position of motor when travelling
Submitted by Shane O on Sun, 2017-01-15 06:26
I have seen some people put a block of wood between the transom and the motor when travelling on the road, I have also seen some people with braces between the boat and the motor.
Not sure if the mercury comes with any bracing installed on the motor that folds out, is this something that should be done?
Does it put stress on the boat if the motor is trimmed up when travelling?
Gav475
Posts: 398
Date Joined: 16/11/11
hydraulics
takes the load off the hydraulic rams. There is significant jarring when traveling and the rams /motors are not cheap to replace. It is just being kinder to them to make them last a little longer.
Shane O
Posts: 926
Date Joined: 22/01/10
Hydralics
Silly question, Where can you get them from?
Or aster they already on the motor?
Ashen
Posts: 1042
Date Joined: 22/03/13
What motor
What motor is yours? Most motors (50+ hp) will have power trim/tilt. The hydraulics is what pushes the motor up and down when you trim. Located inside the motor mounting bracket, although some older motors have the hydraulic cylinders inside the boat (transom).
A fish in the hand is worth 10 in the water!
Shane O
Posts: 926
Date Joined: 22/01/10
2013
2013 Mercury 75hp 4 stroke
Oldbull
Posts: 179
Date Joined: 21/09/15
A block of soft wood such as
A block of soft wood such as pine between motor and transom works well. Just position it so as it doesn't squeeze any parts on the motor such as ram or tilt mechanism and make sure you attach a safety rope to the block of wood. A 50cm length of timber coming loose and hitting the freeway in front of anyone travelling behind you is not good.
I have a yammy 4 stroke and Chivas gave me a rubber block with a channel in it. Looks like it might have been genuine yammy. In any case it slots around the ram so stops it bouncing.
Try Luke at Chivas.
Anyfishwilldo (not verified)
Posts: 16
Date Joined: 01/01/70
The brace between the motor
The brace between the motor and trailer helps take the pressure off the transom. With the motor trimed up it creates a leverage point putting stress on the transom, the brace helps support the weight of the motor.
Jackfrost80
Posts: 8152
Date Joined: 07/05/12
Interesting topic. I was
Interesting topic. I was told by a Suzuki mech not to worry about chocking the motor when travelling as the transom and outboard are designed to withstand driving a fully loaded boat through rough seas at speed.
Officially off the Pies bandwagon
Subaquatic
Posts: 514
Date Joined: 23/04/11
I agree. I dont do anything.
I agree. I dont do anything. The Rams are bloody tough and designed for loading.
crowie
Posts: 91
Date Joined: 16/11/14
One thing
To consider is that there is two speeds at which the trim ant tilt work, fast and slow. When the leg is in the water and the boat is ready to drive the leg is supported by two hydraulic rams (well it is on my suzuki 200) and when it is in that position yesa it can take as much load as the motor can put out. When the motor is in the fully up position it is only supported by one ram and is alot more flimsy which is where where i have to have the motor as my trailer is so low.
That probably doesnt explain it well but if you imagine the tirim/tilt at 0 % means all the way down and 100% being all the way up, @ 0 to 20% is the operating range when the boat is in the water and supported properly and from 20 to 100% is the tilt up out of the water range and what most people travel with, then extra support may be needed.
I bang a bit of 4 x 2 in mine when i travel, and yes its tied off :)
Gunner966
Posts: 145
Date Joined: 23/04/13
I use a flat keel roller cut
I use a flat keel roller cut in half so it slips over the hydraulic cylinder rod. It protects the rod and is soft so places a small amount of pressure on to help stop bouncing.
Gunner
Hairyone
Posts: 246
Date Joined: 26/12/09
We were only dicussing that
We were only dicussing that yesterday...........mine has a brace from the back of the trailer to the skeg supporting the motor.
Another thing that was bought up was leaving your motor in gear while transporting (apparently its suggested in the Mercury 15hp manual). Only thing I can think of is wind spining your prop at 100km causing it to overheat because of no cooling (water)?????Cant say Iv ever noticed a prop turning while transporting?
Shane O
Posts: 926
Date Joined: 22/01/10
bcf
I was looking online and noticed BCF do one from the trailer to the motor, not sure the quality would be any good though. might try a piece of wood or hard rubber
chris raff
Posts: 3257
Date Joined: 09/02/10
Bit of 4 x 2 x 12” doubles
Bit of 4 x 2 x 12” doubles as a pacifier as well
“Intelligence is like a four-wheel drive. It only allows you to get stuck in more remote places.”
