Best Outboard Lock

rwoofer

rwoofer

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My outboard will permanently be on the stern of my Jeanneau Sun 2000, so need a lock to stop the scrotes trying to take it. Does anyone know the best type of lock to get?

OB is a Honda 5hp long shaft.
 
rb_stretch said:
My outboard will permanently be on the stern of my Jeanneau Sun 2000, so need a lock to stop the scrotes trying to take it. Does anyone know the best type of lock to get?

OB is a Honda 5hp long shaft.
Click to expand...

I have a lock that fits over the clamp screws. It isbasically a bit of stainless steel tube with along slot in it from one end.
A padlockfits through the end so that it cannot be slid off.

There are better ones working on a similar idea, some with an integral lock.

I have also threaded a length of hardened chain between the main part of the leg and the steering swivel. This is padlocked round one of the pushpit uprights. It is the more secure of the two systems
Chain just visible in this picture


Padlocks are always a weakness. Buy good makes .. I bought one Chinese one marked "hardened" that I found I could cut easily with a hack saw and pair of bolt cutters cut as easily as pair of scissors cuts through paper.
 
I had an outboard lock on the engine when I bought the boat. Not unsurprisingly the key was not with the rest of the keys with the boat. It took me all of 5 mins to drill the lock barrel and slide the lock off the clamps.

I was going to repaint the engine to make it look nice and spangly. I think I'll leave it looking "slightly used" so any scrotes will hopefully go after the nice spangly one next door. A decent chain and lock I think is the best deterant. I'll be paying a visit to my local motorcycle dealers in the near future. I have a lock and chain for the bikes that is guaranteed bolt cutter/saw/ proof and puts up a struggle against a grinder. Wasn't cheap but then again niether were the bikes.......
 
BarryH said:
A decent chain and lock I think is the best deterant. I'll be paying a visit to my local motorcycle dealers in the near future. I have a lock and chain for the bikes that is guaranteed bolt cutter/saw/ proof and puts up a struggle against a grinder. Wasn't cheap but then again neither were the bikes.......
Click to expand...
I had a m/bike chain with a padlock attached which I had lying around, but no key.
Hacksaw would scratch it and an angle grinder took quite a while to cut through a link.
I had that on my engine to outboard bracket, A wire strop round the outboard handle, bracket and to a fixing on the transom and an outboard clamp lock on the outboard.
The last one for the insurance company. Useless otherwise.
My theory is that someone bobbing about in a dinghy won't want to attempt three different types of security when the boat next door just has a cheap clamp on their motor. :D
 
Outboard security

As Vic says you need a tether system in case the O/B comes loose on the clamps and falls in the water.
A longish tether means you can tether before attempting to attach the o/b. I would put a lot of faith in 7X19 SS flexible wire of about 4mm as pretty hard to cut with thimbles and padlock. good luck olewill
 
I've got a Zena motorcycle chain & lock left over from when I had the bike which I was going to use on the outboard. Trouble is it weighs nearly as much as the outboard. I have a high tensile bike cable with inbuilt lock now.
 
One thing to bear in mind, is that no matter what you use to secure it, if they really want it they will take it.

Yes you want something that means they will hopefully decide that it looks like too much work, and move on, but don't forget that the engine is ultimately connected to something soft, I.e. Grp. It's not too difficult to cut and to remove the engine and part of your transom. And I'd rather they took the engine than damage the boat removing it.
 
rb_stretch said:
My outboard will permanently be on the stern of my Jeanneau Sun 2000, so need a lock to stop the scrotes trying to take it. Does anyone know the best type of lock to get?

OB is a Honda 5hp long shaft.
Click to expand...

On my Honda BF8 I have a big padlock through the holes on the clamp screws, preventing the screws from moving. It seemed as good as anything and I assume that's what the holes are there for.

I'm sure a determined enough scrote could get through any defence.
 
The idea, as far as I'm concerned, is to make the potential thief move on to an easier target. So a reasonable quality padlock through the holes in the clamp handles is what we use. When you look at most folks tenders and see no locks at all, then the deterant has worked for us so far. Now I've been smug, watch ti get knocked off next week.
 
Bearing in mind that the main reason people nick outboards is to sell them on and make a bit of cash. In which case, the answer is, that while it may pain you to do so, make your motor look as unattractive (or distinctive) as possible.
I met a liveaboard in A Coruna who had painted the cover and leg of his outboard with a garish collection of flower pictures ( he did the same for his inflatable) and while he also locked them up, he felt that they did not present a good sell-on proposition for any thief.

Even the best security device will yield to a determined attack from a professional thief. Pro bicycle thieves use powerful cutters and in some cases freezing fluids such as liquid nitrogen to destroy locks. I seem to remember one of the mags doing a test on outboard locks in which none of the units tested proved unbeatable.
However there is some merit in the view that if you have some obvious security on the item, the villains may opt to move to an easier target.
 
It's also real easy to steal the outboard by removing the one bolt that the outboard swivels on leaving the mounting bracket and lock behind.
Then purchase a mounting separately.
 
Salty John said:
On my Honda BF8 I have a big padlock through the holes on the clamp screws, preventing the screws from moving. It seemed as good as anything and I assume that's what the holes are there for.

I'm sure a determined enough scrote could get through any defence.
Click to expand...
The clamp screws are not hardened and can easily be sawn through and spares are readily available. I used to use this method but decided the motorbike lock was a better deterrent.
Anything you use is better than nothing but a determined thief will always find a way even if its chainsawing through the transom.
 
I have a stainless steel lock covering the mounting but I think the main security I rely on is the ridiculous weight of my engine and the hundreds of yards of mud between the boat and terra firma.
 
Talulah said:
It's also real easy to steal the outboard by removing the one bolt that the outboard swivels on leaving the mounting bracket and lock behind.
Then purchase a mounting separately.
Click to expand...

I knew one in the Canaries, when the scrotes cut the whole transom out of a rib. Mine is certainly a vote for making the OB look as unattractive and destinctive as possible
 
Talulah said:
We use OML.
http://www.outboardmotorlocks.co.uk/
Click to expand...

They are good, but I would say that as I was a director of the company :D

I know how much time went into developing them from my A-Level project into prototypes that could be mass produced and finally into a product that would do the job and be affordable.

There is no certain way of stopping someone nicking your OB completely, but the OML products were the best we could do.

The company was sold a few years ago and I have no connection with it, and was never present at any of the tests any of the magazines did.
 
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