Outboard Motor Stand From Walker

An old walker makes a great stand for a small outboard motor. You can usually find them for under ten dollars at thrift stores. If you don't see one out on the display floor that is suitable, ask a clerk if they have some in back; they seem to have an endless supply of them. The ones to avoid have cross braces that will get in the way (as you'll see later). You'll also need two U-bolts from a hardware store and an old board. Size of the board isn't critical but it needs to be at least six inches high and long enough to span the walker's legs. The only tools required are a drill and a wrench, although a clamp might be helpful. Measure the diameter of the tube and thickness of the board to be sure your U-bolts are wide and long enough.

Mark where the bolt holes should be and drill them slightly over sized so you have some wiggle room. Fasten the board to the legs and put the motor where the old person normally goes. The walker's legs and the U-bolts are plenty strong to hold a motor up to about ten horsepower.

Notice that this walker has a crossbar that kind of gets in the way when the motor is on the stand. This isn't really a big deal for storing the motor, but if you want to run the motor in a barrel of water while it's on the stand the angle is a problem.

Here I mounted the board on the other side of the walker to avoid the crossbar. This means you need to lift the motor up and lower it into the enclosed space instead, so think about how heavy your motor is.

This walker had two cross bars. There was one across the top that was bolted on. I removed it (you can see the holes in front of the rubber handles). Sometimes the crossbars are riveted on which makes them harder but not impossible to remove. The second cross bar on this walker is low and outside of where I wanted the board so it wasn't in the way.

I made this one by drilling through the tubes and using a plain bolt on each side. That was way more work than the U-bolts.

Notice that the back of this stand is open so it's a little easier to put a heavy motor on it; it also allows a cat to get into your motor stand if you aren't careful.