Transom Saver - Yes or No

[AJFishin]

I believe the name "transom saver" is a little bit misleading but does sound better from a marketing standpoint than if it was called what it really is, an outboard motor/transom/trailering shock absorbing device.
Also interesting is Yamaha pretty much endorses using their "transom saver", the Yamaha Outboard Trailering Support, which is identical to the my-wedge.

[Yachter Yat]

lol imma just keep doing what every single manufacturer (with teams of engineers) suggests.

   And "bigger' teams" of lawyers. 

Yat

[Yachter Yat]

   AJ:  I would favor the motor position in your first picture. Appears to be fairly evenly balanced. I'd have to suspect that's how the manufacturer originally planned it; in order to keep the weight imposed vertically on the transom, as well as out of the water, if moored.

Yat

Edit:  Please understand, I'd also favor having some kind of rubber gadget, as opposed to the trailer lock. All I'm saying here is that; I'd like the motor to be somewhat close to that position, while trailering.

[agoodhi]

only time i use the built in tilt bracket when trailering is staging to/from ramp.  all other times trailering, transom saver for both motors.

[Hunter]

So just for discussion purposes, here are 4 pics of my boat.  The first two pics are with the My Wedge installed on the tilt piston and then the motor lowered just enough to take the pressure off the hydraulics and place the load onto the My Wedge. The second two pics are with the engines tilted ALL the way up to almost horizontal.

Option 2 with the motor trimmed all the way up is how I have always trailered and never had an issue..... It just seems logical that when trimmed all the way up that the TOTAL weight of the motor is more evenly centered and distributed over the TOP of the transom (or in my case the offshore bracket.  This tends to lead me more down Yat's path of logic. 

Put it this way.  Look at your transom as if it were a concrete wall that you need to demolish.  If you take your excavator bucket and push straight down onto the top of the wall, probably nothing is going to happen.  But if you take your bucket and hook it over the top of the wall and then pull the top of the wall towards you, then it's most likely going to come down. 

[Yachter Yat]

  Yup!  I think Hunter's right. Once again, looking at his pics gives us a good idea of how we can envision the weight of those motors seemingly wanting to "pry" that transom off, when lowered too far down. I think ya just gatta keep those powerheads forward. Which, BTW, is why it might be nice to see that My-Wedge made long enough to do just that. I've never held one of those Wedges in my hand, but I have to wonder if they would make them long enough to allow "cutting and fitting" to fit your own requirements. Just a thought. 

Yat

[Secret Spot]

Yes when transporting.  However, not when towing down to my local ramp that's approximately 2 miles away on side roads and also not when stored (OB in down position).  Without the transom saver my OB bounced pretty aggressively.  The heavy duty transom saver I purchased eliminated all bouncing.  Now when towing long distances I don't stress.  I have a 17 Sea Ranger with a Yamaha F90.

[Keel-er]

My boat mechanic is pro-transom savor with the logic being all of the bumps and road shock gets transferred to the outboard and transom.  The saver lets the trailer absorb all that shock.  I ran it by several mechanical engineers I work with and their opinions, FWIW, were all pro-transom saver.  The manual for my Yamaha F90 and Tohatsu 140 also recommend use of the savers. 
My $0.02.
Chris

[Yachter Yat]

  "Transom saver".  Just the words are funny.  BTW, when you're done getting that thing, run down to the seaside and pick-me-up about 50 feet of shoreline.  I pay you when you get back.

  If we really knew what forces were exerted on our transoms (especially when it gets rough), you'd laugh too. Here's an idea:  Go to YouTube and spend a few minutes observing some of the clips showing boats going in and out of Haulover Inlet, on a rough day, in Florida. Most of the boats you'll see are sporting not less than two motors, and many more with 3, 4 and 5 hangin' on the transom. The slow-motion shots are the best; especially when seeing how those motors shake when coming down from being "launched" right out of the water.

  "Transom saver". 

Yat 

 

[Always Fishing]

I am going through the BoatUS Foundation course now, and in the trailering section, they said to use the Transom Saver.....

[croaker stroker]

My concern with the "Transom Saver" is not saving the transom, it is the fact that no matter how tight you strap your boat to your trailer, your boat still moves in relation to the trailer due to various reasons like straps stretching or just the flex of the hull on the bunks. This movement forces the hydraulic cylinders on the tilt-trim to move and some "internet experts" believe this can damage the cylinder seals etc. 

