trailering with motor up or motor down?

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rancocasrich

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I just bought a boat from a friend. It is a 16' Lund w/side console and a 50 hp Honda 4 stroke. It does not have a transom saver. My buddy says he always trailered it with the motor in the up position. I have heard opinions that trailering is best with the motor down. Can forum folks tell me their opinions on this please?
 
From researching online and old threads it is all very opinionated.

I have seen up with transom saver the most though. I trailer with the motor down as the boats paper work & motor paper work for my models say to trailer down.

I still sometimes get the urge to get a transom saver as it just looks like it would work better imo.
 
The tilt lock mechanism is, and was never designed to hold the motor up during trailering. Yamaha even put out a bulletin on this many years ago on some of the PT&T motors being supported solely by the PT ram (not the trim rams), the constant bouncing of trailering the rig takes it's toll on it. Same bulletin referenced the tilt lock pin on the PT&T motors, as well as the manual tilt motors being tilted up while trailering. In a nutshell, trailering with it up is hard on the tilt locks. It is also harder on the transom. I learned this myself. Old boat (9.9 on a Ouachita 1432) I usually towed it with the motor all the way down. There were certain areas that I fished where I had to leave it tilted up down some nasty dirt/gravel roads. Wasn't long and I noticed transom cracks, both at the corner braces and at the center brace. Occasionally the motor would unlock during towing down those roads and would fall down off of the tilt lock, then of course the skeg would dig into the gravel/dirt in a couple areas.

All the way down, depending on your trailer and how the rig is set up, it could dig into the roads like mine did sometimes. Concrete is not very forgiving, neither is asphault.

Transom savers are cheap considering the time/cost of repairing a skeg or transom.
 
Opinions differ and they always will. One thing I will say, never tow it with the motor up unless you have a transom saver on it. Over the last 45 years I've seen a lot of cracked transoms on boats towed on bumpy gravel roads with the motor down but never seen one cracked on boats towed on those same roads when they used a transom saver. For that reason alone, I tow mine with the motor up and a transom saver on it.
 
So I went out today and noticed while trailering that the motor was bouncing around way too much which was concerning me.

Pulled into the boat ramp parking lot and checked everything and noticed it basically wiggled my transom bolts (bolts from motor to transom) loose. No harm done because I caught it and tightened them up etc. It has to be from trailering though - as I said earlier I trailer with motor down as the manual says to...


For posters that know -

out of pure curiousity could I make a very small form of a transom saver that basically just keeps the motor still? Basically a 1 foot wood / metal piece that would allow me to rest the motor in a more secure spot. It is just concerning to me with the motor bouncing so much. Any ideas?
 
Mine has plenty of ground clearance with manual jackplate set pretty high so I just trailer with motor all the way down.
 
HeavyHook what about putting the engine in reverse does yours lock the motor down.
Seems that would stop it from moving.
Or bungee strap it down. That would he less work then installing a saver every time you load.
 
It locks down but man does it bounce a bunch when trailering. Seems like it's really bad when coming to a stop or after a small bump it just keeps going and going for some reason.

I will try and use a bungee cord next time out - was almost thinking a small block with the V transom saver style to just be safe but I tend to always go the ultra safe route. I'm not going to trailer with the motor up or raised at all so the block would just be to keep pressure on it for when it gets on one of its bouncing sprees
 
Most transom savers can be adjusted to what ever angle you want your outboard to ride. I believe the transom saver keeps the stress of the movement off the transom.
 
Get a transom saver they are cheap and easy off to unload boat. Took me about 10 minutes to install.


Another benefit is that they add a little more security when towing. One more hurdle to go through if your strap loosens
 
Stopped by where I keep the boat and did some measuring etc today.

So when the motor is locked down for when I trailer it has some wiggle to it - it's about a 3/4" - 1" play that turns into what looks like a trampoline when driving.

I cut a piece of 2 X 4 with a V notch for lower unit with padding that will connect with an L bracket to trailer frame so I can slide left or right depending on where the boat is sitting when I receive. I hope I am making sense exposing this as it sounds correct in my head but I also have seen what I am doing haha.

The wood with be able to slide into trailer frame with L bracket and then I can drop the motor down directly into the V cut out and bungee it down. The motor will still be set all the way down but will elongate that small wiggle room that is turning into a big bounce.

Tomorrow or later I will try and set it all up and take pictures for anyone that is curious. I am heading out this week so I can give it a full test.
 
I have a 14' Lowe Big Jon with a 15hp Merc. I also noticed when trailering it would bounce around some. I make sure it is locked and then put a motorcycle tie down strap starting at one tail light bracket around the motor then over to the other tail light bracket. It seems to hold it tight and is quick to do and undo.

All the transom savers seemed way to heavy duty and expensive for an 80lb motor on a tin boat. I trailer with motor down and tip it up for launching and retrieving.
 

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