Newbie trailering questions

[Nevada City Bob]

Does anyone tow their boat with the motor attached? I have an 8hp Merc (87#)on a Fulton adjustable mount on my '84 Mac 25 and leave it there when I go to my neighborhood lake that is 3 miles from the house, but I don't think I would want to leave it there for a longer trip. How about securing of the standing rigging? When I coil them up and secure them to the mast they still rub around on the deck. I am considering a 750 mi. trip in a couple of weeks and would like to hear the tips and pitfalls for long overland treks with a trailered boat.

 

[Dave M]

I leave mine on all the time

I have a 6hp Nissan 4 stroke - about 58#, on the adjustable mount. I have trailered this boat appox. 6000 miles with absolutely no problems. I know some others will slam this, and relate tales of potential problems, but you asked for actual experiences, so there you go. Consider, the larger the motor, the less practical to remove, but potentially the greater strain (does anyone ever take the motor off a MAC 26x?).For the shrouds and stays, we coil them carefully, and use a combination of 2 sided velcro and plastic zip ties to secure everything off the deck. If anything can touch the deck it will, and leaves nasty rub marks. Its really just a matter of pulling everything tight and pulling up all slack after that.Final note(s): secure the boat to the trailer, double check you bearings, carry a spare (tire, and/or anything else that may ruin your day. Keep tounge weight on the heavy side (esp to balance out the engine). Enjoy - that's why we have trilerables

 

[LJR]

Great thoughts Dave

I agree completely with Dave. I have a V22 for which I built a custom rudder. The original was missing when I got it. I built it out of Mahogany and Stainless. It weighs about 100 lbs. In combination with the 10 hp Johnson, it makes my tongue weight too light, so I remove them for trips over 20-25 miles. But I pulled my boat over 750 mi. last year to Fl. and travelled along at 75 mph in my v6 Explorer. Just make sure that you don't make the trailer "tail heavy" and you'll forget it's back there.Enjoy!!! That's why you have a Mac. Neither it nor you are chained to one body of water.

 

[sailhappy1]

not me

I don't ever leave my motor on the boat. Yesterday I pulled it off and put it in the cabin while I'm away and the boat is on a mooring. But I have a Mercury 6 horse 4 strokewith only twenty hours on a $1600. motor. I just sleep better that way.

 

[Nevada City Bob]

Thanks guys

My main concern is the additional stress to the transom bolts from the motor bouncing along on the mount as I boogie down the road. If it were mounted directly on the transom I wouldn't worry, but since it is held about 6" off the hull and the mount has some movement in it I have tied the motor to the stern rail for additional support. I don't want to lose a brand new $1700 motor to theives or the road and I really don't want to tear a hole in the back of my boat. The motor is bolted to the mount as well as clamped so I don't want to take it off more than I need to and I've chained it when it's parked in my drive. Has anybody tried a rigid auxilary support?

 

[Herb Parsons]

My Experience

I leave the motor attached, but I use additional straps (3) to relieve the strain from the motor. It made it from Alaska to TX, and 3 trips from the Dallas/Ft Worth area to Corpus Christi, my boat is a 1976 O'Day 25.As far as the rigging goes, after I got the boat to TX, I read where one sailor wraps his mast and rigging in mover's packing wrap. I started doing the same, and prefer that method.As a side note, head the warning to check your bearings. I forgot after my 2nd trip to Corpus, and on my third trip, had to have 2 sets of bearings (my trailer has four wheels) and one rotor replaced. Not a fun ending to a trip, but it could have been MUCH worse. I plan on adding a "trip box" to the trailer that will hold misc items like wheel chocks, and I'm going to add a grease gun to regrease after pulling the boat from the coastal trips.

 

[panhead]

engine support

Look in your catalogs. They make and sell an item called a "Kusion Kradle" and all sorts of generics for around $40 or less and you can't go wrong because their only job is to support your motor during trailoring. Good cheap insurance the way I see it. Check out 'Boat US' and 'West Marine' for this product. you will probably like it. "You can have the rest - Trailering is best" Good luck.

 

[Bob7291]

For that long a trip

I'd have to pull the motor off and mount it on the trailer tongue itself. That's a lot of leverage acting on the transom mounting points and when you hit a pothole, uneven pavement, etc., it's a more sudden jolt than is normally encountered in the water. Transoms are built pretty strong, but why not spend 10 minutes and take the strain off the fiberglass and your mind?

