Cable lock for outboard suggestions?

[kito]

I am not sure if I will be in a wet slip or keep it at the marina on the trailer with mast up this year yet. Either way I would like to lock it with a good quality cable lock. Mine is a 10 hp Chrysler so taking it on and off would be a pain. Looking for quality cable lock suggestions plus where to cable the motor to on my C22. I don't have the scupper drains to thread it through. Not sure where a secure place is. The engine mount can be unbolted. I may have to add scupper drains just for this purpose.

 

[agprice22]

Can you change the bolts on the mount, so they can't be removed from outside? The mount would be the most convenient locking point. Additionally, is there a history of theft in your area? I've never locked down my 4hp, and I've never had any problems. I wonder how many others lock theirs?

Andrew

 

[kito]

Can you change the bolts on the mount, so they can't be removed from outside? The mount would be the most convenient locking point. Additionally, is there a history of theft in your area? I've never locked down my 4hp, and I've never had any problems. I wonder how many others lock theirs?

Andrew

The mount would be the best. Could switch out to carriage bolts I guess....or come up with a lockable plate that won't allow access to the bolt heads. I never kept my boat at this lake so don't know the theft history. It's a lake in the middle of nowhere. I lived in NC for 25 years and kind of figured things out. I think Jeff Foxworthy got most of his joke material from this area...if you know what I mean. I have taken my ski boat there many times. The public boat ramp parking lot always had broken window glass on the ground....kind of gives me the impression that it's not a great area.

 

[caguy]

I put a lock through the mounting screw handles. When they are positioned so that the handles are turned toward eachother the right lock can be atached to both. I lost the key once and had to cut the handle holes to get the lock off, it was no easy task. Finding the right lock is difficult.

 

[anchorclanker]

On most small motors, if you put the clamp handles together youll see a hole in the ends, they come close enough together you can padlock them to each other and they cant be undone without a hacksaw. They also sell a motor lock that slides over the bracket clamps and you padlock it at the outer end. However...

I am not sure how popular or valuable a 10 hp Chrysler is to a thief, but if they want it bad enough they could do a great deal of damage to your boat trying to get it. Ive heard of some using an Axe or cordless sawzall to cut (chop?) the motor mount off the hull.

When I was young I had a 65 GTO convertible. I used to lock it everywhere I went so no one would steal my stereo. One day I found the top sliced wide open, and the stereo gone. I never locked it after that, and never kept anything worth anything in it, and was much more careful where I went and where I parked.

Guess im saying I wouldn't bother locking it.

 

[kito]

Good point. If they want it bad enough, they will get it somehow. I just want to deter the thief looking for something quick and easy to steal. Just a simple cable lock through the motor mount should do the trick without any damage to the boat. If they want to spend 30-45 minutes removing the motor mount for a 25 year old motor then more power to them.

 

[Stu Jackson]

Our 9.9 hp 1990 Evinrude is almost the same motor as yours. There's a hole in the engine mount metal. It's big enough to thread the hasp of a lock through it and you can use a loop of ss wire with thimbles at each end and loop the wire to your motor mount. We do that with the OB on the pushpit rail/wood holder.

 

[topcat0399]

Good point. If they want it bad enough, they will get it somehow. I just want to deter the thief looking for something quick and easy to steal. Just a simple cable lock through the motor mount should do the trick without any damage to the boat. If they want to spend 30-45 minutes removing the motor mount for a 25 year old motor then more power to them.

This is really what its all about. Thiefs want quick easy targets - If you make it not so quick and easy it will seem too much like a real job and they will likely move on to easier pickings.

If someone REALLY wants your stuff - all the locks in the world won't stop them. I've always been amused by people that put three dead bolts on their front door when there's a big window made of glass right next to it.

 

[CCrane2299]

I use an old cable style gun lock to secure my trolling motor to my flat bottom. My boat was stolen off the pier one night. We found it a few hundred yards up the lake, sunk in a couple of feet of water, with the outboard in the floor still attached to a cheap bicycle chain lock and the trolling motor untouched. Dried everything out and drove it home. No damage.