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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

General Sailing Forum

Outboard and Trailering

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mroettersr
Navigator

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USA
148 Posts

Initially Posted - 04/26/2002 : 01:53:55

I have always carried my outboards in the tow vehicle and never on the boat while traveling and put it on the boat just before launch. Is this common practice? Until this Honda 4 cycle and the height of the tail end of a Catatina 25 on its trailer, it was never a big deal for me to hike the motor up on its mount on my previous boats (Venture 2-24, 17 and Catalina 22). Does anyone travel with the motor on its mount on the boat?

Mike

'83 Cat 25 #3568 SK SR

Edited by - on

MattL
Admiral

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USA
990 Posts

Response Posted - 04/26/2002 : 02:22:28

Mike,
I don't even like the amount of flexing I get in the transom while using the outboard, let alone trailering with it. I put it in the cockpit with bumpers all around.

Matt
EC Rider
Cat 25 86'
FK SR

Edited by - on

dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 04/26/2002 : 02:25:52

I never travelled with the outboard mounted on the bracket, always put it in the back of the truck. The forces that could be exerted on the bracket by the motor would probably be too much especially when going over bumps. So it's better to be safe than have the outboard, bracket, and pieces of your transom scattered all over the highway.

Don Lucier, Northstar
C25 SR/FK

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Arlyn Stewart
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
2980 Posts

Response Posted - 04/26/2002 : 09:03:08

I don't have a c25, but had a c22 with swing mount and trailered the 79lb Honda 8 4 stroke on it all the time.

But, I never let the weight of the motor set on the mount. Use a 3/8 nylon line or a nylon web strap to support the weight by running over the transom and down to the motor.

The nylon will flex and act as a shock absorber.

The very important part ...be sure the mount is raised but isn't locked and can't lock accidentally. Resist any temptation to lock it to add redundancy to the support line. To do so will put the weight on the mount.

Arlyn C-250 W/B #224

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OJ
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4382 Posts

Response Posted - 04/26/2002 : 09:35:23

Hi Mike!
I follow the basic laws of physics on this topic . . . the one about leverage. If you're dry docking I would leave it on - but for trailering on the open road I'd stick it inside - especially with all the potholes you have in your part of the country, that poor motor is liable to jump right off the bracket<img src=icon_smile_wink.gif border=0 align=middle>!
Be prepared for a lengthy discussion on this one - it's a mixed bag of worms!

Steve Madsen
#2428
OJ (Ode to Joy)

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dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 04/26/2002 : 11:24:03

With all of the discussions we've had concerning outboard motor weight and bracket sturdiness, I think it is only prudent to advocate the practice of removing the outboard while trailering instead of giving people the idea that it may be okay to leave the motor on the transom. On my last boat, I had an outboard bracket that failed while motoring on the water and that was scary enough. It would have been disastrous if it happened while on the road. Aside from the issue of possible damage to your own motor, bracket, and transom, what about the safety of everyone else on the highway who's following you. Additionally, I don't buy the, "I do it all the time without any problems" line. Those tend to be famous last words.

Don Lucier, Northstar
C25 SR/FK

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Steve Milby
Past Commodore

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USA
5909 Posts

Response Posted - 04/26/2002 : 12:15:18

I skipped my nearly-new, electric start, long shaft Mercury down the highway at 55 mph, and have never carried it on the transom since. If the boat has been out of the water and covered for awhile (my boat was stored indoors at that time), the wood motor mount dries and shrinks, and the clamps might not be as secure as when you stored the boat in the fall. Also, I didn't have a safety chain on it at the time. Duh!

Steve Milby "Captiva Wind" C-25 T/FK #2554

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MattL
Admiral

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USA
990 Posts

Response Posted - 04/26/2002 : 14:27:32

We use to have an old British Seagull engin. Around the perimiter of every page was written a message reminding you to tie the motor down with a lanyard. The first time out the engin shook itself off of the mount. Fortunatly we took the message to heart. Keept the motor till someone took it off one night.

Matt
EC Rider
Cat 25 86'
FK SR

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dgabel
1st Mate

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USA
75 Posts

Response Posted - 04/26/2002 : 16:59:28

When I had an 18-ft. Buccaneer daysailer, I always kept the motor in the trunk of the car, and mounted if before heading down the ramp, just to be sure.

One day, the motor mount broke off when I was under power, and I was fortunate to have been able to grab the motor before it went to the bottom, and haul it on board. Since that time, I ALWAYS tie a motor to the boat with a safety line.

On my Cat 25, I have moved the boat from shore to storage and back twice with the motor mounted, but secured with a safety line to reduce movement. It's worked, but the comment about famous last words is apt in this case. I'll rethink that procedure. The problem is that the thing is so heavy, I'm not sure how I'll get it onto the mount once the boat is in the water.

Any ideas?

Dave Gabel
Walkure, #1484
Northport, NY

Edited by - on

Ed Montague
Captain

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USA
499 Posts

Response Posted - 04/26/2002 : 18:55:25

I confess that I tow with the motor on the motor mount. However, I tie the whole setup to the base of the stantion on the stern pulpit. My motor mount is heavy plastic and I have thru bolted the motor to it. The hastle of unbolting, disconnecting the electric connection and feeding it out of the boat and then lifting that beast(Yamaha 9.9 4 stroke) on/off is more than I want to face. We have trailered thousands of miles this way and have had no problems. Well the one problem is the extra weight on the back of the boat means I need to move more weight forward to keep the tongue weight up.

