Re: Is a Transom Saver REALLY needed?
You are going to hear opinions on both sides of the issue. Some wouldn't trailer around the block without one and some, like me, feel they do more harm than good.
I don't like them because loads tend to move around on any trailer. Ask a truck driver who hauls flatbed loads about the need to constantly check and adjust load straps. About the only way to prevent this is to strap the load, be it a boat or otherwise, down so tight that there is no movement what-so-ever, between the trailer and that load. While this sounds like a simple thing, it isn't. In order to get every bit of movement arrested, the load has to be strapped down to a point where stress damage can occur.
If you don't get rid of this movement, what you end up with is the transom saver transmitting every movement of the trailer to the boat. You can pretty much figure out through what that movement will be transmitted.
On the other hand, if you don't cinch the boat down, and don't use a transom saver, you will end up with a motor that is going to move somewhat. My motor (1972 Johnson 65hp) doesn't have T&T, so I just lower it onto the swing bar in the backside of the transom bracket. I then bungee it very tightly (so there is essentially no play in the bungees) to the lower portion of the transom bracket, resulting in a motor that moves with the boat, not the trailer. I feel that this creates a situation where the motor moves with the transom, not against it.
The other point is that, as the previous person stated, you are going to put more stress on a transom operating the boat than driving down the road, as long as your motor is imobilized. Your motor isn't big enough to cause great stress under accelleration, but pounding the boat over waves day in and day out certainly will.
I don't think this argument will ever be settled, but that's my 53 cents .... inflation, you know!