Do I really need a transom saver?

[teamfyss]

Everyone has their own opinion on the subject, but that's usually a topic for bigger boats with motors to match..

 

I'm askin for the small boat guys, I've got a 1996 crestliner fish hawk 16 with a 25hp Johnson tiller on it. Do you think I'll be alright trailering it without a transom saver? I know it's a simple and cheap item but the motor itself cant weigh more than 150lb and the transom seems solid to me. Thanks!

[WRB]

If you are trailering on rough road the engine tends to bounce around. You don't need a transum savor per se but do need to keep it bouncing and balanced with the lower unit high enough off the ground to prevent damage. A 12 inch length of 2 X 2 board and rubber tie down strap works good, don't use the tilt device or buy inexpensive The Wedge rubber transum savor.

Tom

[teamfyss]

39 minutes ago, WRB said:

If you are trailering on rough road the engine tends to bounce around. You don't need a transum savor per se but do need to keep it bouncing and balanced with the lower unit high enough off the ground to prevent damage. A 12 inch length of 2 X 2 board and rubber tie down strap works good, don't use the tilt device or buy inexpensive The Wedge rubber transum savor.

Tom

Right I was thinking of a good DIY method and I was thinking about a tie down just to keep it tight and not bouncing around. I definitely fish a lot of dirt road lakes off the beaten path so I'll look into something like that.. or I can get a transom saver at wal mart for like $30 I believe so maybe it is worth it?

[Dogface]

Yes!!  The transom on smaller boats are weaker than those on bigger boats. That motor bouncing around back there can't be good. 

 

I have one on my 17' War Eagle and one on my 14' Ouachita jon boat.

[teamfyss]

8 minutes ago, Dogface said:

Yes!!  The transom on smaller boats are weaker than those on bigger boats. That motor bouncing around back there can't be good. 

 

I have one on my 17' War Eagle and one on my 14' Ouachita jon boat.

Will the cheapo from walmart work for my small-ish 25 horse motor? I suppose something is better than nothing.

[Way2slow]

Actually, the Johnson/Evinrude's built during that era were built to use that flip down support for trailering.  It's designed to hold the motor at the proper angle to somewhat balance it on the transom.   If your motor has the trailering support, use the one built into it.

 

If you decide you want something, get anything that does not place a bar between the motor and the trailer like the Transom Saver does.  Those can be bad news for a lower unit.  There are plenty of other devices that don't use that bar.

[teamfyss]

1 hour ago, Way2slow said:

Actually, the Johnson/Evinrude's built during that era were built to use that flip down support for trailering.  It's designed to hold the motor at the proper angle to somewhat balance it on the transom.   If your motor has the trailering support, use the one built into it.

 

If you decide you want something, get anything that does not place a bar between the motor and the trailer like the Transom Saver does.  Those can be bad news for a lower unit.  There are plenty of other devices that don't use that bar.

That’s what I wanted to hear, it does have that little flip down mechanism. But I read somewhere that those still rely on the transom to hold the weight, as opposed to the bar style which transfers it to the trailer. 

 

But you’re saying thats no good correct?

[WRB]

The bar type transum support that fits onto your trailer roller and goes under the cavitation plate on the lower unit can cause road vibrations to loosen bolts on the engine.

Tour transum is stronge enough to support the engine. What cuase transum problems isn't the engine weight it's the engine weight rocking back and forth flexing the transum mount. When the engine is tilted about 45 degrees it's balanced and simply needs to be supported in that position. If tilt bracket is strong enough use it. What I did with my alimunim boat and engine was to place a 2x2 between the engine mounting clamp and lower unit to take place of the bracket,the wood takes load and rubber tie down strap prevent bouncing on dirt roads. This worked for me for decades without any problems.

Tom 

[Catt]

I've had "transom saver" on every small outboard I've ever owned since they were invented. Everyone down here has them on their boats as well.

 

Zero issues with the transom or outboard...ever!

 

I'm running a Tohatsu 40hp 4-stroke with power tilt-n-trim & it has a transom saver on it.

 

Another hint I'll give you is to use a gunnel tie down straps!

 

[teamfyss]

1 hour ago, Catt said:

I've had "transom saver" on every small outboard I've ever owned since they were invented. Everyone down here has them on their boats as well.

 

Zero issues with the transom or outboard...ever!

 

I'm running a Tohatsu 40hp 4-stroke with power tilt-n-trim & it has a transom saver on it.

 

Another hint I'll give you is to use a gunnel tie down straps!

 

What kind of benefit do gunnel straps offer? I've already got transom straps

[Catt]

14 minutes ago, teamfyss said:

What kind of benefit do gunnel straps offer? I've already got transom straps

 

As long as you have one or the other is what matters.

 

Most people don't understand with boat trailers the only thing you have is leaf springs which is why you get a lot of bounce. With light Jon boats the boat will actually bonce up off the trailer when you hit a large enough bump. This puts tremendous stress on the transom because of the weight of the motor.

 

With transom straps, a transom saver, the entire unit moves together reducing the jarring motion.

