Motor up or down while trailering?

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jethro

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My 14' Starcraft SF140 is the first boat I've had where the motor stays on during trailering. The guys who sold it to me said not to worry about the motor being down while trailering because the axle is lower than the skeg. Made perfect sense to me and I've actually hauled the boat probably 5000 miles or more with the motor down. Recently I have had a few people tell me I need to put the motor up when trailering. I said, "Look at the axle, if I hit anything it will be the axle" but a few people have told me it doesn't matter, the motor needs to be tilted up while trailering to avoid damage to the skeg.

What say you? Motor up or down?
 
Transom savers are cheap insurance. The axle won't help you if you back into a curb.
 
I always trail with motor up and sitting on transom saver. I travel some really horrible little roads to get to the lakes around here and if the axle goes down in a big hole the motor would be dragging on the ground if it were down.
 
leave my motor down on both my boats. as long as you motor isnt locked, even if you were to be the one guy in a million to drag the skeg it would still kick up
 
With some of the roads around here, I would be terrified of running with my motor down and unlocked! I've had the trailer tires bounce a good 6-8" off of the road. I can only imagine what the motor would be doing to the transom if it was flopping up and slamming down in that case.

When trailering my 14' Meyers, I normally run with the motor locked in the up position. I don't have a transom saver on this boat, and I figure this keeps the weight centered on top of the transom instead of cantilevering off of the end.
 
[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=355631#p355631 said:
kofkorn » Today, 04:57[/url]"]With some of the roads around here, I would be terrified of running with my motor down and unlocked! I've had the trailer tires bounce a good 6-8" off of the road. I can only imagine what the motor would be doing to the transom if it was flopping up and slamming down in that case.
I don't have to imagine what the results of this would be. Over the years I've seen quite a few boats with the transom or corner gussets cracked as a result of this practice. If you're driving on good roads you probably won't have any problems but for those of us that run a lot of gravel roads or roads with potholes, good luck if you don't use a transom saver.
 
I leave my motor down but only because my bunk boards are way to high. I bungee cord the motor to the point where it wont move. When I lower the bunks I will get a transom saver.
 
i firmly believe a transom saver does more harm than good. when the engine is down, it is locked against the transom in a neutral way. with the motor up, you now have side to side torque and well as changing the balance point of the motor. and the thin tube aluminum on a transom saver will do nothing except transmit vibration and road bumps to the motor from the trailer. I want my boat to float independant of the trailer (aside from the bow and rear tie downs) instead of being locked into the movements of the trailer.
 
My OMC engine manual clearly states trailer with the engine down. Have plenty of road clearance and no issues whatsoever...
 
In general, I'm for trailering with the engine down. Set the tilt pin for good clearance and that's all. I lock it down too. If needed, I bungee left or right to limit swing.

This way the weight is carried the way its supposed to be. Vertical. With the engine tilted up all the motors weight is way up high and it has a lot of leverage on the transom.

If the boat I'm trailering has power trim, I will raise it up through the trim range only, for clearance.

I have never found a need for a transom saver.

Every boat/trailer has its own set of conditions and variations.
 
Il be using a transom saver when I get my little motor. As I have in the past with all my boats. The theory sounds good to me.
As for my boat its straped to the trailer when in tow. I don't want that thing flipping off if things ever get squirrely. I've heard of that happening on a bridge one time when the guy hit the curve. Lesson learned. :wink:
 
I would never trailer a boat without a transom saver. The transom carries the total weight of the motor and with the transom saver a good portion of that weight is taken off the transom and put directly on the trailer frame. This keeps bouncing weight off the transom. Someone said that it transmits vibration from the trailer into the motor and yes, it does, but the boat sits on the trailer so that vibration goes into the motor anyway.

A trailer that places the boat high enough off the ground to be able to pull it with the engine in the down position is a rig that would be difficult to launch on most of the ramps that are available to me. I would have to back that boat far enough into the water to float the boat that half my truck would also be in the water.

Just because the axle is lower than the skeg does not mean that the motor is not at risk if trailered in the down position. My home town ramp is accessible only by going over a rail crossing and the unevenness of the crossing has caught many lower units in the down position. Scraping the skeg on the pavement while the trailer bounces over a rail crossing is ALWAYS a bad idea.

I would not buy a used boat that had been trailered for much time without a transom saver in use.
 
