Panther kicker brackets.

[rolmops]

I am currently preparing a 22 foot Islander for the season and bought a 9.9 extra long shaft Suzuki with tilt and trim. It weighs in at 125 pounds. In order to hang it on my boat I bought a Panther bracket that can hold up to a 35 horse (234pounds) kicker. So I can raise the kicker high up without having the lower unit stick out backward so it will not scrape the road when transporting

Why the big one and not the regular one that would hold up to 125 pounds? I tried that one with an 84 pound Tohatsu and it was difficult to pull it up. Even with the supposedly much stronger springs on my current bracket it is hard to pick up the 125 pound outboard and I am not some weakling. The Panther people tell me to always remove the outboard when trailering. This is not a realistic condition for kickers over one hundred pounds and I am not even mentioning having to remove remote control cables and such. The Suzuki people insist on drilling a hole in the outboard bracket in order to bolt the kicker onto the bracket in addition to the regular clamps. I looked at the bracket and on one side it is a veritable honeycomb of deep holes. I called the Panther people to ask for advice about where to drill holes in the bracket and about what this would do the strength of the bracket. Their answer was to never drill any holes in the bracket because it would seriously weaken the bracket.

So what to do now?

I decided to remove the black plastic board from the bracket and replace it with a 2.5 inch thick (same thickness as original bracket)made out of five layers of high strength dense marine plywood properly glued and sealed. This gives a far stronger board that is heavy and strong enough to drill all the required holes.

I must say that I am quite disappointed with the Panther bracket and the need to rip it apart and having to rebuild it so I can use it

I will never buy another bracket from that company. 

Edited February 22 by rolmops

[lrg355]

I used that same bracket.  Needed to get the motor out a bit more and positioned a bit higher than the bracket allowed. Used 2 x 3 x 1/4 aluminum angle to space it out and allow mounting in the proper position.  Also put a 1/4 alum plate on top of the plastic plate to allow something for the motor to be bolted to.  The original 4 bolts for the plastic were just replaced with longer ones that also go thru the 1/4 alum plate. Didn't drill any holes in the bracket, just used all the original ones.  Trailer all the time with the motor down with no problems.  It is quite well off the ground on the trailer.  Stainless Steel sides flex a bit when in use but causes no problem. Will always keep an eye on everything to avoid any problems 

[lrg355]

[lrg355]

Just realized this is not the same bracket. You have the moveable one.  The Suzuki clears the transom with the solid bracket since I spaced it out with the alum angle.

[tim]

I bought an electric hydraulic bracket for my Islander rated for a 35 hp. Put a 15 hp 4 stroke on never had any problems trailering. It does however look a lot stronger than yours.

[rolmops]

Thank you all for your advice. I was very interested in the electric hydraulic bracket and looked it up They look very sturdy and attractive. The prices vary wildly. Amazon offers them for $1800+ while boaters world has the same one for a bit over $1200. But I already have the T&T on the kicker itself so it would be overkill. The other idea of using a 1/4 inch aluminum plate seems to be the solution that may work for me. It is easier than a complete bracket rebuild. The only problem I see is the room for bolts if you want them to be flush backed up against the original bracket. I looked in my garage and found a 1/2 inch thick aluminum plate. I just finished cutting it to the exact size of the bracket and with the rotor router made nice edges on it With the half inch thickness it will be easy to drill taper bolt holes that allow the bolts to sit flush and therewith the plate to sit flush up against the original bracket.

Thank you very much for your ideas. It is a great help.

Edited February 22 by rolmops

[tim]

Once my motorized bracket was mounted and working I never looked back. But your motor is probably almost half the weight.I'd stick with the one you have and save money for some new rods and reels. Good luck. 

[lrg355]

1 hour ago, rolmops said:

Thank you all for your advice. I was very interested in the electric hydraulic bracket and looked it up They look very sturdy and attractive. The prices vary wildly. Amazon offers them for $1800+ while boaters world has the same one for a bit over $1200. But I already have the T&T on the kicker itself so it would be overkill. The other idea of using a 1/4 inch aluminum plate seems to be the solution that may work for me. It is easier than a complete bracket rebuild. The only problem I see is the room for bolts if you want them to be flush backed up against the original bracket. I looked in my garage and found a 1/2 inch thick aluminum plate. I just finished cutting it to the exact size of the bracket and with the rotor router made nice edges on it With the half inch thickness it will be easy to drill taper bolt holes that allow the bolts to sit flush and therewith the plate to sit flush up against the original bracket.

