Do any of you put a piece of wood or aluminum under your transom bolts to help spread the load of the motor? Never done it on my boat but beavertail's owner's manual says to put a piece of wood under the bolts.


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On my first duck boat, a 1436 hull, the transom area was wood. I slipped on a U piece of 1/8" aluminum and secured it with some screws. This helped with the 18 HP GD LT. On newer all-welded jons the transom area is usually beefy enough so they do not require this support. Depending on the structure of your transom, a half-inch of suitable plywood (marine grade perhaps) could add some strength but you should secure this so it does not slip and torque the bolts sufficiently to prevent loosening. Is the Beavertail mounting system only with clamp/bolts or does it require some drilling and using through-bolts? My 2004 MB 27 HP has through bolts that required drilling through the transom of my all welded 2004 grizzly hull; the only thing I added was some waterproof marine caulking in the bolt hole area.

I have an 1856 go devil and it's a 35 hp - not crazy about drilling...


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Ok, you clarified the setup! I was confused because this is a Longtail forum and you quoted from a Beavertail manual, so I naturally thought a Beavertail LT. On that beefy 1856 GD hull, I doubt you will need any reinforcement- I assume that the 35 HP is a shortail (GDSD)? GD transom mounts, at least for all three LT's that I had, did NOT require any drilling.

It's a longtail, I bought the boat with a GDLT 27 hp and upgraded. But I've had the 27 on without support and there's little evidence of stress on the transom from the old motor


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Duckaholic, the 27 is a solid motor but I imagine the 35 gives a little more scoot and push...what speeds are you getting with that combo? I also want to upgrage to a 35, possibly a BackH20 35 swomp LT, on my 1648- wish I had an 1848 in .100 gauge or lighter, sure that extra two feet would work better with either 27/35. Around here you can get by without a heavy gauge bottom.

Thats a lot of motor to not have it bolted to the boat. Just my 2 cents. I like the idea of though bolts.

Definitely bolt it. But the wood is not needed imo.

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