Motor position while towing

[colobear]

This is my solution to the problem:



I made wooden braces to fit as shown. Before trailering I raise the engines to allow the braces to be inserted, using trim put just a little downward pressure on them so they are snug, and head out. They have worked well for thousands of miles of trailering.

[ssobol]

[browntdb]

As the original poster, I thought I would pass along what four authorized Yamaha Dealers told me. The first was the lady that works at the front counter. She said that Hondas could be towed with the motors on the tilt brackets but Yamaha's could not. I called another dealer and the fellow said that Yamaha's could be towed with the tilt brackets in place.

I then called two more shops and talked to the actual mechanics who service Yamaha Outboards. One told me that the strongest part of the Yamaha assembly is the hydraulic piston that tilts the engine. As a result, he said to not lower the motor down to the tilt brackets, but to keep it tilted and let the hydraulic cylinders hold the outboard.

The last service tech I talked to agreed that the hydraulic cylinders were one of the toughest parts of the motor, but he said to go ahead and let the outboard rest in the tilted postion on the tilt brackets.

The Yamaha website FAQ says to not let the outboard rest on the tilt bracket. I don't know if that is for newer outboards. Mine are 2005 models.

Even the experts can't agree. I have decided to let the outboard rest on the tilt brackets while towing, and if they ever get bent for any reason, get them replaced.

You would think with the miles Yamaha outboards are towed every year, that there should be some real world testing and consistent recommendations from the factory and their authorized service representatives.

Terry

[Cfoster]

Terry,
I have a 2008 Grady White Tournament 225 with a Yamaha F-250 TXR on a Gill bracket. I tow it 300 miles round trip to Lake Cumberland constantly. I have always used one M-Y wedge on the port side and have never had any problems. I would highly recommend the M-Y.
Wedge.

[Sunbeam]

As a partial follow up on the M-Y Wedge issue I mentioned:

First of all, when I got the wedge, I happened to be at the Yamaha shop, and the shop fellow simply popped the wedge on and trimmed the motor down. Okay, seemed fine, and I got on my way. The solid part of the wedge (180º opposite the slit) was facing aft. I trailered around 6,000 miles without a problem.

Then, a few months later, I was getting ready for another long tow, and since I had not put the wedge on the first time, I wasn't exactly sure how much "oomph" to let the downward trim have when I trapped it in place. So I went to their website and read the instructions they have posted (it's the "Universal" wedge). Lo and behold, I noticed that they said, in all caps, with many exclamation points, (quoted):"pop it on AND THEN TURN IT 180º SO THE SOLID RUBBER FACES THE BOAT!!!"

Oh geez, I thought, I trailered all that way with it in backwards That'll teach me to just let someone else do it without me checking the instructions. Luckily there was not a problem. Whew! So I made sure to put it in how they said, which makes it so the slit faces aft instead of the solid part. Around 1,000 miles later, I had a pretty bad failure of it (photos in another thread from back then). Basically, it deformed so the slit opened up into a smile, and my motor was allowed to sink down as it rode on the trim cylinder only. The only thing that stopped a complete catastrophe (engine will drag on highway if it goes all the way down) was that the wedge got wedged between the tilt shaft and my transom. I actually had a hard time getting it off the tilt shaft because it had sort of hardened itself into the deformed shape.

So I made a prop board in a rest area out of part of an IKEA bed slat, with a hacksaw blade and a plane. That worked the rest of the way (1,500 miles or so), but the board was sort of deformed and cracked when I arrived (not enough so that the motor budged, but it was obviously only a temporary solution).

But, the style had worked, and I figured I could do better than a cheap piece of interior ply made of "white wood," so I made another board just like it, but out of a good piece of hardwood. That one started to break up after around 500 miles (problem is, it only partially rests on a metal "shelf" on the motor bracket, and there is a stress riser). I was still surprised it cracked up that soon though. Still had a piece of the same bed slat, so IKEA Bed Slat 2.0 was created in a parking area alongside the highway. That lasted the next few thousand miles.