Poppy
Posts: 98
Date Joined: 19/01/13
Pine pole
I have a 40hp tiller steere Yammy 4 stroke and use a small length of 70mm treated pine pole. Works for me.
A pessimist is never disapointed
Anyfishwilldo (not verified)
Posts: 16
Date Joined: 01/01/70
It's just something else to
At the end of the day It's just something else to spend your money on... I've NEVER heard or seen reports of tilt hydraulics failing or transoms falling off by not using timber or a leg support. Most people probably put the hydraulics under more pressure by locking in the piece of timber or rubber...
Off topic but one thing I would definitely recommend for you is starter motor winch setup for retrieving your boat! I would be spending money there before worrying about a support for your motor, I have a similar boat to you and takes 8 seconds to pull my fully loaded boat up!
meglodon
Posts: 5981
Date Joined: 17/06/10
Now that is quick
Good suggestion to spend any spare cash on. I use a starter motor and original fly wheel (didn't want to fork out for pullies) and I had to slow it down pulling a 6m quinine out.
Now from go to whoa takes 17 seconds depending on ramp angle.
I bet you are very agile, if you aren't you risk being run over by your boat coming up the trailer.
Buz
Posts: 1555
Date Joined: 28/08/07
I use a bit of pine. As i
I use a bit of pine. As i also have to make sure the motor stays up, as when all the way down it would be dragging on the road. As i nearly found out relying on just the hydraulic rams taking my boat on a 3 hour road trip.
When i pulled over for a break the bottom of the motor had gotten down to about 6cm off the ground where it started at least 60cm off the ground when trimmed up.
Not as much an issue if your motor wouldn't hit the ground when fully down anyway.
sea-kem
Posts: 15028
Date Joined: 30/11/09
I only use a timber wedge
I only use a timber wedge when driving on the tracks around Gnaraloo, they're hard enough on the trailer let alone the hyd rams.
Love the West!
eziliving
Posts: 876
Date Joined: 30/12/09
Yep me to. Whenever I'm
Yep me to. Whenever I'm dragging the boat over rough ground I will use a piece of timber. When locally nah I font worry about it.
Get busy living, or get busy dying!
moose hunter
Posts: 64
Date Joined: 14/06/13
Cracked transom
Have seen a heap of cracked transoms from motors tilted up while traveling,mainly small alloy boats but glass as well,i always have motor tilted as low as practible ie so it doesn't hit road going through dips, speed humps etc. lot of leverage with motor tilted up unsupported. If you see towed boat on road follow it for a while and see how much motor moves up and down(tilted up) might surprise you. Food for though, soft block of wood works well motor tilted against it, or you can by plastic type blocks that go round tilt rams, bit of thought along with common sense saves bucks of period of time.
Matts123
Posts: 58
Date Joined: 13/11/16
Motor bracket
I have never used anything other than the outboard support leg to lower it off the Hydrolocs.
I can understand how much stress it puts on the transom but it would also take this sort of battering at 30knts.
However it is an interesting point as I have seen a few boats with timber under the outboard but would have thought this would still bounce up and down.... I don't understand how the timber is locked into place. The motor will still bounce to some extent so would the timber just fall out...? Maybe I missed something.
southcoast
Posts: 46
Date Joined: 07/07/14
Pine bracket
My marine dealer recommended a 'block of pine'
I grabbed said bit of pine and lowered the motor to mark the pine and chiselled out deeper notches so the block wouldn't slip out. Added a tie on rope for security and never had a problem even when towing boat over rough COral Coast tracks.
timboon
Posts: 2961
Date Joined: 14/11/10
Frosty I reckon the Suzi rep
Frosty I reckon the Suzi rep has given you a bum steer, the transom is one of the furtherest points stern on the boat ( obviously ).... Its like the pivot point, everything in front of it rises and falls but really its only the angle that changes on the transom and i wouldnt exactly call it load per se... Not compared to an outboard in the upright position on a light dingy/trailer bouncing its way down down a track... Sure there is some load on the transom while travelling but it is designed to support this load... The outboard in a lower position with a brace back to the trailer would be my pick followed by the timber....
If you have ever travelled behind a boat on a rough track you'll soon see that it can't be good for it to be totally unsupported...
crasny1
Posts: 7003
Date Joined: 16/10/08
Never use them. The lock you
Never use them. The lock you get IMO (and that off a commercial dive owner neighbour in Karratha with lots of outboard travelling all over the NW) only needs the trim to be raised, then lowered onto the lock but don't stop lowering it back down unto the support just when it reaches it, lower it further, ie imagine that you are lowering it further down than the support needs. Takes the pressure off the hydro's and allows for a little "bounce' if you are travelling over rough tracks.
