Tie down by stern eyes or not?

[fishfeatures]

Am redoing my boat ( transom, stringers etc.) 14ft ski boat with 60hp johnson on it. I'm thinking of not inserting the ss eyes through the new transom, but instead use the trim holes on my motor to tie down the boat. The motor is bolted through the transom in 4 places and will be as solid as a rock when installed there.
I don't pull tubes or what not as I use the boat mainly to bounce about the bay as my means of fun..

Is tying down this way a bad idea? I also tie down through the bow eye (along with the chain and winch , over kill i know)?

Will towing this way have any adverse effects? I can't think of any and i don't want to drill the new transom if i can help it?

 

[Fireman431]

Re: Tie down by stern eyes or not?

If you're not going to reinstall the lifting eyes, then I would just use a stern strap to hold the boat to the trailer. The first time you use something that it wasn't designed to be used for, your asking for issues...regardless of how strong it appears. Remember, shear strength, compression strength, and tensile strength are all very different.

 

[fishfeatures]

Re: Tie down by stern eyes or not?

Thought about that too but ruled it out as it's getting a new paint job also and don't want the strap chaffing it or something of that nature

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Tie down by stern eyes or not?

Those stern eyes come in handy for a lot of stuff; I'd put them back in.

If you have stern cleats you can tie down with them.