 

Y'all can do what you want but I've seen cracked transoms, broke mounting brackets on outboards, broken skegs, all caused by everything not being strapped down.

[GreenPig]

12 hours ago, Way2slow said:

Actually, the Johnson/Evinrude's built during that era were built to use that flip down support for trailering.  It's designed to hold the motor at the proper angle to somewhat balance it on the transom.   If your motor has the trailering support, use the one built into it.

 

If you decide you want something, get anything that does not place a bar between the motor and the trailer like the Transom Saver does.  Those can be bad news for a lower unit.  There are plenty of other devices that don't use that bar.

I've got a 2005 Merc 25/Lowe 1448 with 60,000+ road miles with a standard Transom Saver. Many of those miles being fairly rough dirt roads. What's the problem with the trailer to motor transom saver? 

[NittyGrittyBoy]

1 hour ago, GreenPig said:

What's the problem with the trailer to motor transom saver? 

 

12 hours ago, WRB said:

The bar type transum support that fits onto your trailer roller and goes under the cavitation plate on the lower unit can cause road vibrations to loosen bolts on the engine.

Everybody has their own opinion on these things, if your boat is strapped to your trailer securely, you would be fine in my book. 

 

Any loose bolts you might find would be eliminated in routine maintenance and servicing of your engine. Always give it inspection every month or so, which you should be doing already.

[WRB]

Small OB without hydraulic trim on a aluminum boat and small wheel trailer has more road vibration issues then larger heavier rigs wit heavy engines with hydraulic trim.

You rarely see newer bass boats with the old transum savers anymore for good reasons. 

All The OP needs to do is tie down the boat transum onto the trailer as Catt pointed out and secure the tilted OB engine so it doesn't bounce around. Small OB without hydraulic trim needs to be tied down with or without some type of a Transum Saver.

Many small boat trailers don't have a rear roller to mount the Transum Saver onto, mine didn't. Like everyone else I used the Transum Savers for decades on my bass boats, now use the newer products.

Tom

[TOXIC]

This topic is always hotly debated.  First the term "transom saver" is a misnomer.  None of the products out there relieve any vertical stress off the transom.  That's why the newer models all list them as "motor supports".  Second, I have a big motor 250hp and when I asked the manufacturer of my boat (Ranger) which support they recommend the answer was and still is the LU to Trailer style. That's what I use.  That is because it is just common sense.  If you have a support that goes from the motor to your transom via the trim rams, mounting bolts or Jack Plate there is -0- amount of pendulum force transferred to anything but the transom.  That is in addition to the actual motor weight.  At least with the old style that goes from the LU to the trailer some of that additional pendulum downforce is kept off the transom.  It is stopped via the trailer vs the transom.  IMHO people got away from the old style for ease of application, no crawling under the boat to strap the bottom support onto the trailer roller and to keep from marring the LU with the rubber fork stoppers.  As for transfering road vibrations back up to the motor LU with the old style, again IMHO a properly installed old style moves in unison with the trailer.  In my 40 years of trailering long distances, I have never had any LU damage from my motor toter other than a marred up paint job on the foot of the LU.  I also use steering clips to reduce the side to side movement.  

[Way2slow]

Call the boat manufacturer and they will say use it.

Call the motor manufacturer and they will say don't use it.

 

Now, as for Mercury motors, I think Mercury only consider their brackets Tilt supports, not trailering supports and if they have one on their motor, it is NOT intended to be used to hold the motor up during trailer.

 

As stated, you get into the same argument as the Ford, Chevy debate when I comes to the "Transom Saver".  I have seen several times what they can do to a lower unit and I WILL NOT use one.  There are too many better options available, but if I'm running an OMC with the support, I use that.  Since I have nine different motors Mercs, Johnsons and Evinrudes, I use everything from a piece of board slid between the motor and mount, the flip down stand to the blocks that slide over the trim/tilt cylinder. I have a half dozen of those bars laying around the I've taken off boats I've bought as soon as I got them. 

 

Like chocolate and vanilla ice cream, everybody has their own preference.  

[Catt]

56 minutes ago, WRB said:

Many small boat trailers don't have a rear roller to mount the Transum Saver onto

 

They sale one that mounts to a bracket that attaches to the trailer frame.

 

I have never seen damage caused by a transom saver ?

 

 

[Glenn]

4 hours ago, GreenPig said:

What's the problem with the trailer to motor transom saver?

Absolutely nothing.  I've been doing it that way for 30+ years without any issues, except for one: my boat tie-down rachets failed once, allowing the boat to "bounce" on the trailer.  The transom saver took the sacrifice and gave it's life to save the motor.

 

So unless you don't have your boat secured to the trailer properly (which you should do already), you'll never have an issue.

 

[Dogface]

On 5/2/2019 at 1:29 PM, Glenn said:

Absolutely nothing.  I've been doing it that way for 30+ years without any issues, 

I've been using them for at least 30 years and maybe 40 years and I have never had a problem or had any bolts loosen. How could the bolts loosen on a lower end from the vibration caused by a transom saver on a trailer and not loosen caused by way more vibration when on the water?