Thank you very much for your ideas. It is a great help.

I made a slight mistake in mentioning a 1/4 plate.  It is actually 3/8 thick.  The most important reason I did it is because the Painter plastic plate is not big enough to allow the bolt holes on the 9.9 Suzuki to be used.  The alum  plate I made is slightly larger than the plastic to allow the bolt holes to be used.  The plate is tapped because there is no room for nuts without cutting away clearance in the plastic.  The heads of the longer bolts that hold the alum plate to the plastic plate and in my case, the stainless sides do not hit anything on the Suzuki and they are not visible or accessible  when the motor is on it.  For the bolts used for the motor to the plate, I used security type bolts for a little extra deterrence for unambitious thieves. The length of these had to be trimmed to be just right.  1/2 inch plate will work just fine and offer a bit more treads for the motor bolts.

[lrg355]

1 minute ago, lrg355 said:

I made a slight mistake in mentioning a 1/4 plate.  It is actually 3/8 thick.  The most important reason I did it is because the Painter plastic plate is not big enough to allow the bolt holes on the 9.9 Suzuki to be used.  The alum  plate I made is slightly larger than the plastic to allow the bolt holes to be used.  The plate is tapped because there is no room for nuts without cutting away clearance in the plastic.  The heads of the longer bolts that hold the alum plate to the plastic plate and in my case, the stainless sides do not hit anything on the Suzuki and they are not visible or accessible  when the motor is on it.  For the bolts used for the motor to the plate, I used security type bolts for a little extra deterrence for unambitious thieves. The length of these had to be trimmed to be just right.  1/2 inch plate will work just fine and offer a bit more treads for the motor bolts.

Some of the pictures I sent were taken before I was completely finished. The actual proper length torx head type security bolts I used were not yet on it.  Hardware was ordered from McMaster Carr Supply Co.

[rolmops]

The plate on my bracket is 11.5 x12.75 so it is wider than yours. It is about 2 inches wider than the Suzuki transom bracket. I worry a bit about the whole thing hanging on 4 1/4 inch bolts

I will check out McMaster Carr for the hardware.

[lrg355]

No need to countersink the holes in the alum plate because the bolt heads will miss all parts of the Suzuki mount.

[rolmops]

The bolts that attach the aluminum plate to the panther plate do not have to be countersunk. Here I can just take out the original bolts and use longer ones instead. It is the bolts that lock the suzuki to the aluminum plate that will have to be countersunk because the bracket that I have is 11.5 inches wide and the width of the Suzuki bracket is about 9 inches. I plan to countersink the bolts so the aluminum plate will sit flush on the bracket plate with the bolt ends coming out towards the Suzuki bracket

[lrg355]

Doing work like that involves somewhat accurate drilling by hand.  Check out a set of transfer punches from McMaster Carr. They will "center punch" accurately to allow hole to hole accuracy. As I recall, the hole size on the Suzuki is for 8mm bolts.  5/16 transfer punch will do a nice job on that.

[lrg355]

1 hour ago, rolmops said:

The bolts that attach the aluminum plate to the panther plate do not have to be countersunk. Here I can just take out the original bolts and use longer ones instead. It is the bolts that lock the suzuki to the aluminum plate that will have to be countersunk because the bracket that I have is 11.5 inches wide and the width of the Suzuki bracket is about 9 inches. I plan to countersink the bolts so the aluminum plate will sit flush on the bracket plate with the bolt ends coming out towards the Suzuki bracket

The way you are describing the transom bracket attachment to the alum plate would require the alum plate be attached to the transom bracket before the alum plate is attached to the Panther plastic plate. That will work as long as you can get the new long bolts in and thru both plates with the motor on.

 

[rolmops]

14 hours ago, lrg355 said:

The way you are describing the transom bracket attachment to the alum plate would require the alum plate be attached to the transom bracket before the alum plate is attached to the Panther plastic plate. That will work as long as you can get the new long bolts in and thru both plates with the motor on.

 

Yes. That is a very accurate description of what I will have to figure out. It all seems simple, but I foresee problems partly because there always is the 125 pounds outboard that has to maneuvered around.

I'm considering breaking the cherry picker out although I do not yet know how to attach it without scratching up the nice new outboard.

Edited February 23 by rolmops

[lrg355]

6 hours ago, rolmops said:

Yes. That is a very accurate description of what I will have to figure out. It all seems simple, but I foresee problems partly because there always is the 125 pounds outboard that has to maneuvered around.

