M-Y wedge vs. traditional transom savers

[Yegboats]

Can someone possibly explain to me how the http://www.m-ywedge.com/ type "transom savers" would replace the traditional type transom savers? I can see how it will take the load off the hydraulic system and helps with bouncing. I just can't wrap my head around how it would actually take the load off the transom itself? With a traditional transom saver the engine weight is transfered to the trailer. I don't see that with the wedge type.

 

[roscoe]

A traditional transom saver ( and your hull tie down straps ) is designed to lock the hull, the trailer frame, and the motor, into one rigid piece.
It will eliminate any movement or oscillating of the motor on the transom.
When the hull or motor wants to move, all 3 components move together, on the trailer's suspension.

I really don't see how the wedge can do that.
It will cushion the hydraulics and support the motor, but it won't eliminate movement, which is what
will bow bend crack or otherwise damage a transom.
If you read the ads on their webpage, they make no mention at all, about protecting your transom.

If you ever studied waves or harmonics in physics, you know how a little movement can get amplified.

 

[ajgraz]

IMO, if the transom is so weak it needs "saving," then what it really needs is replacing. Given the choice, I'd rather lose the transom on the trailer than on the water.

The MY Wedge, as explained above, is more designed to save the T&T hydraulics, and I suppose the skeg and prop should the ram let loose, and these were reasons enough for me to get one for my Optimax...since Merc could not figure out how to engineer a trailerable support arm like Johnny did.

On the downside, I am on my second wedge in three months, as I did discover that the hydraulics will split the wedge if you forget it is there. I won't make that mistake twice!

What I can't figure out is how nobody has come out with a $10 knockoff, since the thing is made from about $1 worth of poly rubber.

 

[Baylinerchuck]

Can someone possibly explain to me how the http://www.m-ywedge.com/ type "transom savers" would replace the traditional type transom savers? I can see how it will take the load off the hydraulic system and helps with bouncing. I just can't wrap my head around how it would actually take the load off the transom itself? With a traditional transom saver the engine weight is transfered to the trailer. I don't see that with the wedge type.

Great question, I was wondering that myself. I wouldn't use the m-y wedge. The tradition transom saver takes load off the hydraulics AND as roscoe stated binds motor, transom and trailer together. I always looked at it as extra protection for those really crappy Pennsylvania roads when heading to the ramp.

 

[mla2ofus]

To me the wedge or transom saver both accomplish one thing by transferring the weight of the powerhead directly over the transom rather than being overhung behind the transom. The transom saver has the advantage also in that it transfers most of a shock load from a bad road bump to the trailer.
Mike

 

[Scott Danforth]

I prefer the "transom saver" type motor defloperizer as it transmits load back to the trailer. Pennsylvania roads are much like Northern Wisconsin and the UP roads. pot holes with their own zip code

in addition to reducing strain on the transom, it also reduces strain on the transom clamp. the hydraulics have built in relief valves to relieve any stress on them.

 

[Maclin]

For me, just my opinion, the stiffleg type of transom support is worth the extra effort and I have always used them on outboards.

The outboard motor pivot point is about where the weight is equal between power head and lower end, so when the engine is tilted all the way up the transom more or less see a straight down force, and even with the angle of most transoms the weight is distributed from top to bottom and not fore-aft unbalanced. So in that respect the transom has the advantage. But when you add in the movement from going down the road then consider the dynamics of harmonics, any motor movement is amplifed as mentioned. This introduces forces not seen when all is static, and the need for some kind of deflopperizer* becomes evident. With the stiffleg, the motor itself now has support at both ends by the transom and the trailer in a spread out triangular arrangement, and harmonics are nearly eliminated. This is why I go with the stiffleg type for any over the road longer trips. I have observed the reactions of the motor when encountering mild road irregularities when supported by just the tilt lock, it looks pretty busy. With the stiffleg it is still, sleeping like a baby.

* Fellow iBoater's term, sorry cant remember who to cite specifically

 

[laurentide]

I use the wedge as well as a ratchet strap to the transom eyes to hold the engine in place. It's a little less effort than a transom saver with the same result (well, debatable, I guess).

I don't think the transom saver is actually saving any transoms that aren't already rotted. But it's peace of mind that your engine isn't flopping around when you can't see it.

 

[Maclin]

I use the wedge as well as a ratchet strap to the transom eyes to hold the engine in place. It's a little less effort than a transom saver with the same result (well, debatable, I guess).

I don't think the transom saver is actually saving any transoms that aren't already rotted. But it's piece of mind that your engine isn't flopping around when you can't see it.

The ratcheting down pre-stresses the loading, is a sound mechanical engineering principle, keeps the flopping from getting out of control, I kinda like the idea of that. And an astute observation about what the transom "saver" can actually save! Definitely a big factor in the peace of mind for me.

 

[ajgraz]

I like the ratchet strap idea, too (with the wedge). Must adopt that.

 

[GA_Boater]

How many of us have changed impellers? How many DIY impeller changers have commented on the the weight of the lower unit? How many motors have busted or missing flimsy tilt lock hardware?

Keeping those questions in mind explains the purpose of what is commonly know as a transom saver. A healthy transom will support a motor, but a healthy transom will not stop a motor from exerting the weight on tilt tubes, tilt locks or hydraulic TnT caused by bumps in the road. A transom saver is a stabilizer which helps support the lower unit by transferring the inertial weight to the trailer away from the motor parts which are a PITA to repair or replace.

