Motor trailering position with hydraulic steering

[Cview]

When trailering my C-Dory 25 with 135 hp Honda, I use the m-y wedge motor support (m-ywedge.com) so I can tilt the engine to get adequate ground clearance. I also use the m-y wedge centering clips on the Seastar hydraulic rams to keep the engine centered.

After a long trailering trip, sometimes I see that one of the centering clips may be squished. Also, I sometimes get a little hydraulic fluid leaking into the splash well. The leakage does not seem to occur in normal operation.

I described this situation in an email to Seastar and got a response. They gave me some troubleshooting tips. My system fails the engine push test. With the engine centered, when I push the engine back and forth I get more than 1/4" movement on the cylinder. This indicates I have air in the system.

So I've decided to replace the seals and bleed the system. This is described elsewhere on this forum and there are useful youtube videos.

The response also stated: 'If your engine can trim up, when fully turned, without interference, that would be the best way to transport.' That would say that I shouldn't strive to keep the engine centered, but it should be turned completely over to one side. I would like some feedback on this trailer positioning question. In your experience, is it better to keep the engine centered or turned completely over to one side? Which do you do?

Tony

[thataway]

Of course the folks at Teleflex are correct. I turn my engine to one side--when trailering. If you use the rubber wedges there will be some play, and the motor will slowly creep to one side. I prefer to have as little of the ram arm exposed, so turn it that way. Some steerings have balanced cylinders, and this is not possible.