Transom saver or not?

[snoozebutton]

If your trailer rides low and you're forced to keep the motor at at least half tilt to keep the skeg from hitting the road it would make sense to me to use one.

I've talked to a few people and 2 of them say a transom saver is worse for your motor than not having one. One guy swears by the M-Y Wedge, makes several trips to Lake Erie each summer, and has never had a problem. He says that all the shock from the trailer is transfered to the motor.

Just wondering what everyone else's thoughts are on transom savers.

[Eric Wettschreck]

The wedge does nothing to protect your transom. It takes weight off the hydroaulics only.

Hands down, no question, every time the boat goes down the road there my transom saver is hooked up. If the boat is properly straped down there is no trailer force that can transfer to the motor.

One thing I've noticed in the past few years as I've worked on a few boats is the older boats have thicker guage aluminum and more beefy transoms. As they get newer, the aluminum gets thinner, there's less gussets, and my opinion is the overall strength is less. You may survive longer in an older boat without a transom saver. Then again, the older boats have that much more wear and tear on them already.

Lots of differing opinions on this one. As for me, even when I'm trailering less than a mile from my house to the lake my transom saver is hooked up.

Otherwise, Valv may have some replacement transoms still for sale.

[snoozebutton]

Thanks for the response Boilerguy.

I've read on a different site that the force of bumps in the road on your transom is no worse than going to full throttle from a stand still on the lake. Any thoughts on that argument?

Just so you know, my boat is going to have one but since I decided to put one on, I've come across these arguments against using them. It makes sense to me to have one, just trying to find out both sides of the story.

[Eric Wettschreck]

I've read on a different site that the force of bumps in the road on your transom is no worse than going to full throttle from a stand still on the lake. Any thoughts on that argument?

Different site??? Shame on you. Just kiddin.

I suppose that arguement could be made. However, think of it this way.......how many times in the lifetime of a boat will it go from a standstill to full throttle as compared to how many road bumps will it encounter. My guess is your boat will encounter about a million more road bumps than hole shots.

Imagine yourself standing there, holding onto a 12 pound splitting maul. Hold it straight up and down with your hand by the head of the maul. That's your boat while in the water. Now, hold the maul at an angle. That's your boat going down the road with the motor tilted. With the motor tilted there is just so much more weight extended out away from the transom that the transom has to hold. High school physics was a few years ago for me but the closer your body you can carry the weight the easier and less stressful it is on your body.

The main arguement against using transom savers is guys will say that going down the road, the shocks the trailer adsorbs will transfer up and down motion to the lower unit on the motor, therefore flexing the hydraulics of the tilt/trim, therefore damaging the tilt/trim and the transom. If the boat is properly strapped so it can not flex, and the rear of the boat travels the same (up and down)as the trailer, there is no motion to adsorb.

[PerchJerker]

I am a firm believer in transom savers and am not a fan of the wedge.

Comparing what the boat does on the water to what it does on the trailer is pointless ---- it's apples and oranges ----- bottom line is a transom saver will protect your transom as well as your motor while you are on the trailer.

[LMITOUT]

The wedge does nothing to protect your transom. It takes weight off the hydroaulics only.

Not exactly.

It serves the same purpose of the conventional transom saver in that it prevents the engine from bouncing, but it does it in a different manner. This comparison has been analyzed a thousand times on hundreds of websites so we probably don't have to go through it again.

Bottom line, get a transom saver of some sort. It's better than nothing regardless of the style you choose.

[snoozebutton]

This comparison has been analyzed a thousand times on hundreds of websites so we probably don't have to go through it again.

I realize that and idealy I'd like to see the outboard, trailer, and boat manufacturers do some testing to see what system is most effective but as far as I know, this hasn't been done. My thinking is the transom saver is the best protection you can use and until I see an actual test to prove that wrong, that's the way I'm going.

[Northlander]

I always use a transon saver. Those wedges dont stop the transom stress.

[snowfighter]

Just bought a new 60 Mercury last week and was reading through the manual and it states to use a transon saver when trailering.I have always used them. Ever follow a boat/motor/trailer on a bumpy road without a transon saver and watch the motor on the bumps.

[Sandmannd]

I would always go with a transom saver. They aren't that expensive, especially when you figure what a new transom would cost.

[LMITOUT]

M-Y Wedge is a transom saver.

