Motor up or down while trailering?

Transom saver all the way.

i've always trailered mine down.my new tohatsu says in the manual to trailer in the locked down position.if it eventually wrecks my my transom, which i doubt it ever will,then oh well,i get to buy a new boat.win/win.my bunks are raised up so the skeg is over 18 inches off the ground.imho,if you're worried about it being too heavy then it's probably too much motor for your hull rating.

Transom saver....

I had this 12' hypalon inflatable years ago with a Tohatsu 18hp on the back. Kind of an extreme example because the wood transom is glued to the tubes but it really demonstrated how a transom saver saved transoms. Before i got the saver i would look in my rear view and every time i hit a bump the outboard would jostle around, if i was on a bad road the shaking around of the outboard was constant. It got me worried because it was like this repetitive motion injury to the attachment points of the transom. Only a matter of time before they were weakened. I got a TS and when i looked in the rear view the majority of the movement of the outboard was gone. Wont trailer without one now. Only my opinion and not the most scientific but oh well......

Yeah..... So I usually have the motor up when trailering, but the other day I decided to leave it down after a day of fishing to see how the trailer would react on the ride home. Everything felt good and went smooth until I had to back into my driveway. Not enough clearance. Long story short, I installed the new prop today.

I would prefer to trailer with the motor down, but just don't have enough clearance for peace of mind. Guy at the place I bought the boat said just hold the motor up using tilt lock lever. Mercury OB owner's manual says to use a transom saver, so I ended up using a transom saver.

I have always used a transom saver/ moter toter. Seems to me that most of the high end bass boats use them, so would think thats the best way to trailer.

Whats the advantages or reasoning for trailering motor down?

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dirty dave said:

Whats the advantages or reasoning for trailering motor down?

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Not sure it is an advantage so to speak, but my owner's manual prefers that boat be trailered with the motor down. If that isn't possible due to clearance issues, then Mercury recommends use of a transom saver. The concern is that the power tilt, including the lock lever, is not designed to support the motor while trailering. Having read this in the owner's manual, I suppose I'm more concerned about damage to the power tilt than to the transom. As it is, to get needed clearance I have to use the transom saver.

Jmar said:

Yeah..... So I usually have the motor up when trailering, but the other day I decided to leave it down after a day of fishing to see how the trailer would react on the ride home. Everything felt good and went smooth until I had to back into my driveway. Not enough clearance. Long story short, I installed the new prop today.

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Oh yes, if the motor is down you have to be really careful reversing!

The axle is lower than the prop but it is way forward. How many people have seen motor home get high centered on the back bumper pulling across RR tracks off the road into parking lots etc? Same thing with that motor behind the axle. And that is in a perfect world with the boat setting level, if the tongue is setting a little high it is only worse. Motor at least partially up with a transom saver.

nccatfisher said:

The axle is lower than the prop but it is way forward. How many people have seen motor home get high centered on the back bumper pulling across RR tracks off the road into parking lots etc? Same thing with that motor behind the axle. And that is in a perfect world with the boat setting level, if the tongue is setting a little high it is only worse. Motor at least partially up with a transom saver.

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Thousands of miles on my motor down setup and nope, never had that issue.

jethro said:

nccatfisher said:

The axle is lower than the prop but it is way forward. How many people have seen motor home get high centered on the back bumper pulling across RR tracks off the road into parking lots etc? Same thing with that motor behind the axle. And that is in a perfect world with the boat setting level, if the tongue is setting a little high it is only worse. Motor at least partially up with a transom saver.

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Thousands of miles on my motor down setup and nope, never had that issue.

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Like everything in life you always remember that "first time" the best

https://www.boatus.com/magazine/trailering/2012/march/transom-saver.asp

An interesting article on this issue. This is all so new to me that I don't have any first hand input.


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Motor up for me, but still contemplating what to do. Dealer said up with motor leaning on lock bracket. :-k

I have a pontoon that has a 90 horse 2 stroke on it (Johnson) and that motor has a tilt lock on it. I always trailer with it in the locked position. I've seen a couple of toons that use a transom saver but that seems to be the exception. I don't feel that application is necessary myself. I also have a 16 foot aluminum john boat that is all welded. When I purchased the boat I trailered it home, approximately 120 miles without a transom saver. The boat had a 2 stroke Mercury 40 horse on it at the time. When I got to the house I found two cracks, both of which were on the sides of the knee that attaches to the transom and I know for a fact they weren't there when I purchased the boat. For that reason alone I started using the transom saver on it. I even use them on the kicker that I added to the transom. I'm of the opinion that if it's an aluminum boat and uses a jack plate or anything that sets the engine back further off the transom that a transom saver should be used. It's a matter of leverage. Also, the weight of the 4 strokes now days adds to the transom weight as well as the added torque from that weight. I personally won't rely on just a tilt lock alone whether the engine manufacturer states it's not required. The shock and loads of trailering are directly transferred between the two and anything I can do to cushion and absorb those loads helps mitigate those loads.

I use the transom saver to "save" my power tilt & trim and trim lock. Really has nothing to do with saving the transom. If I could trailer with the motor down, I wouldn't use a transom saver.

On the other hand.... This morning when I launched the boat I had the bow line in my hand. Problem was it wasn't tied to the boat. Boat was too far for me to reach and I wasn't going to jump. So, I grabbed the transom saver out of the back of my truck and used it as a makeshift boat hook.

LDUBS said:

I use the transom saver to "save" my power tilt & trim and trim lock. Really has nothing to do with saving the transom. If I could trailer with the motor down, I wouldn't use a transom saver.

On the other hand.... This morning when I launched the boat I had the bow line in my hand. Problem was it wasn't tied to the boat. Boat was too far for me to reach and I wasn't going to jump. So, I grabbed the transom saver out of the back of my truck and used it as a makeshift boat hook.

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New guy here but long time tin boater and I think this sums it up well.

If you have the clearance leave it down.

If it has to be up for whatever reason use a transom saver.

I never saw a motor bob up and down more than when I tried towing using the tilt lock.

I currently have 10" of clearance wich IMHO is plenty.

IF you have the ground clearance, motor down is fine. The transom is designed to carry the weight of the motor and does so while the motor is pushing the boat across the lake.

I am not a transom saver fan. Like I already said, the transom is designed to carry the weight of the motor while under power. No manufacture will tell you there transom is so weak that you need a transom saver, and if they did recommend one. Find another manufacture. They are selling junk.

As to the comments about transferring motor weight to the trailer with a transom saver. You are also adding a force to the lower unit. which in turn puts stresses on your motor pivot points and lower unit to head unit bolts in a shearing motion. When bolts fail they generally shear in-half.

Transoms are built to support the motor the manufacturer recommends. So if you don’t
over power your boat, it will be fine.

With the motor tilted down. The weight will be vertical so not much added leverage by the motor to transom when going over bumps.

A tilted motor would have more leverage to twist the transom.

Clearance to the ground should be your biggest consideration.

I use a transom saver. Some of the railway crossings I go over are steep, the outboard would be too close to the ground.

I’m a strong believer that if you use a transom saver your boat,motor and trailer have to become 1. There can’t be any movement between any of them.

Long story short, in my opinion is there a wrong way. Yes, if your motor hits the ground.

Other than that do what you are comfortable with.



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Lol, nope. Manufacturers motor ratings are a function of the dimensions of the boat, stearing style, hull style (chine/no chine) and transom height. The transom could be made out of paper mache and it wouldn't matter a bit for the outboard size rating.