Trailering boat with motor or not?

[jerry-ahrens]

I’ve trailered my 14 ft. Alumacraft FDR to Tomahawk for the past 3 years. The first year I went, the boat was on an old Rolco bunk trailer. That trailer has leaf springs on it. It seems like every little rifle in the road was beating on the boat, enough to make me worry about the boat being damaged. Now, I forgot to mention that the boat has a 1960 Gale 35 on the back. Despite the rough ride, it didn’t seem to affect the boat at all. I had the boat strapped down tight at the transom and bow eye, and didn’t have a transom save on the big Gale. After I got home, that trailer had worn one, brand new tire bald, after a 1,500 mile trip. I had had enough of that, so I purchased a new Haul Rite trailer for the Alumacraft, mainly because of the long distance to Tamahawk. Now this trailer has leaf springs, but only 2 leafs on each side…. wow, what a difference in ride! The Haul Rite trailer really babies the boat, and tows very nicely. I guess the old rolco trailer has way to many leafs on the spring assembly, not to mention a bent spindle.
Now I guess to answer your question, my boat has a new oak transom, and I have never used a transom saver. I’m sure using one would be a good idea, but I’ve never had a problem. One other thing to remember about trailers…. if your trailer has coil springs, they will give you the best ride quality, vs. leaf springs.

[chinewalker]

Save your money, don’t bother with a transom saver. Do get a bungee or line to tie the motor down to keep it from bouncing around. There is likely no road you’ll ever travel that will abuse your transom even close to what a cruise on a busy Saturday at the lake will do. The torque from even mild acceleration stresses the transom far more.

Also, a transom saver transmits any trailer stresses to the motor. If you make an emergency stop and the boat shifts, the motor can’t move with it. Yeah, I know, we ALWAYS tie our boats tightly, don’t we? 😉

[brook-n]

Understanding that this may not be as practical with larger motors. But I personally would rather not transport motors on the transom of a boat over
the road. Sitting in stop & go traffic regularly ( Cape Cod MA. ) I have seen many boats get hit from behind damaging the motor & the boat. I would rather transport them in the bed of my truck. This way it would reduce the loss. If you get hit from behind. Granted nobody wants to have either one damaged, but I would be a lot more upset if one of my motors got destroyed. Due to someone not paying attention & keeping a safe distance.

Just another thing to consider.

Respectfully

[frankr]

I agree with what Jerry said about trailers. Both of my trailers had springs that were far too strong for a light aluminum boat. They are made for heavy fiberglass boats. I removed a leaf or two and what a difference. The springs are there to absorb the bumps instead of transmitting the bump to the boat.

[Buccaneer]

Thanks for the interesting and informative replies regarding whether I
should trailer my boat with the motor attached to the transom.
To sum it up, I guess the answer is "YES" and "NO", lol.
Therefore, if I have room in the trunk it will ride there, otherwise,
I’ll enjoy the cool factor of re-living the 1950’s toting the Chris Craft
on the transom.
Perhaps the real question is will my old Taurus tranny hold up
to trailering, but we will leave that question be, or all sense of
adventure may be diminished.
See you in Tomahawk……… I HOPE!

Prepare to be boarded!

[Tubs]

A "Boathouse Repair" is one that done without having tools or the skills to do it properly.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 4 months ago by Tubs.
• This reply was modified 4 years ago by Tubs.

[johnyrude200]

Well, everyone gets their opinion. I stick with Isaac Newton’s opinion. A boat accelerating from a stop in water is going to be less force than one floating (even tied down) on a trailer at 50, 60, 70+ MPH with a motor bouncing on it.

You can’t make up the difference in force with a boat accelerating in water from a stop compared the velocity of one on a trailer. If you remove the motor completely off a trailered vessel, well then the entire conversation is a mute point. A transom saver mechanically supports the weight of a motor ‘bouncing’ on the transom and transmits this to the trailer. Essentially what you’re trying to do is make the motor part of the overall ‘unit’ of the boat sitting on a trailer.

Keep in mind too, that a portion of the motor is sitting in the water when underway. Ever try to pick up a block of cement when it’s under water? Seem a lot lighter? Same applies to a degree to the lower 1/3rd of a motor when it’s submerged, plus you have the thrust of a propeller helping to dissipate horizontal forces/displacement of the ‘unit’ combination of the vessel and motor moving together. On a trailer, the motor is like a ball and chain dragging behind the boat every time you go over a bump. It bounces around and that force tugs/stresses the transom.

In fact, go take an old beater boat and tie a chain with a cinder block to your transom. Take a drive down a dirt road and see what happens to your transom. That’s the analogy I’m trying to explain.

Friendly reminder that torque is a rotary force around a perpendicular axis. The forces on a transom are a combination of a lot of things, but rather shear forces (two surfaces sliding against each other, or in the case of a transom vertically/horizontally flexing/bending) as a motor pushes/pulls against it and the restitution of elasticity of the material in the actual transom fights against it. Why do the rivets at the lower corners of your aluminum transom tend to leak first? Because that’s the place with the most stress on it and generally those rivets are weaker than the actual material itself.

Maybe I’m wrong here, any physics teachers wish to disprove this position (used to teach kinesiology and biomechanics myself…)? But I also don’t believe there is such a thing as an ‘expert’ out there so I’m all ears if I’m incorrect.

In terms of trailering – I put this page together for my customers. Sure, it’s probably overkill to a degree, but I rather be safer than sorry, especially when a few ratchet straps really aren’t that big of an investment either financially or time-wise.

http://runneroutboards.com/motor101/trailer/trailer.html

[Tubs]

How did you type all of that so fast?
Takes me longer to just do my name.
My post was at 8:30 and yours is at
8:33.

A "Boathouse Repair" is one that done without having tools or the skills to do it properly.

[johnyrude200]

LOL Tubs. No I was typing that for a few minutes (obviously). When somebody else posts prior to me hitting ‘post,’ the time stamp still shows up as if I just put it together.

Great topic, and love the forums. Have to get back to turning wrenches now though….have a good day everyone!

🙂

[Tubs]

A "Boathouse Repair" is one that done without having tools or the skills to do it properly.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 4 months ago by Tubs.
• This reply was modified 4 years ago by Tubs.

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