Ed Montague on 'Yahoo'
1978 #765 SK, Stnd, Dinette ~_/)~

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Bristle
Admiral

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USA
834 Posts

Response Posted - 04/26/2002 : 19:08:37

I think Arlyn has something... If you don't lock the bracket but support the engine with lines (maybe from one winch to the other?), you will eliminate most of the forces on the transom. If the lines have some stretch (you could even use rubber snubbers on them), the bracket can move slightly up and down when the trailer hits a bump--like a suspension system. That's ONLY IF the bracket is NOT LOCKED. (I would still use a safety cable around a stern rail base.)

Now, understand that I don't plan on going with his strategy--I don't even have a trailer. But with my 108# Honda (ugh), I'd look seriously at his approach if I were trailering the boat. There has to be an engineering solution, and a "suspension system" seems like the one.

Dave Bristle, 1985 C-25 SR-FK #5032 "Passage" in CT

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Gary B.
Admiral

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USA
969 Posts

Response Posted - 04/29/2002 : 23:03:22

Friends: With all due respect to Don, I will stick my neck out and say that like Ed, I have trailered many, many miles with my Yamaha 9.9 on the bracket. I bought my first one in 1985 and have done it since. I always tie the bracket and the motor to the stern rail, and I keep my safety cable attached as well. Last summer someone on this post suggested a line from winch to winch around the engine. I used a 1" nylon strap that doubles as a jackline for my safety harness tether when in open water. The line worked very well, according to my family who usually follows me in a second car. The engine (why in the heck do we call them "motors"????) hardly moved in 250 miles one way. This way I have multiple backups. That engine is just too heavy to manhandle very much!!!

Gary on Encore! SK/SR traditional #685

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dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 04/29/2002 : 23:10:59

Gary,

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote><font size=1 face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>(why in the heck do we call them "motors"????) - Gary B.<hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote></font id=quote><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size=2 id=quote>

We use motors for "motoring", because engining with an engine sounds funny!<img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>

Don Lucier, Northstar
C25 SR/FK

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mroettersr
Navigator

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USA
148 Posts

Response Posted - 04/30/2002 : 00:37:34

Thanks for the input. Although, I like the idea of strapping the motor (engine or thingy as the admiral would call it), it may be best to find some foredeck animal to help lift that propulsion device up to the bracket just before splash in.

Mike Roetter

'83 SK SR

Edited by - on

Greg Jackson
1st Mate

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84 Posts

Response Posted - 04/30/2002 : 08:10:12

I tow with a Honda 4 cycle on the back all the time. With a good backing plate, the motor mount can handle the weight, but it cannot handle the torsion. Without some external support, the bottom end of the motor mount will be forced in while the top end will be pulled out. This is a twist or torsion.

I feel the support needed is not up, but forward. I bring a line mostly horizontal, normally using the winch. The winches are designed to take a great deal of horizontal force from the genoa sheets. With the motor held forward, the force on the motor mount is only a sheer force and is well within its ability to support.

I also like to have the external lines much heavier than necessary to reduce the basic springy nature of nylon. A nylon woven line like the jack line webbing will definately act as a spring and your motor will be doing a lot of bouncing. I'm not talking about wild 6" gyrations, but rather a steady and consistent motion of 1/2". That sort of motion will wear out the bearing surfaces in the moving parts of your motor mount within a few hours. I belive the motor should have very little motion to it while going to windward at 60 mph.

G. Jackson

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John V.
Admiral

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USA
559 Posts

Response Posted - 05/11/2002 : 22:31:35

I noticed one little item in this thread that I may shed light on.
The difference between a motor and an engine when talking in marine terms is this. (to the best of my knowledge) an engine is powered by steam and a motor is powered by deisel or gasoline. Hence the difference between a motor craft and a steamer. now a diesel is an engine when it pulls a train but on the water it powers a motor vessel while an engine powers a steam ship. I think some of these old terms still function when we refer to an "outboard motor"

John V. Nin Bimash II
77 C25 sk/sr #153

Edited by - on

Gary B.
Admiral

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USA
969 Posts

Response Posted - 05/14/2002 : 04:55:16

I wasn't trying to be funny....but I tend to trust what me old pappy taught me (he was a gas and diesel mechanic for many years). According to the old man, a MOTOR is electric. It starts your "engine", powers windows, windshield wipers, etc. They even make 'em for trolling fishing boats. But, technically, with all due respect to General Motors (tee-hee), I think these two and four stroke thingies we use as auxiliaries are actually "engines". I didn't try Webster or Funk and Wagnals. But, I, too, refer to "motoring" when under power.....isn't life fun? And doesn't the English language change faster than one can believe? Remember when "bummer" was a bad acid trip? Now I hear my pastor say it in the pulpit!!!!

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Shelby
Navigator

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USA
155 Posts

Response Posted - 05/14/2002 : 10:00:59

I checked the Honda Web site and they use both terms. They call them outboard motors in general, but refer to them as engines in the spec section. Go figure.

Shelby on "Third S" '82 C25 #3208 SKSR with Honda 9.9 get me out of the marina device.

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