towing my boat on vacation

[m_court15]

I'm getting ready to take my boat with me to silver lake. it is about a 2 1/2 hour drive from my house.

my boat is a 1984 rinker i/o 170 horse, 18 ft.

the trailer tows fine, but does anyone have any suggestions when towing it? what are these transom savers I hear about?

 

[bamadave]

Re: towing my boat on vacation

Transom saver not needed on an i/o, outboard only.
There have been boaters tie the foot up so if the trim rams failed, the foot would not drag the ground.

 

[ricksrster]

Re: towing my boat on vacation

I tow my boat long distances with a cover strapped down to the trailer. It keeps the inside of the boat dry in case of rain while travelling and improves the gas milage a little.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: towing my boat on vacation

i tow uncovered, just a preference, i believe highly in the transom saver, it takes the stresses of the bumps, in the road off the pivot points, of the outdrive, or outboard. when properly loaded the boat and trailer should be one unit. there should be no shifting on bounce of the boat, not using a transom saver is allowing the outdrive to move putting strees on the stringers, transom and pivots, instead of the springs of the trailer, where it is suppose to be.

 

[tommays]

Re: towing my boat on vacation

Be prepared to change a flat tire and if you havent done any bearing matiance i would BEFORE the trip



Tommays

 

[Chris1956]

Re: towing my boat on vacation

M-Court, Bring a lug wrench and sizzor jack for the trailer, as well as a spare tire. Hit the wheel bearings with the grease gun, if you have bearing buddies. If not, repack bearings by hand. Tie the transom to the trailer. Put the keys in the boat's ignition. Don't forget the normal equipment. If you need to top off the fluids occasionally, bring some of the fluids with you. Check the trailer tire pressure

 

[Texasmark]

Re: towing my boat on vacation

I know what the mfgr says, but I don't use a transom saver with an OB having PT&T. But it's not that big of a deal. Want it, use it.

Additionally (to what others have said):

The boat trailer is made for the boat; not every item of camping gear, or groceries, or whatever you can cram in it.

So, put your light items in the boat and heavy ones in the tow vehicle.....tied so as to not blow out of course.

Don't overloat the stern. Remember to maintain your tongue weight on the trailer.

Make sure your spare tires (tow veh and trailer) are up to the trip and aired up.

Lastly, make sure your trailer license is current and use your safety chains if required in your state.

Have fun.

Mark

 

[calwldlif]

Re: towing my boat on vacation

Good advice above8)
Don't forget the car.
All fluids ect.

 

[studlymandingo]

Re: towing my boat on vacation

use safety chains even if they aren't required. I had a hitch catch break and the chains kept the trailer (not my boat trailer) behind my truck, not in someone elses grille, killing grandma and her three grandchildren! Don't skimp on safety. Keep a couple of reflective triangles and some road flares in your road kit. Nothing scarier than changing a flat at night in complete darkness with your back to traffic that doesn't know you are there.

 

[dave524]

Re: towing my boat on vacation

All of the above great tips, drive at a safe speed, no road rage, if using automatic, no overdrive. Have Fun !!

 

[jlinder]

Re: towing my boat on vacation

I would add some wood blocks to put under the jack - shoulders get soft sometimes. I noticed some wood in the picture of tools above.

Also check the hubs when you stop. Feel them for heat. They should be a little warm. Hot and you have trouble brewing.

Check your lights on the trailer also. A quick walk around (pre-flight) is always a good idea, even when you just stop at a rest station. There are stories of people going to get a drink and some idiot pulling out hitch pins or generally messing with the trailer.

 

[m_court15]

Re: towing my boat on vacation

thanks for the advice, it is really gonna come in handy.

texasmark what is PT&T? this is my first boat so I am new at all this stuff

 

[deejaycee_2000]

Re: towing my boat on vacation

PT&T - power trim and tilt, I just use a nice piece of firewood, tilt the motor down on it and strap it down so it moves as one with the boat ... never had problems, I find that towing it without the cover gives me a better fuel economy .......

 

[rottenray6402]

Re: towing my boat on vacation

If the I/O unit is a Mercruiser they make a special holder for to keep it up if the cylinders fail. It is a metal rod about 5/16s of an inch in diameter with 2 hooks bent into the top that go over the cylinder mounts and a single right angle at the bottom that goes in a notch on the outdrive unit. I used them for years and never had a problem.

