Just bought a used boat with a 175 horse and a 9 horse kicker. I see that both engines have a bracket on the engine so when the engine is fully lifted the bracket will hold up the engine. Is this the proper way to trailer the boat and engines or should they be lowered part way. I see a lot of boats being towed with the engine lifted and some with the engines down part way. I also see some with after market brackets the put the weight of the lower unit on the trailer, kind of worried about that with a good bounce and all the weight and force going to the lower unit. Any advice and suggestions would be great.

Always haul boat on the trailer with the brace on. It keeps your outboard fron torquing on the transom while traveling. I see people haul boats without the transom saver brace, but I would not. Use the brace.

Transom saver.

We trailer boats 10’s of thousands of miles per year on everything from Interstate to “did they fire the guy that is supposed to maintain this road?” type roads.


Two ways to really protect your investment is to use a transom saver in the back and a bow saver in the front. Completely worth it.


There’s a lot of stress put on a transom by an engine that hangs off of it. The shock the hull takes when you hit pot holes can ruin it.

Spot on Aix. I cracked the transom on my bass boat many years ago by transporting with the engine hanging unsupported. Since then I use a transom-savor and have had no further problems.

In this discussion right now on a Bassboat forum. The MotorMate seems to be the most popular for 2 strokes. If your Trailer is set up correctly, then a transom saver. I have a 4 stroke with a Trailer that isn’t set up correctly, thus my delimma.

I am friends with a fella who lived less than a mile from the lake he fished. He always left his motor up with no transom saver when he went to the lake. I asked him why he didn't use the transom saver. He said not worth the hassle. Ruined his transom in less than 5 years. Learned his lesson.

I raise my motor then use a ratchet strap from gunwale around motor back to gunwale and the tighten,works good for me. reccomened by boat dealer.

And ALWAYS use stern straps to secure the back of the boat securely to the trailer. A transom saver on the motor will do nothing (probably hurt more) if the stern of the boat can bounce on the trailer.

I agree. I have a 115hp Yamaha on my 18' Lund and have always used a brace for this reason.

I've been putting thousands of miles on boat trailers each year for most of the past 20 years. Never had a problem with not using a transom saver except in one case in which my boss ordered a boat with a trailer that was about 2-3 feet too short. Keeping the motor in the down position and locked or bungee corded to something solid did seem to help out and transom savers just broke every time we put them on there and went more than 10 miles.

I work for a marina here on Georgian bay that stores and services over 700 boats annually. We are a Grady white and key West dealer among others. We deal mostly with outboards, but see everything from 14 foot aluminum's to 38 foot Grady whites with triple 350 Yamahas. We deliver hundreds by trailer a year, serviced boats and new. We have delivered to Vancouver, Quebec, and all over Canada. I have never seen a transom saver on anything we trailer, and we have had no issues attributed to not having one. Lots of large boats with large heavy outboards.

Imo if you have trouble with your transom from trailering a boat, you had a bad transom to begin with. Water intrusion and rot has ruined more transoms that trailering ever will. Would a transom saver help a weak transom? Probably, but then you have bigger issues.

I suppose, if I were hauling someone else's boat, I wouldn't worry about it either. LOL

Hutchy, are you trailering boats down roads, or are you moving them from a ramp/parking lot to a shed?

Anything needing service gets lifted into the shop with a forklift, so no real moving around the yard on trailers. Most of our deliveries are well over 2 hours drive from the marina, but often further, or shorter. We have two full time delivery drivers spring and fall, either picking up or dropping off boats for annual service and storage, or delivering new ones.

And keep in mind people are willing to pay us to pick up their boat from hours away because see sell the best and can ensure attention to detail because we want a happy customer ten years from now, not just at the sale.

We have fixed transoms, but the glass is always sound, it's the wood that gets replaced. I bought a bass boat years ago and the transom was shot. You could grab the motor and flex the transom. We boxed in the splashwell and put in a sealed five inch transom, marine ply laminated with glass. No issues now.

You guys seeing damage from trailering, what is damaged? Is it the glass it's self, or does the wood break down and the transom get "floppy"?

If a transom flexes enough to damage the glass, then normally the strength of the wood or perhaps composite used for the transom core is compromised already

I guess I am thinking of smaller, aluminum, fishing boats. 90% of the boats around here are 14-22' aluminum boats with 25-300HP outboards. I'm sure boats that are designed for ocean use have a much heavier transom. If you have ever followed someone down the road, pulling an aluminum boat with a 100+ HP outboard and have seen the amount of bouncing it does and how it flexes the transom, there is no way you would suggest pulling it around without some kind of support for that motor! Anyway, pretty cheap insurance to strap the boat to the trailer and hook up the transom saver IMO.

By all means use one! I mean, it certainly can't hurt. Yamaha has a doodad you put in near the trim cylinder that takes the weight of the engine off of the trim and stops any bounce there, however it does nothing for the transom at all. It deadens some of the bounce, but that's only on the new engines, and larger ones. Only new motors I believe

Multiple repairs made to this boat before a transom saver was used.



Bow saver could have saved this boat from having to have multiple repairs.



Same for this one.

Got rid of my boat and motor. Kept the transom saver in case I ever got another boat. I've seen bent and busted skegs because the lock did not hold the motor up and it flipped down to the run position. Makes for a bad day after traveling 50 plus miles and cant get on the water. Also good for reminding to put in the plug. Install plug, remove bracket. Place bracket, remove plug.