Why you need THE LEASH

[gmosborne187]

Thinking out loud here-

Transom and jackplate health are paramount to keep the motor behind the boat. If either of those fail the leash does nothing. There are plenty of pics of Champion boats with transoms ripped out, not sure if any of the engines flipped into the boat though.

I run a Basscat, which has a very thick/solid transom and 6 engine mounting bolts vs the standard 4. I also looked at my engine to jackplate mount and I can add 2 more bolts for a total of 6. Making the assumption without any test data, my weak link would be the motor pivot/hydraulic cylinder. Meaning the leash may be beneficial in my circumstance.

But then looking at the design of the leash- if the leash material itself is as strong as touted, it shouldn't be the weak point. The leash is mounted to a single bolt, the bolt is loaded in shear, and cantilevered, with a single washer holding it on the bolt. Under a dynamic accident situation, color me veryyyy skeptical. Are there any photos showing this works?

[tj]

Are there any photos showing this works?

Seems to have worked for these guys. Boat in video had top bolts Leash connection. YouTube posted May 7, 2019

[bloodman]

Seems to have worked for these guys. Boat in video had top bolts Leash connection. YouTube posted May 7, 2019

interesting! Thanks

[06 SB]

If there were no such thing as a certified helmet would I still be stupid for buying whatever helmet I could find or smarter for going with nothing on my head?

But they are tested. The argument is nonsensical but I will bite. IF helmets were not tested, someone could invent a helmet that when it failed, even at low speeds, would put shrapnel into your skull causing more damage.

In the ACA video, the man mentioned he got out of the channel and then hit something. Most likely if he were following the manual's advice above, maintaining minimum speed, he would have time to see his navigational error and correct his path.

I do acknowledge that there can be debris in the channels though. Just yesterday, I was going down the lake and there was a trailer tire floating out in 70' of water. I like the concept of the leash but until it is thoroughly tested, I am not buying one. A boat going 50mph has roughly 350,000ft-lbs of kinetic energy and an impact is a very dynamic event. How a couple of stainless bolts will harness that amount of energy is hard to fathom. Also, there could be some unintended consequences that could do more damage to the boat or its occupants. Finally, I am not attaching anything prohibited by Mercury on the very slim chance that this will happen. There are on average 2 incidents per year in the US. How many boats are out every weekend? Millions???

If I were the manufacturer of the Leash, I would be a bit concerned at this point. It is getting a ton of attention on here and other social media outlets. People posting their installations and saying how it will prevent the motor from getting into the boat. I know Precision Sonar does not say that in there advertisements but that is what people are expecting it to do. There are people dumb enough to think that they can install one then go 70 though a stump filled area without fear. Lawyers are greedy enough to sue when an incident occurs.

[EuropeanAM]

Another interesting thought: Mercury's Service Bulletin 2013-15R1 addresses specific installation problems, such as spacers, and mounting devices to the engine mounting hardware (strictly prohibited).

Why? To ensure the engine remains properly affixed to the transom or plate. Loose or improper mounting hardware can cause fatigue of the transom bracket, resulting in failures of the transom bracket and/or mounting hardware.

This is a question (not a statement): Is it feasible that the very device and method of attachment being placed on the engine mounting bolts to help prevent engine "unplanned exit" might in fact CAUSE fatigue and contribute to, or even cause the very "exit-event" it was meant to stop?

[mikesxpress]

Too many variables for mounting the Leash as it requires attachment to something.
Engine mounting bolts. No.
Jackplate. *Requests to Atlas & Bob's for there position on mounting the Leash to there jackplate's have gone unanswered.

[Fishshooter]

Well, I was looking at the thread in the general bass boat topics forum, and my installation is nearly identical to those in the pictures on page 5 of that thread (linked below). Several folks say that version of the leash is no longer available, I missed where that was mentioned in this thread as well.

https://www.bbcboards.net/showthread...1210206&page=5

As per post 4 I called Precision Sonar & discussed length of current version for 250 pro xs 4s as install video shows it mounted on top 2 bolts of motor bracket. They told me that they had nothing currently long enough to mount to side of jackplate as I want to. If someone has gotten a recent Leash that can be attached to the front half (the half bolted to transom)of a 10 inch hydraulic plate I would appreciate pictures & which motor it is listed for.