 

[Nevada City Bob]

no support support

All the cradle/supports I've seen need to rest on the trailer. My trailer ends about 6' forward of the stern under the end of the keel. The only way I can see to suppliment the motor mount is to tie off to the stern rail. I'm going to try that with a couple of ratcheting tie-downs and cross my fingers.

 

[Todd Myers]

Be safe not sorry

My 4hp Johnson outboard on my 20 O'day is not too heavy so I leave it on the mount for short trips only but place it in a secure and padded location on the cabin floor for longer trips. I have also upsized my safety chains, reinforced the trailer tongue and strap the boat on the trailer with 2 straps. Finally, I use about 6 cords to attach the rigging to the mast so the shrouds/stays do not drag on the deck. This took me some time to figure out how to do the best way.

 

[Nevada City Bob]

After talking to Fulton...

I decided to remove the motor when trailoring. They (the mount manufacturer) don't even recomend using the mount with any 4 cycle engine at all, apparently 2 cycles have less torque. Took the boat out this weekend for our first overnighter. Can't wait to get back out there. I bought a mess of thick rubberbands with toggles on them in two sizes. One fits tight around the mast and the small ones will hold a coil of shroud cable. Strapped the boat to the trailer with two ratcheting tie-downs and had no problems with 35 miles of mountain roads. My long road trip is off for now, which is probably best so I can work out the finer points of trailor sailing closer to home. Thanks for all the feedback, these forums are a great resource.

 

[DonColorado]

Movers Packing Wrap

Your comment about wrapping the rigging in "movers packing wrap" was interesting. Can you elaborate more on the material in this wrap?What I've seen is a paper product, which would work OK, but might come apart is towing in the rain. Perhaps a couple of small tarps with bungees wrapped around the outside would keep all the lines neatly under control and up off the deck. Appreciate your comments. HunterDon@Loveland

 

[Rick Webb]

Saran Wrap

The wrap is known as shrink wrap and is available at Office Depot and the like. I use Saran Wrap on mine.

 

[Ken]

velcro

velcro has worked great for me for a year! I start at the aft gathering and wraping velcro straps around halyards and shrouds working my way to the bow, turnbuckles and excess halyards are placed in a small ditty bag and a velcro wrap around it to the mask. I have pulled it on the interstate and have yet to have one let go! velcro can be purchased at lowes or a sports store that sells soccer supplies

 

[Jonathan Costello]

Bungie cords out the wazoo!

I use about 2 dozen mini bungies down my mast. They hold the halyards,forestay and a portion of the uppper and lower shrouds to the mast. I also use flouresent surveyors tape to secure portions of the shrouds to the life lines. The surveyors tape is easy to notice and not forget before I start raising my mast. I also keep my motor mounted to the transom but the mount on my 1994 Hunter 23.5 is fixed mounted to the transom. I put luggage and supplies in the v berth to increase tongue weight and it tows like a dream. Anyone who hasn't pulled their hubs in a few years is asking for trouble. Who knows what evil lurks inside your hubs?

 

[tom b.]

good question

I had a 2hp on the back of my c22 when I first bought it, but i'd like to get a bigger motor obviously. I now only have like 4inch wood squares as backing plates on my boat. I plan on making one the size of the entire motormount. But still.. also I don't wanna go too big a motor in case i have to lift it off the back for some reason. if I went to a 6hp would ya take it off for trailering..It's at least 30 miles to the closest lake.

 

[robert taylor]

for larry

larry,most trailors allow for fore and aft adjustment of the boat on the trailor. you may want to consider moving the hardware forward so you do not have to move all the heavy stuff each time. i agree with tongue weight forward. there is a formula somewhere (u-haul?) i think it states 60% of the weight forward of the axle (not to exceed rating for hitch). also, i have used "bearing buddies" for years with great success. they maintain a spring loaded pressure of grease in the bearing, combined with a reservoir in the external cup. it keeps the water out. used the same bearings for over 10 years and 20,000 of towing my 33 year old vanguard volant. i have had the boat for close to thirty. replaced the bearings twice in the original trailor, and built a new one 2 years ago. the boat and trailor will still look like new when i am gone.