Greg,
I can only speak for myself. I trailer-sailed my 1986 O'Day 222 since new for years with my outboard on my boat bracket. I have a Johnson 8HP long shaft 2 stroke, and my bracket is the same one that came standard with my boat. I've always bolted my engine to the bracket and used an anti-theft bar lock on it too. A lot of factors enter into this when you try to make a safe decision. For instance; the weight of the engine, how sturdy is my bracket, how far will I be trailering, are the roads smooth or bumpy, and how much trouble is it to mount my outboard on the transom each time I use my boat? In my case, I just don't have the room in the back of my pickup with the rudder in the bed, and my kayak, plus all the other stuff I carried like coolers and Etc. Lately I've had concerns about losing my outboard on the back of the boat while I'm transporting it to the club in the beginning of the season to go on her mooring. So, what I have done is tie a rope to the outboard pop-up handle, (not to be confused with the control handle) to my stern rail. My 222 has a full stern rail unlike the type that was on all the 192s and the 222s. For me personally, it's kind of a time consuming job to mount my outboard because I bolt it, I have to run the charging system wire to a term block just under the lazarett hatch, and I mount the lock bar and tape over the lock. So, I'm not going to tell you one way or the other what I think that you should do. There are just too many variables. I'm going to let you decide based on the points that I just mentioned. If it's not a hassle to mount and dismount it each time, and you have the room in back of your truck, go for it.
Joe
