacting them.  I would also try to get to a dock or tie up close to shore so you would have a more stable platform to work from.

The mounts are not that complicated and you should be able to diagnose the problem.  If like the  Garelick mounts it uses springs to counter the motor's weight be careful! They're under a great deal of tension and can be dangerous if you attempt to disassemble the unit.

Andre

[bruce]

+1, a photo would really help. If you have a hard time uploading it, contact me with a PM and I'll post it for you.

I had a failure like you describe, the torsion spring that acted on the lever to engage the notches broke. The lever flopped about, the motor mount was in the highest position because there was nothing to hold it down, the large lift springs that Andre mentions kept the motor up.

You should be able to push down on the motor, even if you can't lock it in a lower position. If you can, then you should be able to jury rig some type of spring set up to hold the lever notches in place. A bungee might work, wrapped around the motor pad. I had no luck in sourcing a new torsion spring for my lever, but installed an extension spring fastened to the back of the pad run back to the lever. Works fine.

I'd normally attached photos but the photos I took are horrible, it's not an easy area to shoot. I can take better photos if it would help, but I have little confidence that the motor mount on my 2010 PC is the same as the one on your 1990 CP23.

[jfair1954]

Tks Bruce
I get the idea.Will give it a try.
Now, I am not sure I understand what is the motor pad...Is it the square vertical platform part of the  bracket that the motor attaches on ?
jfr

[brackish]

What weight motor do you have?  When I had a 104 lb motor on my mount it would stick often, I had to jerk the motor up by its cowl and have someone tap the lever at the same time to break it loose.  But you comment about the lever being loose and useless makes me think it can't be that.  I also had a problem where one of the spring tangs slipped off the side of the lower plate making the mount very difficult to operate.  Since I changed to a 59 lb. motor, no more problems.

I will say if you need parts for your mount, call Garelick, they will help you with most things.  I've heard they won't sell you spring sets but can't confirm that.  I needed the plastic handle which was sun rotted and a couple of other things.  The  lady said let me walk out to the line and see if they are there, I'll call you back.  She did, they were, asked her how much," Oh just give me your address, I'll drop them in the mail".

[bruce]

Yup, or mounting pad.

If your jury rig looks iffy, you might back it up with a C clamp or something. To keep the motor in the water when you need it.

[jfair1954]

Tks Gentlemen
I tilted up the motor and it seems to have shifted the weight and the bracket deployed automatically to it's lowest position. There are indeed some springs that are broken.
Now the lever seems to have settled in a locking position.It is tight, no wobbling,and I dont even think it is removable from where it settled. I will secure it anyway as  Bruce recommended.
Jean-Francois

[bruce]

Not sure what's going on with your mount but it sounds like more than one issue. I wouldn't trust it, maybe time to consider replacement when you can.

My lever torsion spring had two legs that were in play. One had broken off, but the lever still worked, kind of, until the second leg failed. As I looked at the problem I noticed that the bolt that the lever pivots on was bent. This is also the bolt that I'd use to set the angle of the motor pad to the transom, so easily removed. What I found when I removed the bolt and spacers was sobering. This was a mount about 8 years old. The boat was sailed 15-20 times a season, and the motors attached were in the 30-40 lbs. range. Not heavy use I thought, but the bolt was clearly ready to fail. I'm not sure what the failure would have looked like, but not good I'd guess.

I checked the other bolts as best as I could, the spacers make inspection difficult.

If the lift springs are failing, that's not a good sign.

[Jim in TC]

Yikes! I can see that I need to do a thorough inspection of our motor mount next time we on the hard...

[bruce]

I do leave the motor on when I trailer, 3 whole well-paved miles each way for our primary ramp. With the notches in the lever engaged, a downward thrust from a bouncing motor would be felt directly on the lever pivot. The lift springs should soften the stress to their bolts if there's any play. But, with the spacers in place, it's hard to inspect. I could look at installing a compression post or brace for travel, to take the strain off the lever pivot. I'd prefer that than taking off the motor.

I'm sure there's a way of jigging the springs so the compression is under control so they can be removed. The factory did it putting it together. But, I haven't felt motivated. I did remount my adjustable motor mount. I shimmed it out 1 1/4" from the transom so all height settings could be used without the motor hitting the deck flange. It was a pain, access was marginal, as I'm sure it would be on many boats. Replacing the motor mount, even if you find the same hole spacing, could be difficult.

[jfair1954]

I agree that having to crawl under the cockpit trough the lockers and working on anything inside the transom is not something I am enthousiastic about. Actualy,I do not want to go there .
Mr Hutchins says that they do at the factory when building the boat !!!!!
How did you manage to do it
I will probably buy a new engine bracket. Somebody will install it,not me.
Mr Hutchins gave me two alternatives for new brackets : one with hole spacing exactly identical and one that is not. The first one does not seem to me as a solid enough solution.I am sure the weight of the motor would torsion the bracket in no time. The other one needs new spacing of the bolts. And probably other adjustements related...like backing plate etc....
Once on the dry, I will seek somebody to look at it and see if any retrofit is posible. Although I do not think this original 1990 motor bracket was built for heavy 4 stroke motor
And , it is 30 years old !!!!!!!
jfr

[Bristol14]

I?ve installed a new outboard bracket on Mudlark, my ?87 23 MK-2.  The original did not have backing plates, just small washers which I decided wasn?t going to work for a heavier 4 stroke outboard. Crawling thru a cockpit locker was unthinkable. I called Hutchins and asked if there would be any structural issues with adding a 4 inch round observation port just below the stern seat where the gas tank is stored. The answer was no problem so used a hole saw to cut the hole. The observation port cover is gasketed and does not allow any water intrusion. The bracket install went well, it?s a 2 person job.

Hope this helps.

[bruce]

I think that's the best solution. Our PC came with a 6" Beckson Screw-Out Deck Plate in the aft cockpit bulkhead, but that's centered and the motor mount is about 11" to port. My arms don't bend that way very well. I got it but it wasn't easy. No baking plate, just washers, so I installed an aluminum plate while I was there. I tapped the plate to receive the motor mount bolts, so once I had one in and snugged up, the closest one to me, the others could be aligned and easy to install from the outside.

The 6" deck plate is also how'd I'd access the rudder mount and boarding ladder fasteners, and they wouldn't be much easier. If I have to get in there again, I'll probably install a larger, rectangular deck plate. Something like this would fit the space I have.
https://www.go2marine.com/Tempress-1115-Access-Hatch-Cam-Latch

[jfair1954]

I am shopping around for a new outboard bracket and the salesmen insist on me telling him the necessary lift of the bracket on the transom ...With my motor now stuck and locked in the down position, I cant lift it up and down to figure out the necessary lift.
Must be equal on all CP23 so anybody knows ?
My motor is Tohatsu 8 hp 4 stroke 20 inch shaft 95 pounds....
Tks in advance
JFR