Motor Support for Trailering

S

Swee Pea

New member
I know this topic has be covered EXTENSIVELY, but when I was trying to find that wedge like rubber motor support for trailering that was linked in one of the posts on "Trailering Motors, Up or Down", I could not find the post. :oops: (computerly challenged) A simple google search got me to the website of the M-y Wedge Motor Support (now I know what its called) .
So this post is not to rehash old stuff, but to help others who might not have found the old topic and are not familiar with the product. This is NOT a shameless plug for the manufacturer. :roll: http://www.m-ywedge.com/

Maybe this post and the title will make searching for this particular solution a little easier.

Maybe I am not making sense :shock: , but that's no surprise.

Safe boating to all

John
Swee Pea
 
Does the trailer height for your vessel allow you to just keep it full down (once you're up the ramp)? If yes, I would suggest leaving it full down.
 
There is decent clearance, but I am a constant victim of Murphy's Law. I will know that there wasn't enough clearance when I pull into some area where I hit bottom - I saw a guy in a parking lot do this to his motor.

I think that this wedge product is kind of a meeting a happy medium - the engine is not full up nor totally down. It is "safely out of the way". Murphy will have to keep looking for another buddy. :wink:

John
Swee Pea
 
I guess that the question is "Does the transom saver" (support which goes from the lower leg of the outboard to the tailer frame) or the wedge give better support and is easier on the transom? I don't know the answer to this question. I have never used a motor ram wedge, but have trailered with a piece of wood under the mount, to hold the motor up, and with the motor down, as well as several transom saver type of devices.
 
I am not advocating one way or the other but I will pass along my experience. I have always towed with the motors tilted up and locked down on the tilt lock support. I know that some of the motor manufacturers warn against trailering this way but I don't understand why it should be a problem. I have owned a 17 Montauk with 90hp Johnson which I have towed thousands of miles this way. Next I had a 19' Arima with 90 hp Honda which I towed for 10 years this way and my current 22' Cruiser with twin 40hp Hondas. Never had any problems. Having your engine firmly down on the metal tilt support seems better to me than bouncing around on a hard rubber support. The metal support arms which attach from the engine to the trailer frame seems to me would be even worse. Just my two cents worth.
 
I have a lot less trailering experience then Ken but I just used the supports that came with the outboards. We have a CD-25 with a 150 Verado and a 20 hp Honda kicker. I tried putting the engines down initially but it looked like an accident waiting to happen.

I know that the manufacturers want a different support but I don't understand why. I spoze if you were going over rough roads and there was a lot of bouncing around a different support might make sense.

Maybe it's just a liability kind of chicken-shit thing. Perhaps someone could explain why a different support system is necessary.
 
Maybe the Real Purpose of the little support legs (that we're not supposed to use...) is just one of those mystery's of Life! In that case, I wonder why every manufacturer puts them on their outboards?

Like most of us, I've used the support legs from time-to-time; with no ill effects.

Like Dr. Bob I usually have a special piece of wood that I put in place then lower the motor enough to jam the wood, thus taking some of the pressure off the hydraulic rams. I don't know the CORRECT answer, but the wood is delightfully low tech, and seems to work. There's something pretty neat about using an old piece of 2x4 to hold a multi-thousand dollar motor up!

...but that brings me back to Why the manufacturer's even bother with the little foot gizmo's. I suspect it's something silly like being able to temporarily hold the motor-up while we check the hydraulic fluid, or change a line.

Then again, maybe it IS one of those mystery's of Life; and now I have something to ponder Today.

Life is Good; but confusing.

Best,
Casey
 
Well, it's time to 'fess up about my latest screwup! I bought some of those neat little hard rubber wedges for my twin Suzi 115's so I could use them on our latest trip to the CBGT in Oriental and a beach week on the outer banks. Launched the boat and recovered it several times, wedges seemed to work great. They keep the engines near but not quite fully up. You just insert the rubber block around the tilt/trim cylinder rod and lower the engine until it's locked in place.

As I said, all was fine until I got home. The boat was on the trailer and I went out to start "detripping" stuff (fishing gear, personal items, etc). I usually use a stepladder between the engines to climb onto the Armstrong Bracket instead of climbing up the ladder over the bow from the trailer.