[Hunter]

Maybe that's something that we can all agree on......That both the transom savor, the My Wedge, or even a hunk of 4 x 4 will at least take the pressure off of the hydraulics of any power tilt / trim system.. 

[Yachter Yat]

 

I am going through the BoatUS Foundation course now, and in the trailering section, they said to use the Transom Saver.....

  Transom saver? Okay....let me ask this:  What is it that we think we are "saving" our transoms from?  I seem to recall our late and beloved "Arima Queen" (Belinda) making a comment to the effect that Arima has never experienced a transom failure.  If you don't mind; please allow me to repeat that:  "Arima has never experienced a transom failure".  How long do we think Arima owners have been towing their boats with the motors down on the "trailer locks"? If we've all been doing this for years and years, why is it that we've never experienced some kind of issue, in this respect?

   I'll save you by repeating this only one last time......I promise. Ha  It's like this:  When trailering, position that motor so that the powerhead is  over the motorwell, and the shaft is extended out beyond the transom.  Doing this will (roughly) exert the downward force of the majority of the weight of that motor "vertically" down and onto the transom.  Put simply:  "You ain't never gonna break that thing that way". I've been trailering that way for decades; never, EVER had a "transom failure"; on any boat I've ever owned.

   Now, that said, this really pisses me off.  You see....had I thought of this crazy idea of tying the motor to the trailer, years ago, I'd probably be sitting across from Warren Buffett this evening....discussing something like how much we should invest in Airbus; given how Boeing's "engineers" screwed up.   

Yat

[Always Fishing]

Transom saver? Okay....let me ask this:  What is it that we think we are "saving" our transoms from?  I seem to recall our late and beloved "Arima Queen" (Belinda) making a comment to the effect that Arima has never experienced a transom failure.  If you don't mind; please allow me to repeat that:  "Arima has never experienced a transom failure".  How long do we think Arima owners have been towing their boats with the motors down on the "trailer locks"? If we've all been doing this for years and years, why is it that we've never experienced some kind of issue, in this respect?

  I'll save you by repeating this only one last time......I promise. Ha  It's like this:  When trailering, position that motor so that the powerhead is  over the motorwell, and the shaft is extended out beyond the transom.  Doing this will (roughly) exert the downward force of the majority of the weight of that motor "vertically" down and onto the transom.  Put simply:  "You ain't never gonna break that thing that way". I've been trailering that way for decades; never, EVER had a "transom failure"; on any boat I've ever owned.

  Now, that said, this really pisses me off.  You see....had I thought of this crazy idea of tying the motor to the trailer, years ago, I'd probably be sitting across from Warren Buffett this evening....discussing something like how much we should invest in Airbus; given how Boeing's "engineers" screwed up.   

Yat

Yat, I hear you, but that's what I saw in the course I am going through to get my boating card. This is my first boat, so it's very confusing, to be honest. The people who are creating the course for our boating card, who supposedly know what they are talking about, are suggesting something else. This is why I threw the in there.
My questions:
1. Does it do any harm to have a "transom saver"?
2. The transom on the older Arima (my 1984 SC) was built to handle a 2-stroke engine.  Does it still apply to the weight of the 4-stroke engines?

[Yachter Yat]

  AF:  Thank you for your input. In answer to your first question; I strongly believe the vibration alone, coming from the crossmember of these trailers, and being transferred to the motor, may have the potential of incurring damage in ways many of us may still not be truly aware of.  This (in some sense) also addresses your second question relating to the difference between a 2 and 4 stroke motor, as these newer motors are much more sophisticated, in many ways; not the least of which is how dependent they've become with respect to some of the inherently sensitive onboard electronics.

  In light of that, I think we have to keep in mind how the trailer serves to dampen much of the shock it gets from 'any' road surface. In my mind, connecting the motor to the trailer crossmember 'bypasses' any potential dampening that might be afforded from either the roller assemblies, bunks or (indeed) the boat hull itself. Therefore, it only stands to reason, the level of disturbance from a lower trailer crossmember could actually be substantially greater than that felt at the transom itself. 

  As to the weight difference between the 2 and 4 stroke:  While these 4 strokes may indeed be slightly heavier, I don't honestly believe the difference is enough to seriously consider......especially (as I stated earlier) if the motor weight was 'balanced' and carried so as to exert its impact 'vertically down' on the transom.  Remember; from what we understand, at least, the concern (and perhaps initial consideration) that led to the creation of this device was the potential for these motors to "peel" (for lack of better words) the transom off the boat. Again, (IMO) it only stands to reason, having the motor weight bearing directly down on a transom pretty much puts that to bed; something I may have serendipitously proved to myself over the years.   (Ooops...sorry 'bout that one. Couldn't think of another word.)

