I’ve always kept it in neutral and I’ve never heard of anyone doing anything else. One thing that always perplexes me is how a lot of people don’t have or use some sort of “motor support” while trailering. It really blows my mind when I see a boat going down the road with the motor trimmed all the way up and then turned all the way to one side or the other. To me, that just comes across as lazy. By simply using the boat’s hydraulics, isn’t that placing unnecessary pressures on the motor? Granted, I only have one motor but if my boat isn’t in the water, I always use the “motor toter” to support the motor.
No matter how much it hurts, how dark it gets, or how far you fall…you are never out of the fight.
This has been debated a lot…plenty to read on it supporting both ideas.
The forces a transom sees during normal trailering is minimal compared to what it sees in a typical boating outing. Most boat manufacturer’s balk at the idea, saying you’re questioning the integrity of their hull.
Evinrude has a spring loaded mechanism in their new motors to handle this task, and Yamaha makes a tube that goes over tilt/trim rams to support the motor. Mercury says theirs should be transported all the way down with no additional support if ground clearance allows, and the use of some sort of device if ground clearance is an issue.
There’s also the argument that tilting the motor up puts the powerhead (the heaviest part) directly above the transom and makes it function as a fulcrum of sorts, so the pressures exerted are DOWN the transom instead of flexing it.
To each his own…mine rides on the trim rams, always has and never had a problem.
If you remember your trigonometry rules, This can help with the problem of whether to place in gear or not. At highway speeds, If the motor is tilted at a known angle, then you know that tan#8722;1(ab) is the same as saying tan#920;=ab. Knowing our mnemonic device SOH, CAH, TOA, we know that tan #920; = opposite/adjacent. If a is our opposite and b is our adjacent, this means that #920; will be our right-most angle.
Knowing that, we can find the cos of #920; as well. The cosine will be the adjacent over the hypotenuse. the adjacent still being b and the hypotenuse being #8730;a2+b2. So cos[tan#8722;1(ab)] will be…well, let me get back with you…
If you remember your trigonometry rules, This can help with the problem of whether to place in gear or not. At highway speeds, If the motor is tilted at a known angle, then you know that tan#8722;1(ab) is the same as saying tan#920;=ab. Knowing our mnemonic device SOH, CAH, TOA, we know that tan #920; = opposite/adjacent. If a is our opposite and b is our adjacent, this means that #920; will be our right-most angle.
Knowing that, we can find the cos of #920; as well. The cosine will be the adjacent over the hypotenuse. the adjacent still being b and the hypotenuse being #8730;a2+b2. So cos[tan#8722;1(ab)] will be…well, let me get back with you…
2016 Pioneer 197 Islander
You forgot to account for weight distribution and whether or not you are using one of those little transom savers.
I’ve always wondered about the motor brackets. I always used the lock or the Yamaha tube. I’m not sure I like the idea of my motor strapped to the trailer.
I’ve always kept it in neutral and I’ve never heard of anyone doing anything else. One thing that always perplexes me is how a lot of people don’t have or use some sort of “motor support” while trailering. It really blows my mind when I see a boat going down the road with the motor trimmed all the way up and then turned all the way to one side or the other. To me, that just comes across as lazy. By simply using the boat’s hydraulics, isn’t that placing unnecessary pressures on the motor? Granted, I only have one motor but if my boat isn’t in the water, I always use the “motor toter” to support the motor.
No matter how much it hurts, how dark it gets, or how far you fall…you are never out of the fight.
On all my glitter boats I always trailed with a motor support, Usually had them over rated and was concerned about the Transom with all the bouncing on the way to the landing.
For reeldawg, On the bigger offshore rigs, I would think no amount of trailering would put off the stress of 1050 hp pushing a boat for Thousands of miles during it’s life running wide open across 3’ waves.
"If your transom can stand to carry the engine while you are bouncing across a 2-3ft chopp with the prop(s) breaking loose and grabbing why would think you need a transon saver. The next thing these wonderful things do is transfer road shock from your trailer to gearcase of your outboard. I don’t care how tight you think you have your boat straped down there’s still movement. I’ve seen gearcase that were punched through on the front edge from transom savers…It’s one of the dumber things that have been invented in the marine industry to get into your pocket.
The best way to trailer your engine is to trim it about half way up so the gearcase is just above the bottom of the boat. Measuse the distance beteeen the base of the trim ram and where the ram sit’s against midsection bracket. Cut yourself two pieces of 1/1/2" or 2" PVC. Tilt the engine up and drop the PCV pipes over the rams and drop the engine lining up the PVC on the mid section bracket. Pull the engine down tight with the trim system. It shouldn’t move if you trim system is right. For long trips bungee the engine down with the PVC pipes on place.
Any boat that needs transom saver I would stay away from because it’s not built right. And there are some bassboats that the manuf’s require them."
