Transom saver?

[Hartley's boat]

Hi y'all! I am probably gong to look silly for asking this considering what I have but I am thinking about buying a cheap transom saver from Wally World for my boat. Is it silly to think I need such a thing for my little 6hp Evinrude? I just hate the thought of it damaging the transom when hauling it and I don't want to haul it separate from the boat and end up having to put it on when I get to my destination. I mean it's only about 50# but I feel like it could potentially damage the transom since the boat is so old.... I don't know....am I crazy?

 

[robert graham]

Yes, buy it and use it....keeps your motor from moving around while trailering....plus it holds your motor up so you don't drag the skeg going in and out of driveways....

 

[fishin98]

Sounds like a good idea, if nothing more..... just for peace of mind.

 

[Scott Danforth]

The official I boats term is motordefloperizer

 

[Hartley's boat]

LOL! That is a good term! Thanx y'all!

 

[smokeonthewater]

You can buy it to hold the motor in the tilted position but the transom doesn't need saved... It is either more than up to the task of holding the motor OR it is already rotten and unsafe to operate.

 

[gm280]

I honestly understand what Smoke is saying. However I have a little different take on a "motordefloperizer". Yes you transom should be able to support the engine and any flopping around. But any little help to neutralize additional flex to prolong the transom is a good deal in my book. Looking at it like every part of any boat hull has only so many flexes that they can handle over their life time. So reducing flex while trailering can only help the transom...not hurt it. Kind of like a piece of metal. You can flex it and basically nothing happens. But after a while, that metal starts to become fatigued. And eventually it will crack and break... So I like "motordefloperizers" on my boats... JMHO!

 

[Scott Danforth]

in short.....how many times can you bend a beer can?

 

[JimS123]

I have had many trailerboats with little outboards on them. Every single one had more than a foot clearance when down, so I've never needed a deflopperizer.

 

[Fed]

When the motor is up all the weight is above the transom and to a large degree balanced on top of the transom whereas when they're down all the weight is outside the transom trying to rip it out backwards with every bump.
Transom savers should be called motor savers to cater for the motors that aren't capable of supporting themselves in a towing situation like Yamahas.
Who would make a motor that needs another part before you can use it.... it's like making a car with a missing wheel.

 

[JimS123]

When the motor is up all the weight is above the transom and to a large degree balanced on top of the transom whereas when they're down all the weight is outside the transom trying to rip it out backwards with every bump.
Transom savers should be called motor savers to cater for the motors that aren't capable of supporting themselves in a towing situation like Yamahas.
Who would make a motor that needs another part before you can use it.... it's like making a car with a missing wheel.

I beg to differ. Down is balanced because its stationary. Up its bouncing back and forth and its that torque that will do in the transom.

Then again the magnitude of the damage is proportional to the weight of the motor. The OP's 6 is a light weight.

If you ever saw a bouncing 40 HP rip the transom right out of a tinny it would make you a believer.

Every outboard needs other parts depending upon use. Some trailers are high, some are low. Flat bottoms and deep Vs add another factor. Some boats have a poor design and are stern heavy, thus needing a foil. Yamaha can't design for each situation...

 

[scoutabout]

Small motors (less than 15 hp)I tend to ratchet down tight against the transom with straps to secure. I don't think there is enough weight to be a problem.

On our larger Yamaha I will use the transom saver. I love the Yamaha to bits but it has two significant drawbacks. One of them is a tilt lock that would be hard-pressed to support a wet bag of dog poop. Totally unfit to support that bulk in my view, which to be fair they say staright up in the manual. (The other issue is a weak tilt angle sensor which keeps breaking resulting in useless trim readings on the dash).

With the larger motor I tow it tilted and would do so even with no prop clearance problems. She's a porky beast and I'd rather have the majority of that weight (engine block) directly above the transom pushing directly down with each bump rather than hanging way (comparatively speaking) off the back levering away.

 

[Fed]

Looks like we'll have to disagree Jim but if you check out Yamaha you'll see they actually call them motor supports and do absolutely nothing to save the transom.
If your transom needs saving you need a new transom.

 

[smokeonthewater]

.......If your transom needs saving you need a new transom.

THIS!

It's funny that my grandpa's old 16' tinny with the monster 50's 35 rude was trailered for 40 years or so (before being sold) all over the rocky dirt roads throughout the smokey mountains and all over Tennessee without a transom saver and somehow the transom never failed and the motor never fell off.... I guess the paint faded on the old motor and he got a few dents in the boat from submerged stumps.... Maybe a transom saver would have prevented that???

 

[bassman284]

Wow. Deja vu all over again.

 

[JimS123]

THIS!

It's funny that my grandpa's old 16' tinny with the monster 50's 35 rude was trailered for 40 years or so (before being sold) all over the rocky dirt roads throughout the smokey mountains and all over Tennessee without a transom saver and somehow the transom never failed and the motor never fell off.... I guess the paint faded on the old motor and he got a few dents in the boat from submerged stumps.... Maybe a transom saver would have prevented that???

That could be a direct quote from my FIL - same old tinny, Big Twin and bad roads. The transom was solid and the rivets secure, but he insisted on trailering with the motor at full tilt. When I followed him you could see the motor constantly bouncing and rocking back and forth. After 10 or so years I was behind him on the way to the cottage when the transom let go.

The transom saver or whatever you want to call it puts the motor in a static condition. Its the dynamic stresses from bouncing that cause the problem.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Gramps left his tilted down and shifted into reverse

I always used a strap or rope to secure small motors.

 

[fishin98]

Always a good thing to keep the motors from flopping back and forth...eventually something is going to give.

 

[JimS123]

Gramps left his tilted down and shifted into reverse

I always used a strap or rope to secure small motors.

Bingo, that's what I do...

 

[robert graham]

Not to beat a dead horse or get too technical, but the transom saver connects the outboard motor foot with a point on the back/bottom of the trailer, so it sorta makes a triangle with the transom....and we all know that triangles a good and strong....right guys????