The type you have mentioned help remove the strain of the motors weight from the boat transom during transport. What type of protection are you looking to provide for the motor?.
Looking for opinions on best options for a motor totor. 2008 Mercury optimax 75hp. I have the run of the mill kind that goes from the skeg to the roller on the trailer. Is there a better way to protect my motor?
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The type you have mentioned help remove the strain of the motors weight from the boat transom during transport. What type of protection are you looking to provide for the motor?.
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Motor support systems come in several different forms, all of which do the job as described by DockShootinJack. The basic "bar" support system, known as a "motor toter/transom saver" is one of the more popular & widely used.
And, while there are "some" boat mfg's that may scoff at the idea of their transom needing a "saver", most of the motor mfg's either suggest such a support system or include such a device on or with their product. This tells me all I need to know.
My boat has a 90hp motor on the back of it and it's supported by a Attwood Transom Saver.
Took my boat to friend who welds for a living to have him look at the transom. He said the cracks were all too common. I was hoping someone could comment on the Merc transom saver. Attachment 354783
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Last edited by CrappiePappy; 09-09-2019 at 02:22 PM.
Yeah, from what I read .... the aluminum boats were the ones suffering damage to the transom from a bouncing motor, more so than the fiberglass boats (even though I see more fiberglass boats with toters).
I can't comment on that particular style of toter, as I've never seen or used one like it. But, I'd say any kind of motor support would be better than none ... as long as it did not allow the motor to bounce or flop side to side. Even on motors that have tilt/trim, it's better to have the extra support, so as to take the pressure off the t/t unit seals. Just my opinion on that.
I used the Atwood Lock-N-Stow on a Ranger I had for several years, it was fiberglass and the trailer didn't really accommodate the big stick type. The Lock-N-Stow was handy but didn't really take any stress off of the transom while trailering.
With the aluminum boat I have now, I use the stick type and it works just fine, goes between the motor lower unit and the center roller on the trailer. It's just a generic one from Bass Pro Shops.
I believe the aluminum boats with transom failures (like pictured above) are more due to the addition of aftermarket jackplates with large setback. Jackplates with a lot of setback put a bunch of added stress on the transom.
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That's a dang good point on the jack plate. It was on there when I bought the boat. Might take off for that reason.
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Never thiught about the aluminium boats stress cracking the transom.
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It happens if the forces are right. The key is distributing flexure, if flexure is not distributed over a large enough area it can lead to failure. An engine bolted directly onto/on top of the transom will distribute the load more evenly over the transom, as opposed to placing the motor on a jackplate that then hangs off the back....it's a pretty big difference, especially when you start factoring in the setback and size/weight of the engine.
An aluminum boat needs to be designed to accommodate a jackplate with proper reinforcing, beefed up gussets, and additional support. You can't just go slapping a jackplate onto any old aluminum boat, you have to be careful about it or you might run into problems later.