Transom Savers...who uses them?

[BillM]

You mean pull a boat off a trailer? With straps? and the winch done up? Virtually impossible. Just how hard was your buddy ramming that poor motor into the transom saver to produce that kind of pressure? lol

 

I think he almost might need a lesson in physics.

Edited October 5, 2014 by BillM

[misfish]

I made a custom one for my 25 hp merc. Ya it maybe over kill,but it did it,s job. Transom never felt the pain.

[mattp33]

You mean pull a boat off a trailer? With straps? and the winch done up? Virtually impossible. Just how hard was your buddy ramming that poor motor into the transom saver to produce that kind of pressure? lol

 

I think he almost might need a lesson in physics.

I agree, never ever crossed my mind until a very well known pro staff bass guy mentioned it the other day.

 

How tight should the motor be to the steel kind with the rubber pads?

 

I have a 115 merc (soon to be a 150 ;P) and i feel i snug it down pretty tight. the boat can carry a 175 so its not at max weight im sure

[Old Ironmaker]

What is the physics behind " pulling " a boat off the trailer? Something I've never heard or gave a thought to

 

As for how much pressure to apply that's a good point, I have a tilt button on the side of my 115 so I drop the motor until it is snug, back it off and then snug it up again, that's it. I can see putting too much pressure on the hydraulics if you can' see the motor pushing against the "Y" in the bar. My pal has a 90 and has to use the tilt on the main control, it's tricky for him to do it solo.

[kickingfrog]

Not sure I see how any of that makes sense either and if the part about the straps did I'd still rather go through some of them at less then $50 a pop then a motor, boat or trailer.

[BillM]

I agree, never ever crossed my mind until a very well known pro staff bass guy mentioned it the other day.

 

How tight should the motor be to the steel kind with the rubber pads?

 

I have a 115 merc (soon to be a 150 ;P) and i feel i snug it down pretty tight. the boat can carry a 175 so its not at max weight im sure

 

That's all I do, snug it up and that's it. If it's not snug, it's defeating the entire purpose of the transom saver in the first place.

[NANUK]

Just snug is good enough, I always use bungee cord,

Any " pro staff " claiming that a transom saver can pull the boat of the trailer is trying to push his sponsor product like "My Wedge" which might be called a "motor hydraulics saver" but does nothing to save your transom.

[irishfield]

If you're going to use them... make sure that your boat is absolutely tight to the winch post. If not when you slam on the brakes in a panic stop and the boat slides forward, that is when the transom is going to get damaged (or the engine's hydraulics or attachments). Myself, I will not use them on my 275 Verado on the advice of a well versed marine mechanic. That's what the trailering latch was designed for. Transom savers change the load path and will accelerate the wear of the engines pivot points. My 9.9 gets trailered in the down position and I throw a ratchet strap around it to the trailer so it doesn't bounce.

[Old Ironmaker]

Oh my, another thing to think about, damaging my pivot point and hydraulics as well as the boat flying off the trailer. If the winch strap, 2 ton safety chain and s hook break as well as both rear straps break I think I have more to concern myself than my boat flying off. My truck would probably doing 360's down the mountainside by then. I'm not sure what stress the pivot points and hydraulics have going at 5000 rpm but if I'm not too concerned with that I shouldn't be too concerned about some pressure on the hydraulics against the V in the transom saver. I don't think the hydraulics are under much pressure at all unless I forget to take my finger off the tilt control, yes, no? When I have absolutely nothing better to do and done everything else in life I'll put a pressure gauge on a hydraulic line and see what pressure the line is under when I set the transom saver. I'm going to guess that the bracket holding he pin for the transom saver will bend before the fuse goes for the hydraulic pump. After writing this it looks like I have nothing better to do already.

Edited October 6, 2014 by Old Ironmaker

[BillM]

Don't forget your safety chain breaking as well

[irishfield]

Look at it anyway you want and do what ever works for you to let you sleep at night. There is no need for the winch strap, safety chain or rear straps to break for the boat to move forward, if it hasn't been brought right tight to the winch post. Rear straps keep the boat from bouncing or going sideways off the trailer. They won't keep it from moving forward in a panic stop (the geometry won't allow it!) if the boat wasn't right tight to the post, which can be hard to do with a heavy boat on bunks if the water happened to be shallow at the launch.

[Fisherman]

(the geometry won't allow it!)

Exactly.

[hirk]

The name is a misnomeaner, that hollow tube from the gearcase to the trailer wont save anything, it will as irishfield mentioned wear out you mount bushings due to the vibration being transmitted from the trailer to the gearcase because the trailer suspension causes the harmonics of the boat/trailer bouncing to be out of wack.There is far more stress and torque put on a transom running rough water than bumps on the road.

[Sinker]

I've never used one and trailer my boat with the engine tilted all the way up for the last 21 years. Transom is as solid now as it ever was.

 

S.

[Mister G]

If the boat is not right up against the trailer post I can't see how it would damage anything if it did slide up against the post on a quick stop unless that post is weak to begin with.

[Sinker]

If it slides forward, and the transom saver is sinched tight, you can damage the engine/transom.

 

S.

[Mister G]

If it slides forward, and the transom saver is sinched tight, you can damage the engine/transom.

 

S.

Well, it that was true we would have a lot of problems out there when one hits a immovable or hard object going full throttle. I have experienced this only twice (thank God) and the outboard kicks up out and over sad object without any damage to boat.

[didoban]

The reason I'm asking is because my bolts loosened off on my lower unit the other day while on the water. I've been using my boat all season with no issues (haven't touched the bolts). I'm just trying to figure out how this could happen. It ruined a weekend trip and nearly cost me losing the whole unit to the bottom of the lake. I use a transom saver and can't think of any other reason...

loctite is your friend and retorque to spec.

[Sinker]

Well, it that was true we would have a lot of problems out there when one hits a immovable or hard object going full throttle. I have experienced this only twice (thank God) and the outboard kicks up out and over sad object without any damage to boat.

Like I said, I don't use one, so don't have to worry about it. My tiller doesn't lock down anyways. ...

 

S.