should my outboard be tilted?

[dstroud1987]

I was just looking at my boat in the garage and noticed that when i last put it away i just left the motor tilted down. I am not to sure why i even thought about it but it got me wondering if i should always have the motor up when its not in the water? it just looks like having the motor down like that put extra stress on my transom.

is this something i should be worried about? or am i just driving myself crazy with things that might go wrong before i finally get her on the water in a week and a half?

any advise will be more than appreciated.

 

[silverfox441]

Re: should my outboard be tilted?

Simply good practice. You might forget it down and drive away.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: should my outboard be tilted?

it weighs the same up or down (which is why transom savers are a waste). However, when it's down, it drains and if outdoors, can't accumulate water in the prop hub. I'm not expert but I'd think your carbs and other parts are happier in a drain mode, too. Plus it takes up less room down.

 

[WIMUSKY]

Re: should my outboard be tilted?

I always drop mine down when it's parked...

 

[Pony]

Re: should my outboard be tilted?

it weighs the same up or down (which is why transom savers are a waste). However, when it's down, it drains and if outdoors, can't accumulate water in the prop hub. I'm not expert but I'd think your carbs and other parts are happier in a drain mode, too. Plus it takes up less room down.

+1 on all accounts. The motor is designed to drain properly only in the down position.

 

[roscoe]

Re: should my outboard be tilted?

no, it is not.

 

[SierraMark]

Re: should my outboard be tilted?

Simply good practice. You might forget it down and drive away.

I agree with this but my motor ('91 Mercury 40) was slowly leaking gas while trimmed up. I did some research and found this to be normal.

So now I put the motor down when stored but I know I will forget it someday when I hook it up to the truck.

What I did was tie a rope around my throttle (with the trim buttons) and attach it to a wheel chock for my trailer. Now in order to move the trailer I need to remove the wheel chock and have to remove the rope from the throttle and this reminds me to trim the motor up. This has worked so far...hopefully it continues to.

-Mark

 

[m casey stock]

Re: should my outboard be tilted?

I always store mine down because I have a variable oiler system and the oil will leak some if trimmed up. I only install my transom saver when traveling because it keeps the motor from bouncing around and flexing the transom, causing cracks in the gel coat. Hey, if you forget and leave it down, it will let you know pretty quick. The first little dip and the audible warning system (skeg scraping the ground) will make the hair stand up on the back of your neck and you will probably remember it from then on LOL. Happy boating!

 

[Pony]

Re: should my outboard be tilted?

no, it is not.

?? I guess I am confussed then. This is straight from the manual. " Your outboard must be in a vertical position for the water to completely drain."

 

[BoatDrinksQ5]

Re: should my outboard be tilted?

it weighs the same up or down (which is why transom savers are a waste).

Weight or Mass yes (gravity hasn't changed nor has object) - but the main point of concern on anything (besides squishing ants and toes) is the torque/moment/force "twisting and vibration" on the materials that could cause it to fail. The further the center of mass is from the its connection point/fullcrum the more torque. The idea on an 'up' motor is that the vector/force is pointing along the line (parallel) to the lever arm position vector 'r'. Any force directed parallel to the particle's position vector does not produce a torque.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2e/Torque%2C_position%2C_and_force.svg/300px-Torque%2C_position%2C_and_force.svg.png

I am sure i have forgotten more then i remember from all the Physics i have taken.....but http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torque has at least a quick run down on some of the ideas behind it. hyperphysics is a much better site however!!

...end of morning jibberish....

 

[steelespike]

Re: should my outboard be tilted?

Store down;Less space ,you won't bump into it when you stumble home in the dark after a night out. Tie a pink ribbon on the trailer tongue to remind you.also be sure to have a fail safe system to be sure to put the drain plug in before you launch. Perhaps another pink ribbon on a time down.

 

[Texasmark]

Re: should my outboard be tilted?

Weight or Mass yes (gravity hasn't changed nor has object) - but the main point of concern on anything (besides squishing ants and toes) is the torque/moment/force "twisting and vibration" on the materials that could cause it to fail. The further the center of mass is from the its connection point/fullcrum the more torque. The idea on an 'up' motor is that the vector/force is pointing along the line (parallel) to the lever arm position vector 'r'. Any force directed parallel to the particle's position vector does not produce a torque.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2e/Torque%2C_position%2C_and_force.svg/300px-Torque%2C_position%2C_and_force.svg.png

I am sure i have forgotten more then i remember from all the Physics i have taken.....but http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torque has at least a quick run down on some of the ideas behind it. hyperphysics is a much better site however!!

