How to Make a Motor Mount for Inflatable Boat

If you want to take your inflat­able boat to the next lev­el, then you need a stur­dy motor mount.

In this arti­cle, we’ll show you how to make one from scratch.

You’ll learn the step-by-step process of choos­ing the right mate­ri­als, mea­sur­ing and mark­ing the mount­ing points, and attach­ing the motor brack­et.

With our easy-to-fol­low instruc­tions, you’ll have a reli­able motor mount in no time.

So, let’s get start­ed and take your boat­ing expe­ri­ence to new heights!

Key Take­aways

• Choose durable and cor­ro­sion-resis­tant mate­ri­als such as stain­less steel for the main struc­ture.
• Use marine-grade stain­less steel bolts, screws, nuts, and wash­ers to resist cor­ro­sion in salt­wa­ter envi­ron­ments.
• Con­sid­er using high-den­si­ty poly­eth­yl­ene (HDPE) or marine-grade ply­wood for the mount­ing board.
• Use appro­pri­ate sealants and adhe­sives for a water­tight bond and ensure all mate­ri­als can with­stand expo­sure to water, UV rays, and harsh weath­er con­di­tions.

Choosing the Right Materials

To make a motor mount for your inflat­able boat, you’ll need to choose the right mate­ri­als. It’s cru­cial to select mate­ri­als that are durable and can with­stand the wear and tear of marine con­di­tions.

You’ll need a stur­dy and cor­ro­sion-resis­tant met­al, such as stain­less steel, for the main struc­ture of the mount. This will ensure that it remains strong and reli­able even when exposed to salt­wa­ter and harsh weath­er con­di­tions.

You’ll need strong bolts and screws to secure the mount to your boat. Look for marine-grade stain­less steel options, as they’re specif­i­cal­ly designed to resist cor­ro­sion in salt­wa­ter envi­ron­ments. Addi­tion­al­ly, it’s impor­tant to choose high-qual­i­ty nuts and wash­ers to ensure a secure and sta­ble instal­la­tion.

Anoth­er essen­tial mate­r­i­al to con­sid­er is a high-den­si­ty poly­eth­yl­ene (HDPE) or marine-grade ply­wood for the mount­ing board. HDPE is a light­weight yet durable mate­r­i­al that can with­stand expo­sure to water and UV rays. Marine-grade ply­wood is also a suit­able option, as it’s specif­i­cal­ly treat­ed to resist water dam­age.

Don’t for­get to use appro­pri­ate sealants and adhe­sives to ensure a water­tight and secure bond between the mount and your boat. Sil­i­cone sealants and marine-grade adhe­sives are rec­om­mend­ed for this pur­pose.

Measuring and Marking the Mounting Points

Before you begin, care­ful­ly and pre­cise­ly mea­sure and mark the mount­ing points on your inflat­able boat. This step is cru­cial to ensure that your motor mount is prop­er­ly aligned and secure­ly attached. Here are three key steps to fol­low when mea­sur­ing and mark­ing the mount­ing points:

1. Gath­er the Nec­es­sary Tools: To accu­rate­ly mea­sure and mark the mount­ing points, you’ll need a mea­sur­ing tape, a pen­cil, and mask­ing tape. These tools will help you achieve pre­cise mea­sure­ments and make clear mark­ings on your boat.
2. Iden­ti­fy the Ide­al Mount­ing Loca­tions: Take into con­sid­er­a­tion the type and size of your motor, as well as the weight dis­tri­b­u­tion of your inflat­able boat. Look for areas on the tran­som that are rein­forced and capa­ble of sup­port­ing the motor mount. It’s essen­tial to choose spots that are stur­dy and will pro­vide opti­mal bal­ance.
3. Mea­sure and Mark the Mount­ing Points: Using your mea­sur­ing tape, take accu­rate mea­sure­ments from the bot­tom of the boat to deter­mine the appro­pri­ate height for your motor mount. Mark the mea­sure­ments on the tran­som using a pen­cil. Then, uti­lize the mask­ing tape to clear­ly out­line the exact posi­tions of the mount­ing points.

