Trailer or Deflate

[thannever]

Greetings all, I am new here and am looking for some advice if y'all don't mind.
I just purchased a 12' inflatable. With seats and floor removed it weighs in at around 130 lbs. First time set up; inflating with foot pump was easy, floor install was tricky but not impossible. Deflating it and folding it up the first time was harder then inflating it but I think I got it down. I can justify the space in my garage to leave it inflated most of the year. I wanted to avoid trailering it and was thinking of just deflating it and getting it into the back of my truck to get to the lake. My challenge is the motor. I now have a 9.8 HP outboard (short shaft) that weighs in at around 85 lbs. I just can't think of a non-trailer option to get both the boat and the motor to the lake. I can put the motor on a stand in my truck but i just can't think of how I'll be able to lift it off the stand and get it out of the truck without falling and killing myself and the motor. It's not that I won't be able to lift it, it's that transition from standing straight up carrying 85 lbs and getting to a 'sitting' position to get it out and onto the inflated boat. Trailering the boat with the motor mounted is starting to sound easier. I did want to avoid a trailer and the registration but at this point I am looking for advice, opinions, abuse, etc.

 

[Scott06]

Greetings all, I am new here and am looking for some advice if y'all don't mind.
I just purchased a 12' inflatable. With seats and floor removed it weighs in at around 130 lbs. First time set up; inflating with foot pump was easy, floor install was tricky but not impossible. Deflating it and folding it up the first time was harder then inflating it but I think I got it down. I can justify the space in my garage to leave it inflated most of the year. I wanted to avoid trailering it and was thinking of just deflating it and getting it into the back of my truck to get to the lake. My challenge is the motor. I now have a 9.8 HP outboard (short shaft) that weighs in at around 85 lbs. I just can't think of a non-trailer option to get both the boat and the motor to the lake. I can put the motor on a stand in my truck but i just can't think of how I'll be able to lift it off the stand and get it out of the truck without falling and killing myself and the motor. It's not that I won't be able to lift it, it's that transition from standing straight up carrying 85 lbs and getting to a 'sitting' position to get it out and onto the inflated boat. Trailering the boat with the motor mounted is starting to sound easier. I did want to avoid a trailer and the registration but at this point I am looking for advice, opinions, abuse, etc.

The easier you make it to use the more you will use it, which points to a trailer so you can leave it inflated with the engine attched.

Otherwise I would put the enigine flat in the back of the bed wrapped in a moving blanket vs on a stand.

 

[thannever]

The easier you make it to use the more you will use it, which points to a trailer so you can leave it inflated with the engine attched.

Otherwise I would put the enigine flat in the back of the bed wrapped in a moving blanket vs on a stand.

Thank you, that's a great point. It's a four stroke so i'm told by the manual that if i must lay it flat to so with tiller side down, but it also talks about draining gasoline, etc. If I temporarily go that route I was thinking fabricating a plywood 'brace' that would be in the transom clamps. The idea is to keep the motor angled and secure during driving. I'll think it over but thanks again.