long distance boat haul

[flounderman]

Some time in the future I will be towing a 20' boat with a 115 yamaha 2200 miles, trailer is a single axle roller type. I will take my time and stay under posted speeds, 4 day trip. My feeling is to take the motor off the boat and carry it in the truck [ 1 ton Ford 460 V8 ] and then re- hang it upon arrival. The boat will stay at this final destination. Any opinions or suggestions?

 

[SpinnerBait_Nut]

Re: long distance boat haul

Why do you want to remove it?
Use a transom saver and you should have no problem.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: long distance boat haul

totally agree.

 

[DJ]

Re: long distance boat haul

Leave it on. You trailer should be balanced with the engine on.

I've towed a boat 3600 miles round trip. Just make sure your bearings/brakes/tires are top notch.

No worries.

 

[gstanton]

Re: long distance boat haul

Totally agree with the bearing/tires/brakes statement. Only other suggestion is to carry a floor jack and star wrench. Makes life easier in the event....

 

[jlinder]

Re: long distance boat haul

Add some blocks of wood for under the jack. Last thing you want is to be trying to jack up the trailer on soft dirt.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: long distance boat haul

i always carry a small floor jack.

 

[DJ]

Re: long distance boat haul

Add some blocks of wood for under the jack. Last thing you want is to be trying to jack up the trailer on soft dirt.

Or hot pavement. A real issue here in AZ.

 

[BoogieMan]

Re: long distance boat haul

1. I would check those tires not only on the boat but your tow vehicle. Check the air pressure. If your boat tires have any signs of weather rot or low tread it wouldn't hurt to replace them. If it was me going on that long of a trip I would carry 2 spare tires.

2. It probably wouldn't hurt to have a road side reflector of some shape form or fashion just in case you brake down at night on a narrow shoulder on a highway or road for that matter. It can be really dangerous while being parked on the side of the road.

3. Grease the bearings on the trailer if they haven't been done lately. We had a problem yesterday with a wheel bearing but not on a boat trailer and the trailer wasn't mine. We happened to be following my uncle up to deliver a heavy load and the trailer wasn't up to par to say the least.

4. If your not up to date on your vehicle insurance and don't know what it will cover on towing check that also.

5. Make sure your safety chains on the boat trailer are securely mounted to the trailer.

6. If your boat trailer lights are not the LED style bring a couple of spare bulbs.

7. I would also check the boat to make sure it is sitting on the trailer properly, winch is working properly and locking properly (if you have a bow eye). Depending on how old the trailer is, I would carry a couple of extra
bolts or pins to place on the trailer hitch lever.

8. Make sure your transom saver is fastened to the motor, or out drive with something. I mainly use a strap although I have also been known to use a bungee cord.

When towing a trailer as the other guys mentioned already, I also put a couple of 2x6s in the back of the truck and carry a floor jack. I also carry the right size socket with a ratchet, just in case I want to check the ball on the back of the truck to make sure that it is tight. I'm probably going way overboard here but it wouldn't hurt to have spare lug nuts also. Allot to inspect and get prepared for before traveling a long distance. My longest travel was to North Carolina and back with a boxed in U-haul trailer and we had that thing loaded down . Then my father was a truck driver so I guess I got some of my safety and knowledge from him.

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: long distance boat haul

Anyone ever follow a trailer with a boat on it that has a transom saver installed? Every bit of movement in the trailer gets transmitted to the transom via the transom saver and engine. IMO, they do more harm than good. My engines don't have tilt/trim but if they did, I would simply use one of "tilt wedges" to relieve shock stress on the rams.

 

[SpinnerBait_Nut]

Re: long distance boat haul

Jay, I have towed boats all over the country using the savers and not once have a I had an issue with them hurting the boat.
Don't know, maybe the suspension I have had, all dual axle, but never had a problem.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: long distance boat haul

as a family we tow several boats, and PWC's to Key West atleast once a year. the over 100 miles of US 1 between Florida City and Key West is not the best road in the Nation. we have never had a problem with a boat, and transom saver. for us this is a 700 mile round trip.

 

[jusfloatin]

Re: long distance boat haul

When useing a transon saver do you still use the lift tabs motor holder uppers (LOL not sure what they call them) or does the saver carry the weight of the motor.

