are Transom Savers a good idea or a gimmick???
 

I ordered a new boat, it's finally in, but I am wondering if I should throw a transom saver on that thing or not..
I plan to take that thing down gravel, so there will be washboard and crappy roads. my last boat had a little 90 johnson on it and it had one built in.

do these things really work? has anyone had a good or bad experience with them?

Thanks!

Npauls uses them and swears by them. it makes sense. reduces the vibration from the motor and transfers it to the trailor. then again regardless there is still going to be preasure on the transom. all the saver is doing is fixing one point on the support for it.

I run a 300 Verado like in your picture, and I do not like transom savers. I don't feel that they do much to protect the motor, and I use the factory motor chock on the Verado when I travel. There is vibration and movement from the trailer and the lower unit of the engine, and the transom saver in my opinion doesn't do much to stop the motor from moving. I have had them break, fall off, scuff the paint on the lower unit, wear through the rubber into a bolt(and damage the metal on the front of the lower unit - nothing a bit of filing and some phantom black couldn't fix) and get worn down pretty good on the highway. One time my big motor even came down and was dangling mere millimeters from the road. I was very lucky it didn't touch and skim off my skeg or my ss prop. The motor might not stay straight when chocked, but it's never coming off the factory chock while travelling. In all my years with boats, I have seen more issues with transom savers than without.

That being said, I ordered my boat with one last year because the guy buying it off me wanted one, so I wasn't going to argue with him. I didn't use it, but I did have it there for him and he uses it.

Chris K

I was told that with the new motors it is not a must need, but in saying that i use one and like it..
http://www.basspro.com/Swivl-Eze-Loc...SELL_THUMBNAIL

I really think it helps out alot. Instead of putting all that pressure on the transom and tilt hydraulics it seems to hold the motor still. I can't see how driving down the highway and hitting bumps along the way and having your motor bounce up and down is any good for the transom.

I have heard other people say they are garbage and do nothing but hurt the boat more then save it but I myself have never had a problem.

i've had my boat with a 90 evinrude for about 15 years and have never used one , just the travel rest on the motor . we have pulled the boat all over the province from miniwanka (by banf , not sure of the spelling ) to peerless by red earth and everywhere inbetween and into northern sask. at least 8 times . never had a problem . as you may know , the roads in sask do test your equipment!

17 ft Legend, 115 Merc Optimax. Used a transom saver since day one. Never an issue. Keeps the motor from in-needed bouncing.

Hey.. you must be the same Chris I met at the boat show, work'n with the Lunds, I sent you an email the other day...

Yea, i'm running the 300 Verado also, that thing has quite a bit of weight, so was a bit concerned about getting too much movement during transport, but I've never used a transome saver yet..

I have one. I don't know how much it does to save the transom. The weight of the motor is the same with or without one and transom is still supporting that weight as you drive down the road. Slowing down on a rough road will do a lot more than any transom saver will. For support to the transom, I have the trailer adjusted so that the transom is sitting on top of the rear set of rollers on the trailer. The reason I have a saver is for the hydraulics. The factory stopper isn't that strong and this one takes the place of it. The hope is that it saves the seals in the hydraulic system when there is a bump on the road.

http://www.iboats.com/Swivl-Eze-Lock...-view_id.37844

I was wondered the same thing a couple years back when I picked up my Lund w/90 hp Merc. One of the members here suggested using a 2x6 fitted snug between the motor and transom mount rather that the factory tilt lock. The motor sits at about 45 degrees and rides great over bumps. I should add that the boat is very well balanced front/back on the trailer so that helps smooth things out as well.