...end of morning jibberish....

You are a man to my liking. I love physics also and try to stay in a mental alert status after having retired.

On the "moment of inertia", I personally doubt that the static weight of the engine hanging off the transom can come anyway near the "twisting moment" when the engine is firewalled. If concerned, one could put the engine in a vertical position and jump up and down with feet on the anti-vent plate while a second person watched the top of the transom for deflection. I have done it.

Oh, and I leave mine down. Garage kept. Personal preference.

Mark

 

[BoatDrinksQ5]

Re: should my outboard be tilted?

Yeah I wouldn't worry about the static forces of parked. And yes transom's are designed for these high forces think about the force (or calculate...?) the force of a prop spinning at WOT to push a boat (prop is pretty far from fulcrum)

Trailering: i might be more concerned AND I would be more concerned if you were to have a large outboard on a smaller boat...or transom was in rough shape.

 

[WIMUSKY]

Re: should my outboard be tilted?

I only install my transom saver when traveling because it keeps the motor from bouncing around and flexing the transom.........

I use a transom saver when traveling too for that reason. Unless I'm only going a few miles.

I don't forget to raise the motor because I put my plug in before I leave the house ensuring I wont forget at the landing.....

 

[MikePNJ]

Re: should my outboard be tilted?

I can add another tid bit to this also.

When I keep my boat in the slip I tilt it up out of the water.

I was just told recently by my mechanic it would be best to pull the fuel line and run it until it stalls out. Then prop it out of water. Keeping fuel out of it just sitting in it tilted up.

 

[Philster]

Re: should my outboard be tilted?

That's good, Mike, if you want to run your engine lean every time you are done for the day. I'm sure mechanics like it.

.

 

[H20Rat]

Re: should my outboard be tilted?

On the "moment of inertia", I personally doubt that the static weight of the engine hanging off the transom can come anyway near the "twisting moment" when the engine is firewalled. If concerned, one could put the engine in a vertical position and jump up and down with feet on the anti-vent plate while a second person watched the top of the transom for deflection. I have done it.

And to go along with that, you jumping on the anti-vent plate is a FRACTION of the load that goes through it while running on choppy water at full throttle! The pro-transom saver crowd usually doesn't grasp the magnitude of the force being put out by a full throttle engine. The bumps going down the road barely show up on the radar in comparison. Either way, i promised myself not to jump into that discussion, and here i am, oh well!


Anyway, motor down! As everyone previously mentioned, there are lots of reasons to have it down. (oil/gas leaking, water draining or freezing, bigger risk to walk into a meat chopper...) The only reason to leave it up is so you don't forget it when you drive away later, but if you aren't making a walk around your rig before moving it, you probably should start asap!

 

[roscoe]

Re: should my outboard be tilted?

?? I guess I am confussed then. This is straight from the manual. " Your outboard must be in a vertical position for the water to completely drain."

I was just answering the OP original question.

""is this something i should be worried about?""

There are enough other things to worry about.

So no, no need to worry about it, until you ge t freezing weather.


And I was trying to make a quick exit before getting sucked into the transom saver jibberish.

I have experienced what the harmonic oscillation can do to a 3 year old boat's transom, split it wide open, and it only had a 25 hp on it.

So yes, I secure the boat motor and trailer frame together into one non moving unit.

 

[Haysc]

Re: should my outboard be tilted?

i leave mine tilted up and transom saver attached to the trailer. not sure why people are saying transom savers are a waste.

 

[TyeeMan]

Re: should my outboard be tilted?

I always stored mine down when I had an outboard. Now with an IO I store it with the drive down, easier on the bellows.
Here in Minnesota the new invasive species law states that you must drain darn near everything but the gas tank at the landing, including outboards and drives. Trying to reduce introducing invasive species to different lakes if you go to multiple lakes during the day. Also new for this year, your plug must be out basically whenever the boat is on the trailer. Big ticket I hear if you get busted.
I'd say storing the outboard in the down positiong would be general good practice.