 

[SpinnerBait_Nut]

Re: long distance boat haul

When useing a transon saver do you still use the lift tabs motor holder uppers (LOL not sure what they call them) or does the saver carry the weight of the motor.

The saver does carry the weight.

 

[DJ]

Re: long distance boat haul

If you have trim and tilt. Just run the tilt down until the engine seats itself into the transom saver. DO NOT continue to run the tilt all the way down.

If the transom saver is causing stress on a boat, the boat is not set up right on the trailer. The boat should NOT move on the trailer. They (boat/trailer) should become ONE. The saver brings the engine into the picture as one entire unit.

 

[MarkMSU]

Re: long distance boat haul

FMan:

Couple more comments from experience.

Use a bow strap to hold the bow down on the trailer. Your boat will move around on the trailer, the bow strap holds it in place.

Also, every time you stop, food, gas, potty, check out the boat and trailer. Can't tell you how many times that saved me trouble down the road. Things wear out, you forget to do this or that. I make it a habbit of checking within the first 30 minutes of a long tow.

Good luck.

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: long distance boat haul

I would say that, if you are going to use a transom saver, strapping the bow down is good advice. I also believe that the transom should be strapped down.

One of the things that I did for work over the course of my life was to drive flatbed trucks for awhile. It has been my experience that loads very definately move on trailers if they are not held firmly in place. Even when they are, the trailer and the load tend to flex differently and the tie down straps stretch to some degree. With strong enough straps and a lot of pressure, flexing of the straps can be minimized but you get into issues of damaging the load if you get too tight. It is also worth noting that the reason for checking straps at every stop is precisely because things do move and, sometimes, loosen.

In terms of towing a boat, I recommend buying the best straps that you can afford. Cheap straps tend to have lower load ratings and they stretch more because the material is lighter. Sometimes the rachet or fastening mechanism tends not to hold well or fails entirely, in less expensive straps. These things can also happen when straps are not taken care of or not replaced periodically. Also, if the straps are touching the surface of the boat anywhere, you may wish to put something soft between the strap and the boat because, once again, you are going to have movement and that will create wear marks on the boat over time.

As a final thought, I recommend two straps on every piece of load, just as the DOT requires of truck drivers. In towing a boat, most of us not only do this (bow and stern), but we exceed it when we have the winch strap/cable, a bow tiedown and one or more stern tiedowns. This is a good thing because the sight of cars dodging a piece of your load in the rear view mirror isn't fun - been there, done that, "strangled" the crew member who swore he strapped everything properly!!!

 

[SpinnerBait_Nut]

Re: long distance boat haul

Get a set of boat buckle tie downs for the stearn.
Pull them out, hook them up and a couple pulls on the handle and your set.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: long distance boat haul

I towed one of my current boats (19'cc, 200hp eveinrude) from Orlando to Seattle (about 3,500 miles) and I use it the most in the Columbia river which is more than 250 miles each way. I've never use a transom saver and not sure if I really want to, I've seen the same thing as what jay_merrill talked about, with every jolt being transmitted directly to the lower unit. There's a great deal of flex in a trailer and the bunks and/or rollers tend to help cushion the impact, the rear frame of the trailer is flexing and moving at a different rate and speed than the boat is.

I did a great deal of loading very large loads on big trucks and trailers and it's very important to make sure the load and trailer can flex as needed independently of each other. So I'm not sure if locking the motor to the trailer is a good idea. I'm not saying I think they're bad, I just don't know which is worse, the transom saver or using nothing. I pulled one boat from Seattle to Arkansas (about 2,500 miles), on the last part of the trip the road was terrible and my heavy duty bow strap broke from the stress of the constant bouncing. It only moved a short distance back on the trailer because I had extra straps on it, the trailer was only 1 week old.

 

[scoutabout]

Re: long distance boat haul

Didn't use a transom saver towing the Scout a thousand miles with the Yamaha 90 4 stroke on it. Perhaps that was dumb. I did take a good look at the balance of the motor when tilted up and concluded the forces acting on it transferred from the road would be near vertical inline with the transom. No levering action at all no matter how hard I bounced the trailer. Dunno -- I'll never tow it near that far again probably. I tend to agree that with bunk flex you are proably adding a stress point since the saver is acting as a hard point between the trailer frame and engine while the boat is free floating to some extent.