"I would like to die on Mars. Just not on impact!!" _ Elon Musk
willy2668
Posts: 122
Date Joined: 18/10/11
best thing
best thing ever
http://www.m-ywedge.com
Wen
Posts: 49
Date Joined: 21/10/10
MY Wedge
or the black dildo...i have one for my boat as well.. the best thing
Jackfrost80
Posts: 8152
Date Joined: 07/05/12
How hard is the rubber? I've
How hard is the rubber? I've got a new red keel roller that I replaced with a self centre type and am thinking I can cut a notch in this to use as a m-y wedge replica.
Officially off the Pies bandwagon
Wen
Posts: 49
Date Joined: 21/10/10
Quite hard
im SOR.. just give me a holla one day and i can show you the my wedge.. i think making one up will work just the same..
Shane O
Posts: 926
Date Joined: 22/01/10
SOR
were about are you located
Wen
Posts: 49
Date Joined: 21/10/10
Leeming
im using the mywedge for a 200hp honda outboard
ranmar850
Posts: 2702
Date Joined: 12/08/12
Bracing off the trailer is a bad idea
Quote "We were only dicussing that yesterday...........mine has a brace from the back of the trailer to the skeg supporting the motor. "Unquote Obviously a big range of opinions on this subject , most of them valid to some extent or another. But applying leverage to the end of your outboard leg and transferring this back to your transom and pivot gear as the boat bounces up and down--and it does--is making things worse not better. Probably not an issue on smooth bitumen, but it should never be done on unmade roads, let alone rough tracks, IMO. This is probably why that old idea of the brace from the trailer is no longer widely used.
Having your motor as low as you get safely get it and maintain clearance while towing is the best way for both the bounce and safety of following traffic. While travelling across a rough sea at speed, there are huge forces on your transom and trim gear--mostly thrust transfer, think of how much thrust you are applying to that transom to push the boat through the water at that speed, then add the shock loading of banging up and down. Unless your motor is trimmed hard in against the mechanical stop ( and some motors don't seem to have them now??) there is always loading on the hydraulic trim ram. That's what it is for. Loading is a bit different in nature to the kind of rapid repetitive bounce you will get on a rough road if the motor is trimmed up , though.
There are plenty of proprietary devices for this purpose if you feel the need. Google it, Yamaha make a t least two different types that I have seen.
Hairyone
Posts: 246
Date Joined: 26/12/09
Gday Ranmar,Whats the
Gday Ranmar,
Whats the "leverage" your talking about?
I would have called it support?
The way I see it, is there are 2 different issues here........The block of wood is to take stress off the hydraulics and locks by acting as sort of a gusset, and the brace is to take stress off the transom (wether its needed or not). The best way to take load off the transom is to transfer some of the weight somewhere else with the obvious place being the rear of the trailer.
If the motor was strapped DOWN to the trailer( instead of supported) and the boat wasnt tied down I could see some added pressure if the boat was to bounce up......but with the boat secured to the trailer properly, the movement should be very little if at all, and even if it did lift, the motor would lift out of the brace fractionly and drop back into it when it comes back down.........stopping a lot of stress on the transom caused by kinetic energy?
Id certainly take my brace off if you could convince me otherwise..........but I really cant see how it can be a "bad idea"......... possibly not needed, but cant see how it could be "bad"........
Cheers
Lance55
Posts: 126
Date Joined: 26/08/16
Agree with Ranmar850.
i guess the other thing to consider Is the difference between rigs. IMHO Any trailer setup that doesn't allow decent road clearance for the leg when it's in a reasonably trimmed in position for towing, isn't good enough. ( I am just thinking moments of force with a heavy donk trimmed right out and bouncing on the ram) The trend for dealers to flog boats on very marginal trailers with stupid small wheels, and then chuck on low profile radials, just to keep to a price point, infuriates me. I was the victim of this with my previous stink boat rig, it went well over the 750kg, provided new ( from the Mandurah boat show!!!) no brakes, stupid low profile tyres, ended up being total crap, ( Rhule....don't buy one) sold as a " Boat ShowSpecial" ( it was bloody special alright!) the leg nearly touched the road when trimmed down!!!
but that saga is another story. My 2 bobs worth says it's fine to tow with your motor tilted for short trips, but I wouldn't do it on anything more than a few hundred km.
long trips- I keep the motor in the " down " position ( but I have heaps of clearance) I use elastic straps to stop bouncing, and have a full cover to avoid stone chips, oh......the new Merc doesn't have any facility to " rest" the leg.
