Fulton kicker bracket help

[MINNOWNITE]

Anyone find Fulton kicker brackets not stand up too well? Rated for 9.9 4 stroke. I have to have it trimmed up when on the water because of the long shaft. Broke a bolt and bent it today on mild/rough seas. How do I fix/prevent this?

[MCF]

Hard to tell from the angle of the pictures but the first thing that jumps out at me is that it doesn't look as built as the Garelick or the Panther units.  

[MINNOWNITE]

I believe it’s a 550020A. But now that I look at the specs it’s not rated for a 4 stroke. So might have to go with a different bracket. 
 

here’s a video of what I mean 

[MCF]

That explains a lot of it, that center narrow single lever is the tell-tale of a two stroke bracket.   The Garelick or the Panther will be like night and day comparison.   

[fisherdude]

By looking at the pics I'm going to guess and say there is no backing plate . I don't think the two top bolts would break with a 1/4 aluminum backing plate . But again I'm just guessing.

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[rolmops]

By looking at the pics I'm going to guess and say there is no backing plate . I don't think the two top bolts would break with a 1/4 aluminum backing plate . But again I'm just guessing.

 

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X2

Besides, you were 2 over stressed bolts away from loosing both bracket and kicker to the water gods or the side of the road. When you put another bracket on, don’t use those two left over bolts again.

 

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[Hobo]

Where are you located [emoji476]. I have a bracket in my garage that has never been used. It’s older and says 20 hp max. Made by Spar marine from Vancouver BC.


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[Sk8man]

Some of the two stroke brackets say they support up to 115 lbs and 20 Hp but support only 5 HP four stroke. Even if the motors weigh roughly the same the amount of torque on the bracket can be different and the support under the bracket where it attaches to the transom makes a difference as well. I currently am using my 2 stroke bracket (I believe it is a Garelick about 18 years old) from my old 9.9 Johnson with a four stroke 9.8 Tohatsu. The Johnson weighed 87 lbs and the Tohatsu weighs 90 lbs. I would have loved to get the trim/tilt feature to the 4 stroke but needed to stay away from the added weight. There is quite a bit more torque with this 4 stroke if run full tilt with a little less speed than the 2 stroke so it puts a bit ,more stress on the bracket but it is butressed by the plastic mounting material at the base and some of the stress is displaced by it. You'll notice I  have a come along strap wrapped around several times between the main part of the bracket and the motor. The plastic part of the bracket could crack or break so hopefully this is somewhat of a safeguard against losing the motor. I know my situation is a bit different with a glass boat but I think with your situation both inside and outside support may be necessary for any bracket used to displace the stress.

[MINNOWNITE]

3 hours ago, Hobo said:

Where are you located . I have a bracket in my garage that has never been used. It’s older and says 20 hp max. Made by Spar marine from Vancouver BC.


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London ontario

[Jakob5pennies]

I have same bracket with a 8 HP. 2 stroke bent it on road to launch piece of crap was a pain to fix just my opinion 

[muskiedreams]

If you are trailering it like that, there might be a lot of stress on it from bouncing while going over bumps and dips in the road. I have an Evinrude 15hp 4 stroke on a Garelick heavy duty aluminum kicker bracket on an aluminum boat. When I had it installed, they put in an extra brace on the inside of the boat's transom to reinforce the transom at that point. Also, my boat has the tie down "U" bolt mounted to the inside of the kicker motor. So I use a ratchet strap from that tie down wrapped around the motor shaft to the cleat on the rear deck. That keeps the whole setup rigid so there is no bouncing on the road. Any bouncing is like a constant hammering on the bolts.

[Jakob5pennies]

yes i use rachet straps , this is the first time i left it mounted . was only a few miles still bent s just a week brecket 

 

[lrg355]

All the above comments are basically true. If you want to give it another try I would do the following:
The bolt that ripped out was too far down creating a large "moment" that caused the failure.
The bolts should be at least 3/ 8 dia with another one added about 3/4 from the top. 3 per side. The ss angle appears to be bending so I would recommend alum bar at least 1/4 thick and as wide as the ss angle half that touches the transom to be placed over each side before the bolts are placed thru. The bracket still is a bit light for the application but that is your call. This recommendation is from a mechanical engineer with 43 years of machine design and structural analysis experience.

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[lrg355]

Should also mention that since it is a alum boat with a wooden transom core, you should also put a 1/4 x 2 in alum bar on each side on the inside. Tap the holes for the 3/8 bolts if possible
And put nuts on the bolts over the alum bars to lock all. Use the nylok type nuts and plenty of 3M 5200.


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