I lit off the battery switches and tried to tilt engines full down, forgetting about the supports. :roll: :cry :cry Well, let me tell you all that those tilt/trim systems have plenty of down force.... I cracked both plastic reservoirs on the trim/tilt systems to the point where I can see the oil in them.

According to the manual, in order to remove the tilt/trim motors/hydraulics, you need to support the engine from the top, remove the stbd engine mount from the transom (or at least slide it to the right) to get it out. In looking at it, and with some hoped for consultation from Marc at Wefings, I think I can do it without moving that mount. If I can get to the allen screw holding the plastic reservoir onto the metal mount, just the port inner one (nearest the transom) is hard to reach, the other three are easy, I can remove that reservoir after I take the top piece off. The motor would rest on the engine locks instead of being supported from above. Hopefully strong enough.

I'll take pictures when I start work so that folks know how to do it if they ever screw up like I did. Probably will cost $350 or so in parts alone, Marc is checking on availability....

The message here is "be careful if you use those things...." :amgry :thup
 
Working on it now, the guys in the shop think its doable that way , and John our parts guy is looking for availability .
Just left you a message Charlie .
Marc
 
Hi,
I just use a two foot length of regular wood 2x4 carpeted with a short piece of chain lag bolted to the end and a carabineer clip to clip the chain and a short piece of cord/ rope to the boat so if it ever falls out it does not become intimate with a fellow motorists windshield. I just tilt the motor and insert said 2x4 and lower the motor with the tilt switch and clamp down on the 2 x 4 then clip on safety rope/chain combination on to the boat somewhere and wala No problemo. El Cheapo! It's large enough that you can't miss it when launching or detripping. Check my album for pictures under trailer mods I think. Sorry for your troubles Charlie. :sad

D.D.
 
Charlie,
You went the hi tech route. There is no way I'm gonna call you a geek as where I'm from that's gnat (sic) right!
Respectfully submitted,
D.D.
 
Ouch Charlie! I am sorry to hear that. :(

I purchased the m-ywedges (two for each motor) and they have worked well. I'll have to remember to not do that.
---
mike
 
Yeah, Mike they do what they're supposed to do unless you forget to take them out and try to put your engines down like I did. Not sure what your T/T stuff is made out of but the force will bust things up pretty good.

Charlie
 
Charlie, SOooooooo Soooorrrrrrryyy. Glad you got home first though.

Remember that down force. It is what keeps the props in the water, and the OB's in position when they really want to get up and out of there, if I understand right, when you want your boat to go backwards, or are spinning in place (with twins).

Harvey
SleepyC :moon
 
Picking up on an earlier part of this discussion, it's my understanding that the reason for a "transom saver" is to save the transom. Early boats (rowboats) didn't have a strong transom designed to hold an outboard motor and trailering with a motor wobbling around stressed the transom over time, causing failure when stressed by too heavy seas or ?? The idea of the transom saver is to put the weight of the motor on the trailer instead of the boat. In any case, failure would occur after years of trailering. I assume most modern boats are built stronger to handle the stress, but why press your luck.
 
Chuck, it's also a way to keep your engines high so you don't ground on low clearance spaces. In my case, I'm a little afraid of someone hitting me from behind, in that case, they would get the trailer instead of the engines. This thing sits pretty high on the trailer... The transom saver idea is fine except that I think the transom would get less stress with the engines in the full down position rather than tilted up where they would "bounce" on a bump and believe me this thing does! :shock:

Charlie
 
hardee":1do88n3q said:
Charlie, SOooooooo Soooorrrrrrryyy. Glad you got home first though.

Remember that down force. It is what keeps the props in the water, and the OB's in position when they really want to get up and out of there, if I understand right, when you want your boat to go backwards, or are spinning in place (with twins).

Harvey
SleepyC :moon
Click to expand...

Thanks Harvey! I know why it's there, just forgot about the supports. :amgry :cry

Pictures of this debacle and the subsequent repair will be forthcoming as soon as I get over the shame and get the repair parts from Marc. Full disclosure of my lack of foresight...

Charlie
 
I've had good success with the transom saver. It makes me feel better to have the support in place -- but you need to really crank the trailer straps tightly to be sure the boat and trailer move as one -- otherwise you'll be dragging the brace down the highway :oops: .

Matt
 
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