motor up or down?

[smoked perch]

hey. i'm a new (used) boat owner. i remember dad always keeping the motor down while on the trailer (with the exeption of putting in/out of the water). so that's what i do.
but i see some trailered boats with motors up. i would imagine this is harder on the transom, hitting bumps in the road and whatnot.
i've got about 9-10" clearance from the bottom of my prop to the ground when trailered, and figure it's safe from bottoming out over bumps while trailering.
any input guys?
-perch.

[Borch]

If you have 9-10 inch clearance you should be ok under most situations. But watch out for steeper driveway approaches. They will still get you.

I'm guess the ones with the motor trimed up either have transom savers installed or don't know what they are doing.

Borch

[Ole1855]

Smoked,

One question for you, how big a motor are you talking about? If you have a 60 hp or larger, you may want to get yourself a transom saver.

Ole

[Mark Christianson]

Do you have Power trim/tilt?

[smoked perch]

i have a 35 johnson sea horse, steering unit, but no power trim. it's a '78, but not too terribly big.
not familiar with a transom saver..?

[Ole1855]

Smoked,

A transom saver is a bar that goes in between the lower unit and the trailer frame, it keeps the motor from bouncing and stressing the transom of your boat. With a 35 hp it's not too heavy, so you prbably don't need to use one. When I had a smaller motor I just left it in the down position when trailering.

Ole

[BD110]

smoked perch,
I use an transom saver on my 40 h.p. A transon saver is a bar that clamps onto your motor on one end and the other end goes down to your trailer into a hole in the trailer or thru a plate that is bolted to your trailer. It puts the weight of your motor to your trailer. I'm sure you can find an online catalog and search for a transom saver. I hope this will help you out.
Take care, Thomas (BD110)

[BD110]

Ole1855,
I did not see your post up yet when I was typing out my post. I think we covered what a transom saver does . I'm also looking for new insurance do you cover people in greater Minnesota or just around the cities?
Take care, Tom (BD110)

[This message has been edited by BD110 (edited 08-23-2004).]

[Ole1855]

BD,

I do sell for any where in MN, in fact I currently have customer's from Rochester to Bemidji and Duluth to Park Rapids. What kind of insurance are you interested in? I do auto, home, motorcycle, boats, atv's and commercial.

Give me a call, I'd be happy to quote whatever you have.

Ole

------------------
Olson Insurance Agency
[email protected]
952-224-4774

[BD110]

Ole,
I'll be sending you an email
Tom (BD110)

[Nutty Fisherman]

Smoked perch: When you put your motor down after you have loaded it, put that tilt or lock in the tilt position. That way if you do hit bottom on a driveway or something else it will tilt up with out breaking anything. That is what I do with my 35.

[smoked perch]

nutty:
you may be nutty, but that sounds like a **** good idea to me. thanks,
perch.

[smoked perch]

hey. thanks for the info. yeah my 35 isn't too terribly heavy, so i think i'll go it without one. just keep it down, as there seems to be enough clearance.
unless anyone out there has any bad experiences with this size motor?
thanks for the advice guys.
-perch.