To make sure your motor mount is secure, you’ll want to use a qual­i­ty sealant to cov­er all the screws and bolts on the board. This will help pro­tect the motor and board from cor­ro­sion and wear over time. You should make sure the board is secured to the boat by using mul­ti­ple lay­ers of sealant. Once the sealant has been applied, you’ll want to let it dry for a few days before using the motor­ized inflat­able boat.

You’ll need to check your motor mount peri­od­i­cal­ly for any signs of wear or dam­age. It’s impor­tant to make sure the motor mount is always in good work­ing con­di­tion to ensure the safe­ty of your boat and any­one who will be using it.

Tools and Materials

To make a motor mount for an inflat­able boat, you will need some basic mate­ri­als and tools. You will need a drill, a saw, epoxy, screws, stain­less steel mounts and a motor mount brack­et. You will also need a piece of wood or plywood to mount the brack­et to, and a few nuts and bolts.

• Marine Ply­wood: You’re going to use this as the base of your motor mount. It’s strong, durable and most impor­tant­ly, it stands up well to water.
• Two Stain­less Steel Tubes: These will be the sup­port arms of your mount. They need to be stur­dy enough to hold the weight of the motor and long enough to reach the attach­ment points on your inflat­able boat.
• Four U‑Bolts: You’ll use these to attach the sup­port arms to the ply­wood base.
• Stain­less Steel Screws: To secure every­thing togeth­er. Make sure they’re marine-grade to resist rust­ing.
• Epoxy Resin: To seal and pro­tect the ply­wood from water dam­age.
• Paint­brush: To apply the epoxy resin.
• Pow­er Drill: To drill the holes for the U‑bolts and screws.
• Wrench and Screw­driv­er: To tight­en the bolts and screws.
• Sand­pa­per: To smooth out the ply­wood before apply­ing the epoxy.

How to make a motor mount for inflat­able boat? To assem­ble the mount, you will need to drill holes into the wood and the brack­et, attach the stain­less steel mounts onto the wood, and then epoxy the brack­et onto the wood. You will bolt the motor mount brack­et onto the stain­less steel mounts and the inflat­able boat.

You’ll need a motor mount that’s the right size for your motor and inflat­able boat. Make sure it’s made of high-qual­i­ty mate­ri­als and is designed to be used in salt­wa­ter. You can also see how to build a boat motor stand.

Silicone Sealant

You’ll need some sil­i­cone sealant to seal the holes you drill in your inflat­able boat. Make sure you get one that’s designed for out­door use and is water­proof.

Steps for Making a Motor Mount for an Inflatable Boat

Mak­ing a motor mount for an inflat­able boat is rel­a­tive­ly straight­for­ward. You will need to iden­ti­fy the size, weight, and type of motor you will be using. Once you have deter­mined these details, you will need to mea­sure the stern of the boat and cut a piece of plywood or oth­er strong mate­r­i­al for the base of the motor mount. After secur­ing the base to the stern of the boat, you will need to attach the motor mount­ing brack­ets to the base. Once the brack­ets are attached, you can then mount the motor to the brack­ets.

Attaching the Motor Mount

Now that the holes are drilled, you can attach the motor mount to the inflat­able boat. First, insert the bolts through the holes and secure them with the screws. Then, use the cable ties to secure the motor mount in place.

Inserting the Bolts

Insert the bolts through the holes and secure them with the screws. Make sure you use the right size for each hole.

Securing the Motor Mount

Once the bolts are in place, use the cable ties to secure the motor mount in place. Make sure the cable ties are tight, but not so tight that they dam­age the inflat­able boat.

Testing the Motor Mount

Once the motor mount is attached, it’s time to test it out. Make sure the motor mount is secure and that the motor moves freely. If every­thing looks good, you’re ready to hit the water!

Tips for Success

Can you attach a motor to an inflatable boat

Yes, you can attach a motor to an inflat­able boat. You will need to use appro­pri­ate mount­ing brack­ets and hard­ware to secure­ly attach the motor to the boat, and make sure you have the right size and pow­er of motor for your boat. It is impor­tant to make sure you have an appro­pri­ate fuel tank and fuel line for your motor, as well as the nec­es­sary safe­ty equip­ment.

