Can A Mercury 2.5 Be Stored Face Down On It's Front, Or Can't It?

Having a hard time getting a straight answer about this, so hopefully someone knows. If you go to the Tohatsu website and download the manual for a 2.5, it will say it can be stored horizontally on either side, or on its front.

Mercury, who sells the same damn engine, doesn't provide online manuals. I just tried asking a dealership and they sent me a non-model-specific manual that says you can only store it on one side. Or vertically, of course.

And to make things weirder, apparently it's fine to carry the motor horizontally by the handle...which is kinda the position I want to store it in.

So....is it fine? I ask because it's the only way the motor will fit in my boat's locker. Thanks.

[FONT=Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif]From the manual... which is online at the EMEA download center



"Remove the outboard and hold it upright until the water is drained out. Keep the outboard in an upright position when carrying. Carry, transport, or store the outboard only in the upright position, or with the tiller handle side facing up. These positions will prevent oil from draining out of the crankcase. a - Upright position b - Tiller handle up position...
"[/FONT]

Would you mind posting a link to that? They don't make this stuff easy to find for some reason. All I can ever get is a link to purchase paper manuals.