Trailering boat with motor or not?

[frankr]

Johnnyrude, I totally respect your scientific viewpoint. I think "bouncing around" are the keywords. I’ve followed boats going down the road that would bounce clear off the trailer and the motor slam up and down repeatedly with every bump. Obviously such a rig needs all the help it can get.

[weedlessdrive]

I bungee mine down boat and motor. My road is really rough and it put more stress on the motor bouncing around than the boat. I worry more about the clamp screws coming loose and the motor coming off. I leave my daily runners on the boat but my antiques go in a box in the back of the truck..
Your boat looks to overhang your trailer a little far for an angled transom saver. You could mount a small straight one easily that comes out and bungee the lower unit .
Wish I had your problem, that would mean I would be able to go. Maybe someday.

[mr-asa]

quote Chinewalker:

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? 😉

Movement allows for deflection. A transom saver would be a restraint and would prevent movement and flex of the transom.
Until someone measures it either opinion is correct.

[johnyrude200]

I’m not that smart Tubs 🙄

Frank, if there’s anything to be said in terms of text book info and mathematics, is that the books say one thing, than real life tells you another story. I believe it’s a combination of the two…the text book stuff, combined with the real-world application…and that is called experience.

And there’s plenty of people on these forums with a lot more experience than yours truly.

[Steve A W]

I use a toter to gain a little more ground clearance.
The time I hit a deer on the way to a meet, the motor was the
only thing that didn’t hit the deer.

Steve A W

Member of the MOB chapter.
I live in Northwest Indiana

[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.

[chinewalker]

quote Tubs:

I look at this picture and have a hard time
believing that force being applied here
doesn’t far exceeds anything the transom
would experience going down the road.
That doesn’t mean I’m correct but it is what
I believe.

Yep, and a PO-15 is a regular torque monster at that! 😀

Come to think of it, how many outboards have you seen by the roadside with ripped off transoms attached to the clamp brackets? If the outboard is taking the transom with it, there was something wrong with the transom.

As mentioned previously, if you’re worried about the motor mounts, tie the motor down to the transom.

[mr-asa]

quote Tubs:

I look at this picture and have a hard time
believing that force being applied here
doesn’t far exceeds anything the transom
would experience going down the road.
That doesn’t mean I’m correct but it is what
I believe.

Disclaimer: All of this is BS until proven otherwise.

If you ask me, on the water you have differences from the type of support the boat has, damping of any thrust, the ability of the entire boat to move when it’s on the water Vs on a trailer, and a couple other things.

Boats are designed to be on the water with a motor pushing them. That motor’s thrust has a direct relation to a couple of factors, but the biggest one is the amount of slip inherent in a prop trying to move water. A motor on a transom attached to a boat on a trailer is going to get jerked around more violently because your biggest factor is going to be the coefficient of friction from tires on pavement is going to be much higher than a boat on water.

[Randy in Tampa]

my hefty self coupled with about 30+ gallons of water (that some idiot washed in the back of my boat) there was probably 400 to 450 pounds of weight in the back of the boat plus the motor plus the boat, there was definitely a lot of torque on the transom and I don’t think a motor gets jarred anymore on the transom of the boat hitting a wave then it would going down the road on the trailer, unless maybe you’re hitting speed bumps at 30 miles an hour ….. And why does that silly picture me keep showing up? Why don’t you just get the humiliation over and put on the cover of the outboarder so everybody gets a good laugh Lol! 😆

[chris-p]

Randy, you do look extremely calm! lol

Just taking a light troll around the bay! 🙂

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