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What purpose does this hole at the rear of the boat serve?

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kshotwell43

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I'm new to outboards but where the transom is cut out for the outboard looks like its 3 times the size it needs to be.  I'm afraid someone is going to step into this and fall.  Would it hurt anything if I had a grate fabricated to place over this so people dont step into it?
 
kshotwell43 said:
 

I'm new to outboards but where the transom is cut out for the outboard looks like its 3 times the size it needs to be.  I'm afraid someone is going to step into this and fall.  Would it hurt anything if I had a grate fabricated to place over this so people dont step into it?
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I've thought about the same thing. Please take pictures and post if you decide to do it.
 
TomS said:
I've thought about the same thing. Please take pictures and post if you decide to do it.
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I don't see any purpose other than easy access and plenty of room when putting the motor on and off.  I'm going to make it to where it bolts in so it can be removed and doesn't rattle while moving. 
 
What about when you trim all the way up will the cowling hit the deck on certain outboards if this area was filled?
 
Check for clearance with the engine fully tilted
 
Don't forget to check the clearance with the motor turned at full tilt.
 
I wonder if you could leave the notch in the deck so the motor could move, but somehow still cover the hole a little lower, maybe at the top of the actual opening in the tube. My old dog fell in mine last year. The boat was beached and we were swimming back across a narrow channel to the boat after a 6+ hour hike. She got all excited at the sight of us and took a hard fall into it. 
 
Here's what my motor pod hole looks like with the motor tilted all the way up.  Not much room to put a cover in.  There's only about 2 inches between the motor cowling and the edge of the opening.  The motor is only about 6 inches from the fence.

 
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I guess you could weld some aluminum L brackets or square tubing along the inside of the cut out about 3" down from the deck(so it would clear the motor) then make an aluminum frame/grate that sits on top of the bracket (make a notch/cut out by the motor for your tubes and cables to pass through) then even screw some of that Trek decking material or teak wood onto the frame. It could look nice, alleviate the falling in the hole problem, and still be removed for service of any kind. Keep in mind that the discharge for the center tube storage bilge pump is on that forward wall of the transom too. Wouldn't really be that tough to do if you were an aluminum welder or had a guy who knows a guy.
 
A friend is helping me figure out how to cover it. With my verado I can tilt the motor all the way back and it would still never hit. I should have pictures in a couple days
 
Here's what he came up with. Still need to powder coat it and assemble the diamond plate to the risers.
 
Wow.  If you could figure out a way to tie that into the motor mount, you'd probably increase the max HP the boat can withstand.
 
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