[bassNspear]

I have always used transom saver as well. Takes alot of pressure off that motor, and helps it out. Well worth the money

[ricqik]

No matter how tightly strapped down your boat is, the trailer and boat will always move seperately. The transom saver that props at the lower unit does infact cause stress to the hydraulic trim. Over time it will fail. It may look like the motor and trailer are bouncing the same but I assure you it isn't. I currently use the my wedge but am going to upgrade to the t-mount transom saver.

But it's your choice.

[red dodge]

I agree with with lmitout

[davesfriend]

If the boat and trailer bounce different, how come my straps never loosen or snap? My trailer has the torschen(spelling?) suspension. When I strap the boat down there is no way that there is even 1 or 2 mm of travel. Boat goes up, trailer goes up. Simple. The wedge will take the stress of the hydrolics yes, but not the stress of the transom. Last I checked the hydrolics are far cheaper and easier to replace than the transom. I hope I don't offend you but when strapped down properly my boat and trailer are as one. The transom save puts the weight of my 125 on the trailer instead of the transom..

[LMITOUT]

The transom saver doesn't remove the weight of the engine from the transom and places it on the trailer. The weight is still on the transom, the only thing the transom saver does (bar or wedge type, doesn't matter) is keep the shock force from being applied to the transom. The static weight is still there. The wedge does the same thing as the bar in that it is a brace to prevent the engine from bouncing. No bounce, no shock force. Simple as that.

[nine-tiner]

When I picked up my boat the salesman told me not to get one because it was to hard on the hydraulics for the trim/tilt. And that most transoms these days can handle it without. I am still debating given the opinions on here

[marine_man]

When I picked up my boat the salesman told me not to get one because it was to hard on the hydraulics for the trim/tilt.

Regardless of what variety you get (wedge vs traditional) unless you have a boat with less than 40hp or so, I would get one. Steve Bakken on this forum can attest to the number of transom's he's replaced that did not utilize a transom saver.

marine_man

[Sandmannd]

I agree with Marine Man. I've seen them for $35 at Fleet. For that price, it's cheap insurance IMO.

[snoozebutton]

No matter how tightly strapped down your boat is, the trailer and boat will always move seperately. The transom saver that props at the lower unit does infact cause stress to the hydraulic trim. Over time it will fail. It may look like the motor and trailer are bouncing the same but I assure you it isn't. I currently use the my wedge but am going to upgrade to the t-mount transom saver.

But it's your choice.

[PerchJerker]

I have never heard of a problem caused by using a transom saver, including failed hydraulics. I have heard of plenty of problems from not using them.

1,000 to 2,000 miles trailering a year is nothing. Sometimes I do 1,000 or close to it in a weekend. I've been using transom savers since the early - mid '90s and have never had a problem, and don't see myself changing anytime soon.

[blueroof]

If one were to geek out and do a vector analysis on a traditional transom saver vs. a mywedge, the mywedge hands down supports far more engine mass in a linear path to your trailer compared to a bar running to your lower unit from the trailer. A traditional transom saver does not support the engine significantly and does not translate the energy to the trailer while your bouncing down the road. Neither device takes any of the force off the boats transom while traveling.

The MyWedge translates the force of the engine through the hydraulics region. Both the motor and the boat are designed with this point in mind. With a traditional, the force goes through the hinge point of the motor which is up higher on the transom. Both keep your engine from rocking and flexing your transom. The MyWedge, though cheap and simple is effective and IMO a better solution because the force is lower on your transom.

Boats and motors do not stay in contact no matter how tightly strapped down. Steel flexes and straps stretch and momentum/energy is conserved, true that. Use a transom saver, they save transoms.

LB

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

OK here is the real answer to this old question: call the boat manufacturer. Not the dealer, but the guys who make the boats. Then report back to us what they said.

I had my Alumacraft down to the factory last year and the guys who's job it is to fix this things told me to use one. These guys replace transoms for the guys who don't use a saver.

So if you want the correct answer, ask the guys who built your boat.

[davesfriend]

I like that. Makes alot of sense. The guy who builds the boat would know.

[Steve Bakken]

I'm not even going to touch the "opinion" part of this conversation, because frankly, I'm not enough of an engineer to explain or understand the physics of it. I will however state fact, as fact is unable to be argued with. In the 25 years that we've been repairing boats and replacing transoms, we've never replaced a transom for a customer who used a transom saver.