I'm considering breaking the cherry picker out although I do not yet know how to attach it without scratching up the nice new outboard.

The simple solution is to do what I did.  Clamp only the alum plate onto the transom bracket in the proper position.  Use the largest transfer punch you can fit snugly into the holes and slots on the transom bracket.  That will be a touch over 5/16 or 8mm, probably 21/64 (.328).  Make a good center punch mark in the two top holes and in the middle of the slots on the bottom.  Take the plate out and start your holes with a center drill.  After a good start, drill thru with a F drill, that is a letter drill bit (.257) which is the tap drill for 5/26-18 thread. A drill press works better than by hand.  Tap the 4 holes in the plate for 5/16-18.   Obtain bolts that are as long as the thickness of the plate + the thickness of the transom mount + the thickness of the washers you will use minus about 1/32.  Cut the bolt length down if necessary.  1/2 inch of coarse thread in alum is plenty of strength.  Put you complete mount together and on the boat.  Put the motor on last, clamp the motor just snug after aligning the bolt holes.  Put the bolts in with a bit of blue Locktite and you will be a happy fisherman.  Don't use red Locktite , that will be hard to remove. My setup has been on 2 seasons and nothing came loose yet.  The F drillbit, tap, center drill and transfer punch are available from McMaster.  A 1/4 inch hole instead of an F drill will be ok in alum just use plenty of oil and go slow when tapping. The brown trout will be waiting for you to get done.

18 hours ago, rolmops said:

The bolts that attach the aluminum plate to the panther plate do not have to be countersunk. Here I can just take out the original bolts and use longer ones instead. It is the bolts that lock the suzuki to the aluminum plate that will have to be countersunk because the bracket that I have is 11.5 inches wide and the width of the Suzuki bracket is about 9 inches. I plan to countersink the bolts so the aluminum plate will sit flush on the bracket plate with the bolt ends coming out towards the Suzuki bracket

The way you are describing the transom bracket attachment to the alum plate would require the alum plate be attached to the transom bracket before the alum plate is attached to the Panther plastic plate. That will work as long as you can get the new long bolts in and thru both plates with the motor on.

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[rolmops]

I took advantage of this nice warm winter day, put the aluminum bracket on the panther and bolted it down. Removing the outboard was a lot easier than I thought because by lowering the bracket, the outboard made it all the way down to the ground so there was no lifting involved. Afterwards I put the kicker back on the bracket and punched marker holes on the aluminum where the extra bolts holding the kicker in place. A few days from now when the temperatures go above freezing again I will remove the aluminum plate and tap the threads into the aluminum so I can just screw the holding bolts into the aluminum, clean them out, put some locktite in there and screw everything down.

Thank you very much for all the valuable help and advice you gave me. It probably saved me from having to wash my mouth with soap several times over.

[lrg355]

You are welcome.  Another good addition to that same motor that I did was a small digital tachometer/hourmeter.  They are available online for about $20. Run on a watch type round battery and display hours when the motor is not running and RPM when running. Good for maintenance scheduling, etc. 

FYI, the flashing light alarm on the Suzuki is going to go off at 20hrs for the first oil change and every 100 hrs after that. Of course I don't usually read manuals thoroughly so I was worried and surprised at the first alarm. Manual explained how to reset it.  Good fishing!

[rolmops]

Thank you.

I have used the tiny tach on all my engines. I love them.

As for manuals, I forced myself to read this one. I was not very impressed.  It seems to be an effort to send you off to a Suzuki dealer for every little pip squeek.

This down below is a bit more helpful. At least it has a few wiring diagrams

https://www.danssouthsidemarine.com/fckimages/pdfs/owners-manuals/Suzuki%20DF9.9b-15a-20a.pdf

It is still nowhere near a manufacturers service manual of the sort that Mercury and Johnson/Evinrude used to print out, but at least it has some wiring diagrams. If I chance upon a proper service manual I will send it on to you.

 

Edited February 24 by rolmops

[lrg355]

Ok, thank you.  I always do all service myself. Only go to auto,  Marine, etc dealers for warranty covered items.  

[rolmops]

This is a little better.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WVgHss3x11yzuxA21aDYDwF0HfugJb8e/view

[lrg355]

That one is for 2005 which is for carburated models.   Fuel injection came out about 2014.  Probably most other items may be the same.

[lrg355]

Tough to find the proper one without paying