transporting the outboard

[Wayne Steinhour]

I have been transporting my outboard in the back of my pickup because I am nervous about the thought of all that weight hanging off the pivoting motor mount as I go bouncing down the road. I just upgraded to a 9.8 hp 4 stroke this year, so the weight went up to about 110 pounds. In order to get more leverage to be able to pivot the motor mount up when I am in the water, I tied a line to my stern rail, ran it down to a small block at the motor, and pull up on it to raise the motor. Then I got to thinking that if I put some tension on that rope and cleat it off on my stern cleat at the top of the transom, I could have the stern rail and stern cleat supporting most of the weight of the motor.

Does that sound like a safe way to transport the motor down the road? I could probably run another line forward from the stern rail to brace it a bit. That could prbably shave 15 minutes or so off of my setup and teardown time.

Wayne

 

[justsomeguy]

No. At least I wouldn't do it.
Think of those 15 minutes as transom insurance.

 

[Ward H]

If that is a 14' boat, I would really question putting a 9.8 100lb motor on that size of a boat. Even a 4hp at half the weight will be more than enough push and would make launching much easier.
I would even worry about the 9.9 having more tourqe than the transom can handle.

Agree with Justsomeguy about not trailering it mounted.

 

[Brian S]

Yeah, a 110 pound motor on a 14' Uffa Fox designed Javelin?

I'm sure Wayne has this 9.8hp on a bigger boat!

Brian

 

[Stu Jackson]

NEVER leave a motor on a boat on the highway/road. Not only do you lose the motor, you gain a lawsuit from the guy behind you.

 

[Wayne Steinhour]

I should have mentioned that this is on a 23, not a Javelin. (I use an old electric trolling motor on that one.) I know that the previous owner used to drive it with the motor on, but I didn't like the idea of all that weight just hanging off of the motor mount. I was just thinking that with more support, the transom could safely handle it.

 

[Sunbird22358]

I don't think the stern-rail is really designed/built to handle that kind of load, and even so I don't think that tying the outboard up as you mention will remove the side-to-side flexing from the bracket.
I do trailer my DS II with the 4 hp outboard clamped to the transom, but that OB only weighs about 38# and I'm only towing 4 miles on town roads (speed no more than 45 mph and smooth roads, mostly 30 mph or less).

 

[Erieau]

15-horse Honda, all 120 pounds of it, stays right where it's put during trailering. Removal invites injury. To spare the transom the shock loads of the road, I use a ratchet strap around the stern rail, cranked up 'til the motor mount is being pulled slightly upwards. 6 complete 40-minute trips so far, and no problem with either the transom or the stern rail.
Your mileage, quite literally, may vary.