BF5 - couple of questions (securing it, and mystery part inside cowling!)

Tonight I got the aux bracket mounted on my boat and my very clean little BF5 (2006) backup hooked onto the bracket.

I ran it for a while in a drum of water since I've barely run it since I bought it a few months back, and it started easily & ran just fine.
I did have a bit of a surprise discovery however that has got me slightly worried, which was a mystery stainless pin just sitting loose inside the cowling when I removed it after running the engine for 10 minutes or so:



So it's just under an inch long and 5mm wide, solid stainless pin. I haven't the faintest idea what it's from but it's making me nervous.
The bit where I found it was next to the small hole near the bottom of this pic, just sitting there loose:



If anyone could advise where its rightful home is I'd be very very grateful thanks!

The second question is not so much BF5 specific as aux engine specific, and how people secure them adequately.

The bracket was from my engineer and he says they're the only ones he used to sell as they're the only ones he's found with decent build quality, but now it's on the boat and the BF5 is on it, in the up position is wobbles around like crazy!
Am concerned about how to keep it secure when underway on the water as I obviously do not want it bouncing around, trying to make itself come loose and end up on the seabed.


Here's how it is on the boat:





Obviously some sort of rope or chain arrangement would be a good idea here, but I'm not sure how best to achieve that with the engine tilted up? If it was down then I could add hoops either side of its leg on the transom and use a rope or strong bungee across the back of the leg but the engine needs to be up and tilted when not in use, so I'm not sure what's best.

Many thanks!
Jim

Remove the propeller and see if that pin is the same as what drives the prop.------------Perhaps it is a spare that somehow came loose.

I think racerone hit it on the nose. It is the same size as the shear pin. (3 x 26) There are normally spares inside the cowling of the engine. Probably fell out of its holder.

Not sure what to suggest on the wobble of the engine holder. You should at least put some sort of line through the carrying handle and secure it to the boat....just in case.

I would travel with the bracket up but the engine down (vertical). There appears to be enough clearance and it will minimize the bouncing.

When underway on the water, maybe a bungee from the engine (just above the prop) to somewhere on the base of the bracket.

Mike

Mike

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I agree with Mike...sort of. I would also travel with the bracket up but the engine not tilted ENTIRELY up as in the photo. Isn't there a trim setting a few degrees off of vertical on the little Honda that you could lock it in that is way less than the all the way up position? I realize you would still have to "lock" it there to keep it from bouncing and possibly dropping but it would have less leverage to shake the boat than where you show it there.

Thanks for the replies chaps, and apologies but I thought I'd replied but it must have been a reply I've made to something elsewhere boat related!

Yes it was indeed one of the spare shear pins - thankyou. There's a little rubber holder with holes for 2 split pins and 2 shear pins and it was empty. This pin fits perfectly in there. Not sure where the other spares are, but conveniently there's an open hole in the engine cowling almost directly beneath the spares holder, so any that work loose and fall out are likely to be gone instantly. Clever!

Re' the engine tilt etc, that's just how it was when I took the pic - not going to tow it with that tilted at all so don't worry about that. When it's on the water I was planning on having it tilted up as per the pic, but one person has advised against that. This seems a little odd since I always ran my previous boat's aux in that way and never had any sort of issue, and most other boats I see are the same. If I run the boat with bracket up/engine down then the skeg is slightly in the water and I can't really move the bracket higher because it will clash with the transom cap once I bond that on.

Someone suggested I should have a short shaft aux engine for my boat but I don't really believe that as this would make it a total bugger to steer by tiller due to how low it would have to drop.

As mentioned I think I'll have to just have something tied around the base but after pondering while looking at it I think I've decided what to do more specifically.
A rope around the lift handle (hidden by the dead mans hand wire in the 3rd pic) of the bracket, tied to a cleat mounted at the front of the locker that sits in front of the engine. Obviously I'll plate inside the locker so the cleat is rock solid, then I can have quite a bit of tension on said rope/bungee (or possibly even a very small ratchet strap?) to pull the whole bracket towards the transom tightly.

What's also a concern is that the BF5 (unlike the 5hp johnson I used to use) only has the hand screw clamps, and no bracket holes for adding bolts to the bracket. This is pretty dumb of honda since it means anyone walking past can undo it without needing tools and walk off with it. I know a pair of bolts is no security against someone planning to nick it since you only need a couple of spanners, but it prevents a casual tea leaf at least. I think a chain and lock will be added on that basis, and this will double as protection against possible clamp failure at sea!

there are brackets that you can buy on this site that fit and lock over the wing nuts to prevent thievery....i used one for many years on an 18 evinrude i kept at camp....on my very first new motor i made the mistake of lining up the holes in the wing nuts and putting a lock thru them...1st time i hit a log it busted the wing nuts...dont do that...