 

[MrBigStuff]

Re: towing my boat on vacation

My current boat I bought used and had to trailer it >75 miles back home. It has a 135 hp OB with PT&T.

I blame myself for not checking it thoroughly before hitting the road but the moron apparently didn't winch the motor down against the transom saver. It's a rod with a V on the motor side and a U on the trailer side. He also omitted the rubber strap to hold the TS to the motor.

I hit a large bump at a bridge crossing on the freeway and the motor bounced up high enough that the TS departed and almost went through a truck grill behind me (I must've used up all my stored up good luck on that day!). The motor had to bounce at least 4" for the U side to clear the roller. I immediately looked back to see it bouncing violently up and down before settling down on the rams.

Another fortunate thing is the transom was not damaged from the motor bouncing so high. Fiberglass boat with maximum sized motor installed.

The rams on my motor do a good job of lifting the motor and preventing it from going down but they do not appear to be capable of holding it in that position if it is forced upward.

I learned a couple of lessons that day that will stick with me the rest of my life. You never know what kind of conditions you might encounter on the road and you may not have any time to do anything about it. Personally, I'd never risk the possibility of damage when it can easily be avoided by taking a few minutes to install a device that prevents it from occuring. YMMV.

 

[QC]

Re: towing my boat on vacation

My experiencewith transom type saver things for an I/O concern those plastic inserts that you can slide in the rams in front of the tilt cylinders. I have used them before and don't now as I could "pop" them out by running the tilt motor against them, so I really doubt they will help much if you lose a trim cylinder fitting on the way.

Also, when you think about an I/O (mcourt has one), with all respect to tashasdaddy, I can't imagine the stresses of trailering being anywhere near the stresses of the actual horsepower when used as designed i.e. making the boat go. There are no stresses to the stringers IMHO unless it is an older OMC "stringer" drive, but again, the application of power to the propeller has to greatly exceed what the weight of the drive can do to the transom etc. My .02 . . .

 

[RotaryRacer]

Re: towing my boat on vacation

I'm getting ready to take my boat with me to silver lake. it is about a 2 1/2 hour drive from my house.

You don't mention the state your in.

You state your location as Hastings in your profile and I can think of two Silver Lakes in Michigan and one of those is probably about 2.5 hrs from Hastings Michigan.

If that is correct I don't think I would be too overly concerned about that haul. It is relatively flat and there are pretty decent road all the way.

What type of tow vehicle do you have?

I am not saying that precautions and having the appropriate equipement isn't required that is a given, but the actual trip in question shouldn't be too bad.

 

[jaymasta]

Re: towing my boat on vacation

My experiencewith transom type saver things for an I/O concern those plastic inserts that you can slide in the rams in front of the tilt cylinders. I have used them before and don't now as I could "pop" them out by running the tilt motor against them, so I really doubt they will help much if you lose a trim cylinder fitting on the way.

Also, when you think about an I/O (mcourt has one), with all respect to tashasdaddy, I can't imagine the stresses of trailering being anywhere near the stresses of the actual horsepower when used as designed i.e. making the boat go. There are no stresses to the stringers IMHO unless it is an older OMC "stringer" drive, but again, the application of power to the propeller has to greatly exceed what the weight of the drive can do to the transom etc. My .02 . . .

I agree, and even for a 2 hour drive, you guys make in seem like he is driving across the country or something, spare tire and transom saver i can agree on, but all the stuff you guys list seems like a little much for such a short trip, my cousin has a 18ft glastron, with a 150hp yamaha OB, never used a transom saver, never been a carefull driver, barels over bumps and all kinds of crap, and everything still appears to be in fine shape, no cracks showing or anything and hes had this boat for the last 7 years....every weekend (or almost) he makes an hour an a half trip to a fishing spot, of which 1/4mile is a gravel bumpy road although he takes it fairly slow...

 

[Solittle]

Re: towing my boat on vacation

If your trailer wheels have not been off in a long time best remove them and remount and make sure that you torque the lug nuts to spec. Lug nuts have a way of comming off when you least expect it or get rusted so tight that you can't remove them along side of the road trying to fix a flat. It almost goes without saying to check the tires for age cracks & proper inflation.

 

[studlymandingo]

Re: towing my boat on vacation

but all the stuff you guys list seems like a little much for such a short trip,

most accidents happen within 1/2 mile from home.