   Finally, as to what you are being taught to accept as Gospel, in your boating course, is another matter. So....if the question on the test expects a "yes" answer to the use of transom saver bars......then my suggestion would be to answer as Frankenstein would:   "Transom saver...."GOOOD".  No transom saver...."BAAAD".    

Have fun, Yat 

   

[AJFishin]

IMO the My Wedge is just a "shock absorber/dampener" kind of like on your truck's suspension so you don't hit everything hard, jarring loose everything. One of it's jobs is to cushion your motor's up and down movement so your trim tilt hydraulics don't take all of the pressure of the motors movement and weight when going over dips, bumps, etc. I believe the instructions for the My Wedge for Yamaha motors says to partially retract your rams into the cylinders to protect them. My Wedge also helps in keeping your motor partially raised so you can trailer your boat safely and not have to use the factory motor bracket.
The actual "transom saver bar" pretty much does the same thing, but it might give a little more motor support with the LU resting on it and might help on long trips.
The block of wood I think works pretty much the same, but I don't think it gives a whole lot of cushioning, but I would think it gives some, it's what my dad used for his boat motors for decades.

I get putting the motor all the way up on the latch/bracket with weight and all, but I'm not convinced it's any better, gravity still wants to pull everything down to the road when going over bumps. With the outboards I've had over the years, I've seen big differences in the way the latches were designed, they were beefy and positioned differently, they were not flat pieces of metal like they are now on a lot of the newer motors. Personally I'm not going to trust a couple of butter knifes holding my multi thousand dollar outboard and those latches failing and putting pressure on the hydraulics. 

No matter what, I don't think there is any real transom saving device, these "transom savers" are really just motor shock absorbers and maybe should just be called a partial motor support thingamajig.

[AJFishin]

And if there are not enough transom savers, here's Mercury's, for Mercury's, for only $250 on Amazon, also looks like there are simlar styles out there too. But Mercury does say in their description, "This is the most durable motor stabilizer you will ever own."
Mercury Transom Saver

[davidsea]

    If ever there was a 'poster child' boat needing a transom support, it could be my old Duroboat 16CC/BH50.   I reinforced the transom internally, but the 250# motor on a hydraulic transom jack was a LOT of stress.   With the motor set back 5", plus the ability to raise or lower it 5", some of the places I was towing on marginal roads were a real concern.   Fortunately, I could set the trailer up so that the aft crossmember was almost directly below the stern, and a short, straight support worked just fine.  On my current roller trailer, the aft crossmember is way too far forward, so the support would have to be much longer and bent, as well.
  If you're towing a few miles to the ramp on surface streets, a block of 2X4 works just fine, I'm sure.  When I tow up to Port Mc Neil, on Vancouver Island, the round trip is just under 800 miles plus 2 hours on ferries - the roads are generally good, but I'll keep using M-Y-Wedge on the Arima.

[AJFishin]

[fishmeister]

I'm waiting....

   

[Yachter Yat]

   Meister: I know you're impatient, and I wouldn't want to see that popcorn go stale, so I won't keep you waiting.   The answer to this is simple. It's like this:

   Trim "thingeedoo"......okay.  Bracket to trailer......absolutely out of the question.

Yat

[christianbrat]

Another fantastic reason to use a transom saver is so that if your trim system ever fails you can manually tilt the engine up and lock it into place          

[croaker stroker]

Another fantastic reason to use a transom saver is so that if your trim system ever fails you can manually tilt the engine up and lock it into place          

Couldn't you do that with any device that holds up your motor? (Including a block of wood?)

[christianbrat]

Another fantastic reason to use a transom saver is so that if your trim system ever fails you can manually tilt the engine up and lock it into place          

Couldn't you do that with any device that holds up your motor? (Including a block of wood?)

good luck lifting your engine enough to shove a block of wood under it. Most transom savers have notches which makes this possible solo.

[croaker stroker]

Another fantastic reason to use a transom saver is so that if your trim system ever fails you can manually tilt the engine up and lock it into place          

Couldn't you do that with any device that holds up your motor? (Including a block of wood?)

good luck lifting your engine enough to shove a block of wood under it. Most transom savers have notches which makes this possible solo.

A young guy should be able to do it.


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pWiE3a2vUlw