Your position on Transom Savers

[DLM]

I did a search and could not find this topic on KFF so I thought I would open the subject up.

Do you use a transom saver, what kind do you use if any, and what is your opinion of transom savers?

There should be a wide range of opinions on this one, as every shop/dealer I call has a different opinionfencing

 

[SuperD]

Almost too broad of a topic without catergorizing size and construction of the boat.

 

[DLM]

Okay, 18', Aluminum, 90 hp Outboard, mounted on the transom.

 

[BlackTalon]

Transom saver?

Good question. When I purchased my boat about 18 months ago (17' Alumaweld Talon with 60hp Mercury) I asked my dealer and he said to raise it up just enough to get good clearance and let the hydraulics deal with it. I have always been a little nervous about it but hope he knows what he is talking about. I have tried taking a length of 2X4 and "trapping" it between motor and bracket but I usually lose the board on the road somewhere.

Can't wait to hear the voice of experience chime in.

Evan

 

[SuperD]

For boats outside the tin can bracket or what I'll call the heavy duty class, the m-y wedge is the ticket to absorbing some of the shock.

http://www.m-ywedge.com/


BT, I guess your dealer wants you to blow hydraulic seals so he can have service work.

 

[Dropshot]

My dealer said to always trailer the boat with the motor as vertical as possible. Mine was too low to trailer in the down position so he suggested the 2x4 method. When I lower the engine onto the 2x4 I make sure there is a little compression, about 1/4 inch, and have never lost a board.

I am still concerned that this system, while relieving some pressure on the hydraulics, does still put all of the engine weight on the transom, while a transom saver would transfer some of the weight to the trailer.

 

[Full_Monte]

My dealer said to always trailer the boat with the motor as vertical as possible. Mine was too low to trailer in the down position so he suggested the 2x4 method. When I lower the engine onto the 2x4 I make sure there is a little compression, about 1/4 inch, and have never lost a board.

I am still concerned that this system, while relieving some pressure on the hydraulics, does still put all of the engine weight on the transom, while a transom saver would transfer some of the weight to the trailer.

The weight of the engine is really not the issue. It's the bouncing of the engine on the transom when your trailer hits a bump on the road. This creates a torque, or twist on the transom as the motor hits the bottom of its travel. What you need is a way to cushion the shock of the engine trying to twist the transom off the boat. The 2x4 between the motor and the bracket will take some of the slop out of the movement, and therefore some of the shock out of the engine hitting the bottom of its travel, but it doesn't help with the flexing of the transom due to the weight of the motor hanging over the back of the transom. To remove the torque, you can connect a metal arm from the rear roller of your trailer to a convenient place on the lower unit of the motor. You lower the engine lower unit onto the top cradle of the arm and secure it on both ends. These are sold in boat shops. Tilting the engine up also helps because it moves the center of gravity of the engine closer to the support of the transom, thereby eliminating some of the torque on any bounce.

 

[SilverBullets]

On our Smoker Craft Alaskan we use a transom saver bar on the 25hp Yamaha. Like Monte said, the motors without really bounce. There's a speed bump outside the house, and I've seen the amount of movement of motors without the bar. It seems like it does alot of damage and doesn't sound good...you'd swear the UPS driver just went by! laugh hyst

 

[DC18FT]

The M-Y Wedge gets my vote. Very easy to use and install....


Bryon

 

[dunnigan jim]

I have the y-wedge on my yamaha 115 and it works great.thumbsup Tim recommended it when I picked up my N/R boat. You won't be disapointed ...

 

[fish-on-bend]

Another vote for the MY wedge here. On heavy duty aluminum boats the transom will not be in structural jeopardy. The transom-saver bars may actually be worse then doing nothing if you have power trim(hydraulics). When you are going down a bumpy road the boat will float on your bunks and flex and shift independently from the trailer. To put a solid metal bar from the trailer to the lower unit of a large outboard with power trim you are forcing the hydraulics up as well the gravity bouncing it down as it shifts and flexes. It puts unnecceasry stress on the power trim in both directions, worse than gravity stressing it down only. I use a 2x4 on my kicker (Yamaha T8 with power trim) and an MY wedge on my Yamaha 115. From what I can see, the transom saver bars are the best choice if you do NOT have power trim. They do eliminate most of the bouncing, but if you have power trim(hydraulics) you don't have bouncing anyway, just stress and it will be concentrated on the weakest link which is the hydraulics. The only piece of the system that is not solid aluminum.

By the way, the Yamaha owners manual warns against using the bracket or knob on the motors with power trim, for trailering, it may void your warranty if you use it instead of some type of transom saver or support device.