Transporting an outboard

[David Hall22685]

Back a few weeks ago, I questioned about how best to trailer a 170 over interstate roads. I saw some neat pictures of an outboard mounted on the trailer but I cannot find them in the archives. Either I am to dumb to know how to find things in the archives or they are gone. Does anyone have any good suggestions about how to carry an outboard? I know I don't want to mount it on the motor mount as that would be a good way to lose both the mount and the motor. I don't want to lay the think in the back of my car. What do you think?

 

[kenkindy1]

trailer ladder

I have a Hunter 240. The trailer for the 240 and 260 have a built in ladder on the winch column. I put a small piece of 2x4 on the back of a "step" and tighten the motor mounts onto the back of the board. Mounting here gives a little extra tongue weight which helps with fishtailing/swaying at speed.I'm not sure if the trailer set up is the same on the 170.

 

[Wayne Arnold]

Motor Mount

David,I don't know what Hunter says, but I agree that trailering the boat with motor on the boat's motor mount would probably not be good (I am still in hyper "crack prevention mode.") I am thinking about buying a gas motor and how to transport it. I am leaning toward bolting a piece of 2 by 6 board (or if I go 'fancy,' one of those spare tire mounting brackets) on the trailer's front vertical mast support (on a 146 trailer it is vertical. Not sure if a 170 trailer is the same.) On my trailer I already put an additional winch on the mast support and use it to pull the trailer and boat out of my launch at my cabin so I don't need to use the truck for daily launches. The mast support should easily handle the torque of a light gas motor during trailering. Wayne

 

[David Hall22685]

Let me get this straight

Just mount a 2x4 or a 2x6 horizontal on the front mast support of the trailer with two square "U" type bolts, and just clamp (as I would on the motor mount) the motor this piece of wood? It seems just a little weak to me. That is why I couldn't believe what I saw in the pictures! I travel interstate at interstate speeds for an hour to get to the lake. The mast support is 90 deg., closer to 80.

 

[Wayne Arnold]

motor mount

David,Nicely done, Breadman!I agree that extra steps are required for a heavier gas motor. That is why I would base the motor mount on a steel on steel bolt on trailer spare tire holder you can buy at larger boating stores. With a little adjustment they could be bolted to the mast support to hold a motor instead of spare wheel assembly. If you do go with wood, I would drill through the mast support rather than use "U" bolts. I drilled through mine for my winch mount and it caused no problems and is very beefy. If you do go with a two by four and a heavier motor, I would rotate the mount 90 degrees so the motor hangs over the tongue of the trailer and not to one side. The mast support is much stronger on this front to back axis because it has a large welded brace on the tongue. The mast support will not deflect forward as it might sideways. Does your motor have the ability to tip forward? If so, you could tip the motor up and then put a mount down on the tongue. The motor would attached parallel to the tongue instead of perpendicular to it. If you don't like any of these ideas, my only other thought is you could ship your nice new motor up to me and I would be happy to keep an eye on it for you! Wayne

 

[David Hall22685]

Thanks Wayne

Those are some good suggestions, with the exception of the last one. I had not considered some of those alternatives. I suppose there is more than one way to mount a motor or skin a cat. So, before I ship my motor north, I think I will experiment and try something else...David