Back to the M-Y Wedge though.... there was another mystery. A while later, after all this happened, I watched the "how to" video on their website. In that, they just pop it on and DO NOT turn it 180º, then lower the motor onto it with the hard rubber part facing aft (which is opposite to the emphatic instructions but is how I had it for the first, successful 6,000 miles). I had noted that dichotomy a few months ago, but at the time just figured, "forget the wedge, I'm sticking with my simple wood board," and so didn't do anything about it.

So, at the same time I was parked and making Bed Slat 2.0 (the board method obviously wasn't the rousing success I had thought it might be), I called the fellow at M-Y Wedge and talked to him about it. I still had the wedge aboard and was thinking about re-using it in the "wrong" orientation. The fellow at M-Y Wedge (who called me back ASAP, at my request) said they had not had any other failures (which, even when true still bugs me slightly to hear when I call a company with a failure example, but I digress). I asked about the instructions and said I was a bit confused between the emphatic written instructions and the video, which were contradictory. He said that the written instruction way (slit side aft) was really only recommended for 20 hp and under engines (but I did not see that anywhere, just that these were "the" instructions for the Universal Wedge). So, he recommended I use it with the hard rubber aft (which did work fine for 6,000 miles and does seem more logical to me after having seen the failure). I asked if he could send me a new wedge, because mine had taken a set in the deformed position, and even though it straightened out about 80%, I still didn't trust it as much as I would a new one. He was amenable, although I didn't ask if I would be charged and he didn't specify one way or the other. I'm hoping/assuming it will be gratis. I offered to send him photos of the problem I had, and he was interested in them, which I'm glad about. He was pleasant to talk to on the phone.

So (if anyone is still here and awake ), when I got to where I was picking up a friend, I took out the now-gracefully-failing Bed Slat 2.0, and put the semi-healed M-Y Wedge back in the way I had it the first time (solid rubber aft). Since it still had a slight memory of the deformation (basically it gets out of column and can easily continue to deform), I took some disused hose clamps and placed them around the wedge at about the half way point, where the deformation had been. I figured all they had to do was help to keep it in column. I have about 400 miles on that setup now, and that was over some pretty bouncy off-interstate highways, and all looks fine. I think I would now trust a new wedge (that had not ever deformed) if it were placed with the solid rubber aft. In fact, I will use the new wedge when I get it.

The last note is that M-Y say you can trim the wedge to make it fit or to put the motor on a better angle for your setup. I did trim around 1" off the height of the wedge when I got it, because my engine already protrudes a fair bit past the taillights, and the more it is tilted up the MORE it protrudes. It's possible that as the engine is slightly less tilted it puts more forward pressure on the wedge, but then that still rode absolutely fine when I had it the "wrong" way with the solid rubber aft.

I'll post back to my "wedge failure" thread when I hear back from the fellow at M-Y after he has seen my photos. If it did fail because of the slit being forward (seems like that can allow the motor to push it off the trim shaft and or get it out of column), then I hope they clarify that those instructions are only for small (< 21 hp) engines. I'm hoping my engine tilt mechanism wasn't damaged. It seems to work fine on the trailer, but that's a limited amount of use.

Sunbeam

[Dora~Jean]

Here's another data point. I towed my CD25 home when new (2003) from the San Francisco area 450 miles with the engines on the little swivel tilt brackets. And I was as careful as I could be to avoid bumps and potholes. At home I saw that the port engine's bracket was severely bent and wouldn't turn anymore.

The Yami dealer ordered me another one promptly. While at the dealer (a boat dealer that sold Yamahas) he recommended I use Transom Savers. So I bought a couple, installed them and haven't had a problem since. While looking at the geometry and possible independent motion of the trailer and boat, I decided it was best to cinch down the boat's stern to the trailer, just in case I hit an unforeseen pot-hole or something that would cause the boat to jump/bounce from the trailer at the aft end.

I have the Transom Savers adjusted to only have the engines tilted to a minimum angle that gives me ample clearance for driveways, speed bumps, etc.

After 10-15K towing miles, I've had no problems with the steering or hydraulic lift mechanisms, other than routine maintenance.

[Will-C]

This what we do notice tether to our generator mount to prevent the unthinkable from happening. Like going through another motorists windshield. Cheap lasted 20 thousand miles plus of towing. More pictures in our album under trailer modifications.
D.D.