Trolling motor on a inflatable boat

A trolling motor on an inflat­able boat is an elec­tric motor used to pro­pel the boat at a slow, steady pace, usu­al­ly for fish­ing or trolling. It is mount­ed on the stern of the boat and is pow­ered by a bat­tery. It can pro­vide a great deal of con­trol and maneu­verabil­i­ty while trav­el­ing in shal­low waters, and the motor itself is usu­al­ly light­weight and rel­a­tive­ly qui­et. A trolling motor is a great addi­tion to an inflat­able boat, allow­ing you to enjoy your time on the water in a more peace­ful, enjoy­able man­ner.

FAQs

Preparing and Mounting the Base Plate

Attach the met­al base plate secure­ly to the marked mount­ing points on your inflat­able boat using the pro­vid­ed screws and a screw­driv­er. Before attach­ing the base plate, ensure that you have prop­er­ly pre­pared the sur­face of the boat. Clean the area where the base plate will be mount­ed, remov­ing any dirt or debris. This will ensure a strong and secure attach­ment.

Once the sur­face is clean, posi­tion the base plate over the marked mount­ing points. Align the holes on the base plate with the holes on the boat. This step is cru­cial for prop­er instal­la­tion, as mis­align­ment can lead to insta­bil­i­ty and dam­age to your boat.

With the base plate in posi­tion, insert the screws through the holes and into the mount­ing points. Using a screw­driv­er, tight­en the screws secure­ly. Be care­ful not to over­tight­en, as this can dam­age the boat or strip the screws.

After attach­ing the base plate, give it a firm tug to ensure that it’s secure­ly in place. It should­n’t move or wig­gle. If there’s any move­ment, recheck the align­ment and tight­en the screws fur­ther.

Once the base plate is secure­ly attached, you can pro­ceed with the next steps of the motor mount instal­la­tion.

Attaching the Motor Bracket

Now, go ahead and screw the motor brack­et onto the met­al base plate using the pro­vid­ed hard­ware. Attach­ing the motor brack­et is a cru­cial step in mak­ing a motor mount for your inflat­able boat. Fol­low these steps to ensure a secure and stur­dy attach­ment:

1. Posi­tion the motor brack­et: Place the motor brack­et onto the met­al base plate in the desired loca­tion. Make sure it’s cen­tered and aligned prop­er­ly.
2. Align the holes: Check that the mount­ing holes on the motor brack­et line up with the cor­re­spond­ing holes on the base plate. Adjust the posi­tion if nec­es­sary.
3. Secure the brack­et: Insert the screws through the holes on the motor brack­et and base plate. Use a screw­driv­er or wrench to tight­en them secure­ly. Ensure that they’re tight­ened even­ly to main­tain sta­bil­i­ty.

By fol­low­ing these steps, you’ll suc­cess­ful­ly attach the motor brack­et to the met­al base plate. This secure attach­ment is essen­tial for the sta­bil­i­ty and func­tion­al­i­ty of your motor mount.

With the motor brack­et in place, you can now move on to the next step in the process of mak­ing your motor mount for an inflat­able boat.

Securing the Motor Mount to the Inflatable Boat

To ensure a secure and sta­ble attach­ment, you will need to firm­ly tight­en the motor mount to the inflat­able boat using the pro­vid­ed straps and buck­les. This step is cru­cial to ensure that your motor is secure­ly fas­tened and will not come loose dur­ing use. The table below pro­vides a step-by-step guide on how to prop­er­ly secure the motor mount to your inflat­able boat.

Conclusion

Mak­ing a motor mount for an inflat­able boat can be a daunt­ing task, but with the right tools and mate­ri­als and a bit of patience, you can do it. Just make sure you mea­sure twice and cut/drill once, use cor­ro­sion-resis­tant mate­ri­als, and test the motor mount before you go. With these tips, you should have no prob­lem mak­ing a motor mount for your inflat­able boat!