where to mount transom saver???

[H20Rat]

Re: where to mount transom saver???

Are you guys saying that support of a transom saver doesnt protect the transom against the weight of the motor? I had a transom on 70's 16 ft holiday that I trailered without support for a couple years and the transom showed definite stress in the form of seperation from the splashwell. I was always under the impression that this was due to the motor not being supported?

So you had what maybe an 85hp on that? The stress the prop exerts on your transom while going over small waves at full throttle is many magnitudes larger than any bump in the road... Think of it this way... Tilt your motor up, now figure out a way to stand on your prop and bounce up and down as hard as you can. That still is nothing compared to the stress the transom goes through during normal operating conditions. Additionally, when your motor is tilted up, there is very little torsional stress. Most of the weight is centered at the top of the transom and is pushing straight down.

If your transom is so weak that a transom saver makes a difference, the boat is not seaworthy, period.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: where to mount transom saver???

If the boat is moving around on the trailer it is definitely not secure enough. Most owners manuals will also tell you that the tilt latch is not intended for trailering -- they are intended for when when docked. A boat that is properly secured, a properly installed transom saver provides the protection it was designed for. The best way to tow a boat is with the engine straight down since the only forces at work in that scenario are vertical. But since most motors would drag on the ground, an alternate support mechanism is needed. Some moreso than others.

IN a perfect world the boat and trailer would completely move together, but that's not realistic. I agree with you that the boat shouldn't move much, but they do move some. For all these forces we are talking about, it's the slight movements, repeated, that cause the problems (or not).

Although the now manuals say not to trailer on the latch, they are being overly cautious. Tilt latches do not fail under typical trailering. History proves this. Imagine what it would take to lift the motor high enough for the latch to spring closed, and what it would take to work against the spring to close it? Or how high you'd have to lift the motor and how hard you'd have to slam it down to shear off the steel latch? If that goes on, everyone's dead anyway.

I sincerely doubt that for the people who believe the motor is bouncing, that the motor, and just the motor, is bouncing up and down on and against the transom bracket. More likely the whole rig is bouncing, but they see the top of the OB in the rear view. There just isn't enough force from a bounce to lift the lower unit on a heavy motor and a light one (like a 4) won't matter. You could test it by having someone walk beside the boat when you go over that speed bump you say bounces the motor, or for highway testing, put a small chip of wood or cardboard between the motor/bracket and latch, and see if it's still there on arrival.

 

[cyclops2]

Re: where to mount transom saver???

Anybody ever read those Marine catalogues ??

I should have bought 1 of most every item for a boat !! Right ? Those are all NEEDED things a boatowner MUST have in his boat.

" HELP HELP. " My boat just sank. Really ? You should have ONLY bought everything in lightweight TITANIUM.

$$$$$$

 

[John Favorite]

Re: where to mount transom saver???


They do make Transom Savers with a curved bar that can reach under your boat's transom and connect to the trailer frame. Or maybe an extension bar attached or welded to the Transom Saver or to the trailer frame to connect these? There's lots of thoughts and opinions about these, but I personally think they make good sense. Your 50HP motor probably weighs 200 to 225lbs., and it seems good to me to have everything secured back there while trailering the boat. My motor is a 90HP, weighs 268lbs., and I always use the Transom Saver. You can figure a way make it work...good luck!

I'd really like to know what the genius engineer/designer of the Attwood transom saver was thinking by making the user crawl under the stern to disconnect the thing every time it is used. If it is left on it will scrape on the ground and when backing the boat in I imagitit would snap off or fold up and be useless.