Seeking opinions on outboard motor brackets

[craig]

I've enjoyed the sailing season on my local lake, but now I'm setting my sights on something a bit more ambitious (for me): the coast! I would like to cruise along the gulf for a few days.

But safety first! I think it would be prudent to only undertake the cruise with an outboard as a backup in case of some disaster. I've basically decided on the Suzuki 2.5HP. But my question is regarding mounting options. Any opinions or praise/regrets as to how you all mounted yours? I have no experience here, but from what I've read, basically you just want to keep the motor far enough away from the transom so that it can swing up and out of the water when not in use. Some fancy ones swing UP as well. I guess for a light motor like this you could theoretically have a block of wood with two attachment points on the transom and just lift or lower it as needed.

But regardless, any opinions?

Thanks!

[chaertl]

Hi Craig,

This is the one I use. http://www.marinetechproducts.com/pages/550012/ They say don't use with a four stroke but I haven't had any problems. One advantage to the adjustable ones is you can get the motor up high enough to work on it without hanging over the transom. Discovered that a couple weeks ago when a gas line started leaking in the middle of the lake.

Chris

[craig]

Thanks for the suggestion. I think you're right, the raise/lower kind looks very handy for any problems with these engines. I have a lot of learning to do with engine repair - not something I've ever attempted.