So defloppenizer or motor steadier, even motor saver are better names than transom saver because they save motor parts. No matter what, rotted transoms can't be saved, only repaired.

The above is IMHO.

 

[jimmbo]

As for the transom 'savers', those ones sticking from the trailer, They are good for engines that can't be locked rigid, like the any outboard without power trim or tilt, and Mercury's first power trim for outboards, the two rams hanging on the side power trim system. Those engines when fully tilted up by the hydraulics had to be tilted up a bit more by hand and a "tilt lock" was rotated 180 degrees and then the motor was let go. The motor was still free to bounce up and down. Here a bar from the lower unit to the trailer could hold the outboard steady. If the boat shifted on the trailer. there weren't any consequences as the motor could still move.
Using the Transom breakers with a motor that can be held rigid by hydraulics can place an enormous strain on the transom, if the boat were shift forward or backward on the trailer for whatever reason, an example, when the boat isn't jammed up against the bow roller, and shifts forward when the tow vehicle hits the brakes.
Making the motor unmovable in regards to the boat is good idea, attaching it to something separate from the boat maybe, maybe not.

The 'My Wedge' just lessens the angle where the engine is held compared to the stock Tilt lock lever. Looks like it would work on Mercs, but some OMC units required the rams to be fully retracted when trailering. Might not works so good there
It sounds like a solution to a problem that usually doesn't exist

 

[Scott Danforth]

It sounds like a solution to a problem that usually doesn't exist

its an opportunity to sell something and people buy it.

 

[dingbat]

If you ever studied waves or harmonics in physics, you know how a little movement can get amplified.

They would also understand that different masses vibrate at different frequencies.

So now your boat, trailer and motor are all vibrating at different frequencies, deflection rates, etc.

Now apply your ampfication between the three components and you'll understand why it would be a cold day before one of those things is ever strapped to my boat

 

[JimS123]

Newer motors with PTT are pretty steady when in the up position. In contrast, older motors with a simple tilt lock bounced quite a bit. These dynamic stresses are what causes damage to a transom.

Way back when I had 2 OMC OBs that had a bar that would drop down when the motor was tilted. Then you lowered the motor onto it and locked it and all was well. I guess this was a predecessor to a transom saver. It is almost exactly the same as MY Wedge. With the motor in this static position, there should be no (or minimal) dynamic stresses.

It sounds like a solution to a problem that usually doesn't exist.

Oh, it surely DOES exist. If you ever saw a transom and motor literally fall off a boat, you wouldn't say that. After following a friend down the highway and seeing his motor flopperizing, and repeatedly telling him his transom will suffer, the inevitable DID happen. When I hear someone say "deep six" it makes me think of him....LOL.

 

[roscoe]

IMO, if the transom is so weak it needs "saving," then what it really needs is replacing. Given the choice, I'd rather lose the transom on the trailer than on the water.

Dad's new 16' Alumacraft with a 30hp motor had the transom bow out and split within 2 years.
That would be just 4 weeks of vacation, and about 3500 miles.
It depends on how bad the roads are. 800 miles were on Canadian shield logging roads.

 

[roscoe]

They would also understand that different masses vibrate at different frequencies.

So now your boat, trailer and motor are all vibrating at different frequencies, deflection rates, etc.

Now apply your ampfication between the three components and you'll understand why it would be a cold day before one of those things is ever strapped to my boat

And yet you have your wheels bolted to your car, and the doors are bolted on too. and the glass is secured in the door, and the mirror is glued on the windshield.
Shouldn't they all shatter from the incompatible frequencies? lol

Have you never watched a 350# motor bobbing up and down on a boat next to you while traveling down the highway?

 

[Maclin]

Having the wiggling movements from oscillations dampened by the triangulation method of securing the bottom of the motor is of value. Further dampening is provided by the rubber components of the stiffleg. Leaving a motor leg out in the open with no way to dampen oscillations is not as good as securing it at the end in my opinion, that is why I use them.

Now I will go here... most of my outboard stuff is/was older when obtained. The first 2 of the 3 did not have even the power tilt. And the one that did would leak down after a while. The 2 I/O's I have had were left alone and depended on the hydraulics, plus the distance from where supported by the lift mechanism and the end of the props was not an issue to me.

 

[dingbat]

And yet you have your wheels bolted to your car, and the doors are bolted on too. and the glass is secured in the door, and the mirror is glued on the windshield.
Shouldn't they all shatter from the incompatible frequencies? lol

Probably because the auto companies have spent billions of dollars developing suspensions systems to minimize vibration induced failures.

When was the last time you saw a boat, with it's 350# motor bobbing up and down (one has to immediately wonder why a #350 motor doesn't have power trim and tilt), bolted to a trailer (using specially designed isolation bushings) with a tuned, torsion bar suspension system under it?

 

[roscoe]

When was the last time you saw a boat, with it's 350# motor bobbing up and down (one has to immediately wonder why a #350 motor doesn't have power trim and tilt), bolted to a trailer (using specially designed isolation bushings) with a tuned, torsion bar suspension system under it?

Last October, going over the 172 bridge in Green Bay.

Oh it had power tilt and trim, but the skeg was still moving up and down about 2".

So, thats great if you have never seen a damaged transom, but I've seen more than a few.
oh yeah, crimp, synthetic, 5200, and tinned.