Cast aluminum canoe outboard motor bracket

[patrick corry]

Any thoughts on this bracket?

No manufacture name, but some casting numbers on the parts. It may be from the 1920's as it came with a recent canoe purchase of that vintage.

 

[Dave Osborn]

How does it mount?

 

[Benson Gray]

I'm not sure what it is but it may not be a motor mount.

Benson

 

[Todd Bradshaw]

Looks like it could be a tilt-able motor mount, but not likely for a canoe. There are a wide variety of sailboats from that time period with different types of transoms and stern shapes. Perhaps it was built for one of them. About all you could do on a canoe would be to mount it to the rear deck, which would be awfully hard to operate, as well as a rather "exciting" ride in the worst way possible.

 

[patrick corry]

This canoe doesn’t have quarter thwarts, but if it did the bracket could be mounted as shown; with three fastening bolts in the slotted locations. The motor would clamp to the green painted wood block (which pivots on its mount) and the shaft housing of the motor would push against the semi-circular, pivoting device at the bottom of the mount arm.

 

[Michael Grace]

Agreed - it doesn't look like a motor mount for a canoe. Doesn't look anything like a variety of others made for wooden canoes. The use of a thwart for mounting is an interesting idea, but the bottom surface at that third bolt slot wouldn't reach the thwart. The user could attach a block of wood between the thwart and bracket, but why would a manufacturer make it so hard on customers when other solutions were available? At first I thought this might have been designed for a decked boat like a duckboat or sailboat or similar, but the more I look at it the more I wonder if it's a motor mount at all. If we imagine that the block of wood is designed to take the foot of the attachment bolt of a small outboard, I don't think this will work - the part that looks designed to cradle the motor shaft (why?) is in the wrong position. It would interfere with motor attachment. Hmmmm...

 

[patrick corry]

Well, it's certainly a puzzle to me....
The old gentleman from whom I bought the William English canoe insisted that it came along with the canoe, which he purchased in about 1948. I can see how an early, small outboard might attach to the mount with the lower cradle meant to counter the thrust of the propeller. This would be necessary since the green clamp area is not fixed in position- it rotates around it's attachment bolt (where you see the large hex nut). Perhaps it was meant for another type of craft. I do agree with your comment about the contact with a thwart, but I'm assuming that a user of this mount would likely have altered a standard thwart or made a dedicated motor mount platform to use this mount. Maybe it was made to mount on a canoe (or other small craft) with a long, flush stern deck.

 

[Todd Bradshaw]

I'm still not buying it - especially when it is so easy to build and attach a motor mount to a canoe which is plenty strong enough to handle a canoe-sized gas or electric outboard.

 

[Benson Gray]

See http://www.wcha.org/forums/index.php?threads/16071/ for a similar discussion with pictures from a few years ago.

Benson

 

[Michael Grace]

Well I'll be darn. A quick internet search goes a long way! I had totally forgotten about that thread, but there it is. Looks like this thing must mount way back and would only mount to short-decked canoes. The offset placement of the slots and the angled shoulder underneath make sense - these would have the bracket fit the narrowing gunwales at the rear of the canoe. Anyway, this appears different from the one shown in the old Johnson ad. Wonder why? Different model?

 

[patrick corry]

Okay, this looks better. All 3 slotted fastener locations align with inwales.

Interestingly, I queried an acquaintance of mine who owns a museum of outboard motors ranging from the early 1900's to about the mid 1970's (when he decided he could no longer keep up acquiring motors!). He tantalizingly replied that he could give me some insight after this coming weekend where he was visiting the Mystic Seaport Museum in Connecticut. I'm hoping he may be able to identify the manufacturer.

 

[Andre Cloutier]

Going to need a vintage Johnson with the exposed tube carrying the drive shaft to the prop; or any older model for that matter configured the same.

 

[patrick corry]

Here's the answer, from my outboard motor museum friend:


Hi Pat

The bracket you have, was made by the Johnson outboard motor company. It was supplied right from their beginning in 1922 on models marketed as canoe motors and also offered as an accessory that would fit their small motors for quite a number of years. I have included a picture of a 1922 Johnson that came from the factory so equipped and a picture of my plaque describing it.

Someone very cleverly added a block on the tube of the original part, that let them mount some other small outboard.

 

[patrick corry]

 

[patrick corry]

 

[dtdcanoes]

Oh, Boy, and I remember the old knuckle bustas . This mount would have been great to have when I used my 1.1 on my canoe on the St. Croix on our honey moon !
Dave