I do a mix of up and down and Ill explain.

I have read many different reasons and theories as to how you should drive with your motor. I basically have it a minimum tilt.

I will try and get some pictures but the point is I made my own transom saver that does not go out as far as normal ones do (pretty much it is almost a full 6-8 inches shorter). I do this with a Mercury 25hp so it is not a crazy amount of weight. I made the transom saver out of 2 pieces of 2x4 that are pieced together with metal angle and then it is tiled with rubber in the V where the motor sits in. It attaches to the trailer perfectly so it allows just the right amount of bounce if I hit a solid bump but also keeps the motor stiff for smoother rides to avoid bouncing.

I was having a problem of driving and having the motor bounce around basically flexing the transom so I took the middle approach by only allowing movement when past a certain amount of pressure. The first one I made cracked the wood because I had too much pressure so I shortened it and everything has been great. I even check the transom bolts for the motor and they stay nice and tight compared to wiggling loose like they were in the past. I see no noticeable movement on the transom anymore and I also get to keep the motor tilted just enough to keep gravity on my side when it comes to bad roads.

I went over the amount of weight / bounce / stress etc that occur with the weight of the motor against the transom verse bounce from road verse flex and the solution was simple to me.

Come to think of it I should patent this lol. The concept does allow the motor to clear bigger holes also depending on how bad of road you drive on. I have made 2-3 versions of the transom saver which I think is more of a motor stabilizer for my problem then it was a transom saver. It does both while allowing some give to not stress the transom.

Sorry if what I wrote sounds incredibly confusing.
 
Momule

The idea is almost like a car bumper or frame as it pertains to dispersing the bounce and stress of the motor on the transom. I try to allow just the right amount of bounce while keeping the motor in constant pull back to the trailer to disperse the energy. The result of my saver would be different for each boat, the location of how the boat sits on trailer and the location of the axle etc.

I have the same problem in my home town of where to launch the boat at what ramp because of the decline. In one spot I would have to get half the truck in the water and the other it doesnt even come close. The solution for me was to lower the boat as much as I could on the trailer while keeping a safe riding height for the motor when moving. With the transom saver version I made it keeps it a perfect height to where I could launch without worry and still keep the thought of being safe.

For one ramp it declines so slowly that I just went ahead and purchased two 12 inch trailer extensions and connected them (price was a total of $15 which is why i didnt just buy a 24inch). I would attach the extension at the ramp in 5 minutes and it would allow me to stay just enough out of the water that I could launch safely. I even had FWC / Local Police watch me and come ask me what in the world I was doing. After explaining they went and bought the same set up in order to launch their boat at the same ramp without submerging their trucks haha. I only go to that ramp 5-10 times a year so its not a hassle.
 
HeavyHook said:
Momule

The idea is almost like a car bumper or frame as it pertains to dispersing the bounce and stress of the motor on the transom. I try to allow just the right amount of bounce while keeping the motor in constant pull back to the trailer to disperse the energy. The result of my saver would be different for each boat, the location of how the boat sits on trailer and the location of the axle etc.

I have the same problem in my home town of where to launch the boat at what ramp because of the decline. In one spot I would have to get half the truck in the water and the other it doesnt even come close. The solution for me was to lower the boat as much as I could on the trailer while keeping a safe riding height for the motor when moving. With the transom saver version I made it keeps it a perfect height to where I could launch without worry and still keep the thought of being safe.

For one ramp it declines so slowly that I just went ahead and purchased two 12 inch trailer extensions and connected them (price was a total of $15 which is why i didnt just buy a 24inch). I would attach the extension at the ramp in 5 minutes and it would allow me to stay just enough out of the water that I could launch safely. I even had FWC / Local Police watch me and come ask me what in the world I was doing. After explaining they went and bought the same set up in order to launch their boat at the same ramp without submerging their trucks haha. I only go to that ramp 5-10 times a year so its not a hassle.
Do you mind posting a picture of this

Sent from the dust in front of you!
 
Transom savers are just that.. Transom savers. .. it helps share the load of the motor by transferring some of the weight directly to the trailer . And most certainly takes out any boucing or jarring of the motor on the transom while hitting bumps on the road.

GYPSY400
 
I have a 1988 sf 14, I leave mine down being the trailer .The only time I tilt it up is when I am launching it in shallow water .hope this helps
 

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