What does your trailer look like? There is a roller on the rear cross member?

 

Only picture I could dig up

 

nice set up.

 

Attwood makes a pretty inexpensive transom saver. Mine worked great on my tohatsu 50 until I ran it over. This thread reminded me to order it again.

 

There are two types of Transom saver (well really three).

One that goes over a roller on the back cross member. This means you would have to add a roller. You should do this anyway. I had the same trailer under my Spear and I had that sucker dry launching and retrieving after lowering the bunks and adding an 18" wide roller back there. With this style support , make sure your skiff is SECURELY strapped to the trailer to where the skiff and trailer move in unison. If the skiff is bouncing on the trailer that will transmit a lot of force through the transom saver to the motor and thus your transom.

The next kind is similar but instead of the bottom end of the transom saver fitting over the roller, it fits into a piece than you fasten to the cross member. The little piece on the right

The third type is a puck that goes in between the trim ram and cushions the shock. I have never used this type. It will not support the lower unit like the other style. It is designed to soften the shock of bumps.

 

I've never used one. I just strap the transom down tight so it doesn't jump when I hit a dip or bump in the road. I also tighten the steering friction lever all the way.
Use the clamp bracket to lock the motor to keep it from tilting out if you don't have power t&t. With power t&t, just trim it in until it stops.
Never had a problem, and I trailered my skiffs to work a good 30 to 45 minutes away on rural roads for many many years.

I noticed that none of the companies who's skiffs I own included them in their packages. That says a lot to me.

 

I didn’t use one on the Spear. With my motor straight up and down I had plenty of ground clearance with the raised transom (it had a tunnel)

 

If ground clearance was an issue I'd use the transom saver.

 

My-Wedge also makes block style transom savers. Have been using one for years. The one shown by sublime does the job, but you have to remove it to rinse the rams, so it's not quite as convenient. Reasonably priced and very durable products. They also make blocks for hydraulic steering rams to keep the engine centered while trailering.

 

I have had this on my 40hp Tohatsu tiller for about 2.5 years now. It works great and never had issues with it.

 

I've been tucking my tiller motor against the transom and running a strap across it to keep it turned to one side, but I've been using a transom saver on my Hewes.

On a tiller motor, how do you keep the motor centered when it's on the saver? Seems like it would want to fall to one side or the other.

 

I used a transom saver on my BT tiller. The motor stayed pretty straight without any additional straps etc. If it ever did start turning to one side , I could whip the wheel of the truck and get it to straighten back up. lol

It rode like this all the way from TX to Florida

 

I used the M-Y Wedge on my Honda. Turns out the oil reservoir at the base of the ram is plastic (it looked like, and I had assumed that it was, aluminum). Mac noticed a small crack on top of the reservoir while he was installing my Zephyr Cove Customs pickup; I had already gotten water in the system. I like the M-Y Wedge, but if you plan to use it make sure that the cylinder it rests on is metal, and not plastic. And thanks again, Mac, for noticing it and repairing it.

 

I used a transom saver on my bass boat for many years. I never had an issue with the outboard (175 HP) turning while trailering; the transom saver always held it straight. I still use the M-Y Wedge clips on my Honda to keep the outboard straight on the trailer; they work just fine. You just have to remember to remove them when you launch, LOL (don't ask.....).

 

@hipshot yeah I've never had an issue with my 150 turning, but I feel like it is much more stable than the tiller motor.

 

Thanks everyone for your feedback and insight. I have been trailering the boat since last year trimmed down, full steering friction and a line to keep things centered. Its been working fine for me, was only wondering if there was more I should do.

 

I'd rather be safe than sorry. I've used one for every boat I've ever owned. But I also trailer my skiff about 400 miles round trip and we have some crappy sink holes on our roads here in TX headed to the coast from Austin.

If you get the Attwood model from Amazon, watch out for generic knock offs. I had one arrive a few weeks ago - no Attwood label, photo copied instructions (not that I need them), but worse, no holes drilled into the bar to set the length. I ordered a replacement and got the real thing.

 

If you get the Attwood model from Amazon, watch out for generic knock offs. I had one arrive a few weeks ago - no Attwood label, photo copied instructions (not that I need them), but worse, no holes drilled into the bar to set the length. I ordered a replacement and got the real thing.

Jeff Bezos has made more money off cheap chinese knock offs than WalMart ever dreamed of...

 

I don't want to be argumentative, but I have never had a transom fail or become damaged from trailering. No one I know has ever had a transom problem from trailering. Presumably these devices transfer the force of a bouncing lower unit from the transom to the trailer frame, sometimes through the keel roller? I trailer with my engine only tilted enough to reliably clear road hazards. I think that there is more force transmitted to my transom while I am running the boat (or sometimes hitting something....I know, never happens), then while I am trailering. Maybe on @coconutgroves nasty roads in Tejas it's different...maybe.

I am thinking about this incorrectly, Chris?

 

I am thinking about this incorrectly, Chris?

Nah...there's no right or wrong here IMHO.

Hell...as thick as the transom is on my Spear I could probably stand on the top of my Tohatsu and bounce up and down without doing it much harm.

But...I use the transom saver as a way to immobilize the motor as much as anything...especially the tiller arm and CM extension.

I see too many skiffs bouncing around on their trailers with moving parts flailing left and right.

I always police my skiff and make sure there is nothing loose or untethered whenever I go further than the half mile between storage and the ramp.

 

don't use one, motor doesn't move at all