But that's just my 2 bobs
Shane O
Posts: 926
Date Joined: 22/01/10
clearance
I have enough clearance when trimmed down, so think I will leave it at that for now. I am only travelling about 15km to the boat ramp and not going over 80km.
good to see so many different views on this subject, only bought up the question as I see so many motors that appear to trimmed up all the way when travelling.
Deckie
Posts: 1296
Date Joined: 03/04/09
Steep Point
Traveling to Steep Point in May towing a 4.m tinnie.
Thinking of using a slightly dropped tow hitch to lift the back of the boat up for clearance in the sand hills.
Also having the motor fully down, locked in and using a bar from the motor strapped back to the trailer.
Should make it all solid with no movement and clear of the ground.
Thoughts on this appreciated.
Cheers & Stay safe
Mooseknuckle
Posts: 112
Date Joined: 14/05/13
Steep point
When I did the Shelter Bay run with my 4.5m Quinnie.
Had the outboard in the normal spot - wedged with 3x2 pine between swivel case and transom bracket.
Put a heavy duty old jacket over the prop and lower leg as the leg gets peppered by allsorts. Just tied it on with rope and duct tape. Saved a respray.
Have done the same with 3 Gnaraloo runs and even when I go on long trips on bitumen - never know if your gonna hit a stretch of new loose bluemetal that just loves to take bark off the leg.
Deckie
Posts: 1296
Date Joined: 03/04/09
Canvas
I have a heavy duty canvas sleeve to wrap up the bottom of the motor.
The last owner didn't have one and it shows, yep peppered with rocks from the Gnaraloo track.
Cheers & Stay safe
Oldbull
Posts: 179
Date Joined: 21/09/15
are the front of your
are the front of your drawbar channels closed or open ?. If the drawbar digs in to one of those lumps in the sand dunes you may come to a sudden stop. I wouldn't have the motor all the way down - just up enough to clear the prop through the sand. May even take the prop off and wrap cover over the prop shaft.
Deckie
Posts: 1296
Date Joined: 03/04/09
Draw bar
The front of the drawbar is open.
My Colorado has airbags so it sits higher than normal making the rear of the boat lower.
By putting a slightly dropped tongue it will bring the back up and make it level.
The tinnie sits high on the trailer so I am hoping that will be enough.
Cheers & Stay safe
dano83
Posts: 790
Date Joined: 25/05/12
How bigs the motor ? I'd put
How bigs the motor ? I'd put it inside the boat and secure it, I've done that track with a rooftoper though not a trailer. but it's pretty bouncy through the sandy ruts..
Deckie
Posts: 1296
Date Joined: 03/04/09
Motor
Motor is a 30Hp Johnno. There is not many places inside the tinnie to secure it, that's why i'm thinking of leaving it bolted to the transom & making sure boat, motor & trailer are all one unit to bounce around together.
Don't want anything bouncing in the thin hull & punching a hole in it.
If I could do that or put it in the back of the ute, it would be my first option.
Cheers & Stay safe
dano83
Posts: 790
Date Joined: 25/05/12
I bought some of those
I bought some of those rubber floor mats from Bunnings...wrap the motor with that and pack it in tight if you can get it in somewhere the ute or boat... that kept mine safe, it rubbed a bit of paint of the cowling tho..
Vinesh87
Posts: 2751
Date Joined: 02/04/11
I use block of wood on my
I use block of wood on my small motor. 10hp
On my 300 Yammy i use the yamaha motor support. works great!
Shane O
Posts: 926
Date Joined: 22/01/10
locking arm
just got home and found the outboard has a locking arm so all good
Marineboy
Posts: 845
Date Joined: 14/03/14
Locking arm
hey Shane, pretty sure that lever on the motor is only designed for supporting the motor whilst being serviced and not really strong enough for use when transporting the boat !
My spots are so secret even the fish don't know about them !
Shane O
Posts: 926
Date Joined: 22/01/10
oh
oh ok luckily i havent driven anywhere and only put it up while it has been in the driveway
Cleo
Posts: 19
Date Joined: 06/12/13
Motor Lever
Hi I have been advised by both a Honda and Mercury mechanic (two seperate boats) that the lever on the motor is only for servicing and that you should trim your motor only as far as necessary to stop it hitting anythng and that you then can use a wooden chock.
Hope this helps.