[mikesxpress]

Absolutely, I’ll take a few pictures this weekend.

Pictures?

[jdskeeter]

57797B3E-9A0B-4D80-BBBD-842BEEA5A490.jpeg05F5D21F-2676-4B49-AA49-01CFB0418439.jpegD0A418C8-FA99-43F9-8C6B-2EB2555E488B.jpeg

Here’s a few pictures, obviously this is on a two stroke pro xs. Based on some of the other posts, it sounds like this is no longer an available option.

[mikesxpress]

Bolted to the side of the jackplate.

[skeeter21i]

i dont think any motor manufacture is going to warranty anything after hitting something so hard that it rips the outboard off the boat so i dont see how it would hurt your warranty with having one in this scenario of ripping a outboard off from impact

[Nitro88]

100% in agreement, I ordered me one and for the amount it cost to me its worth it, a good PFD is around the same price so why question it?

[mikesxpress]

Without 3rd party testing and the variables involved in mounting you have......

[skeeter21i]

this is what makes America awesome at least for now it is that someone can buy one and hope they never need it and some not buy it and hope they never need it

[sealza87]

[QUOTE=EuropeanAM;12911478]Another interesting thought: Mercury's Service Bulletin 2013-15R1 addresses specific installation problems, such as spacers, and mounting devices to the engine mounting hardware (strictly prohibited).

Why? To ensure the engine remains properly affixed to the transom or plate. Loose or improper mounting hardware can cause fatigue of the transom bracket, resulting in failures of the transom bracket and/or mounting hardware.

This is a question (not a statement): Is it feasible that the very device and method of attachment being placed on the engine mounting bolts to help prevent engine "unplanned exit" might in fact CAUSE fatigue and contribute to, or even cause the very "exit-event" it was meant to stop?[/QUOTE

i highly doubt that when properly installed with some common sense an extra washer will contribute to the motor bracket breaking. This seems like a CYA by Mercury and understandable considering I can only imagine how some are installed.

That being said, I run a leash with a bobs hydraulic. When I received it and began the install I was very disappointed that the leash attaches to the motor mount/jackplate bolts vs the transom bolts. I contacted the company to ask for a longer leash to attach to my transom and my requests went silent.

I believe the best design would be to have the leash attach to the motor mount/jackplate bolts initially and then have another jumper on each side to go from then motor mount/jackplate bolts to the transom bolts. My thought being that ideally you would be covered in either scenario of a motor mount failure or a jackplate failure. I’m currently trying to explore a way to make this happen.

[EuropeanAM]

Without 3rd party testing and the variables involved in mounting you have......

Not necessarily. While I may not agree with the current mounting methods (much like Ford’s lap belt for bench seats secured to the floor behind the seat in the 70’s)…. Many people who accidentally didn’t latch the seat slide and ended up being folded in the seat KNOW why there were improvements in later designs. But that didn’t make them a screen-b-c device either. People’s lives were definitely saved under many circumstances under which the outcome might have been less survivable.

That same device (seat belt) “could” cut you in half under certain stop circumstances if seat latch didn’t hold. Experience (and data) taught us that.

[mikesxpress]

Not a seat belt. Your not going to see a reputable life safety product that doesn't have 3rd party testing completed. With the variables in mounting it's going to be impossible to accomplish.

[EuropeanAM]

Definitely agree that no manufacturer is going to safety test every potential scenario for this. Honestly- testing that would be like studying the effects of hitting trees with a plane's propeller, and whether leashing the powerplant to the engine mounts kept the propeller and engine out of the cockpit.

[leonreno]

Also, thoroughly testing something like this would destroy a lot of boats and motors, be quite expensive, for device that has a limited market and price point.

[fishnfireman]

Asking this Co. to test their device against every angle would be like asking me to buy out walmart.
If you agree with the concept -- get one, if not don't ----simple!