Outboard up or down

[kerny]

Originally Posted by jezza2011

Clearly states in the Manuals " DO NOT TOW WITH THE ENGINE RESTING ON THE TILT LOCK ARM"
.

I have been looking through my Etec manual and there is nothing in there about how to position your engine while towing, but it does state that you should use your trim support while the engine is in the up position.

[jezza2011]

arr mines and old 2 stroke and it does. :-)

[lakelandterrier]

Isn't it all a bit acedemic?
Has anyone experienced damage to engine / transom from trailering with engine raised? If not I can't see there's a real risk.
If you feel its better to tilt the engine down with a device wedging it to the transom then that's fine too.
I reckon it's what people feel comfortable with. I'm not sure there is a scientific "right" answer.
I'd hate to spoil a good debate though
LT

[Leapy]

Originally Posted by lakelandterrier

Isn't it all a bit acedemic?
Has anyone experienced damage to engine / transom from trailering with engine raised? If not I can't see there's a real risk.
If you feel its better to tilt the engine down with a device wedging it to the transom then that's fine too.
I reckon it's what people feel comfortable with. I'm not sure there is a scientific "right" answer.
I'd hate to spoil a good debate though
LT

As far as my RIBnet searching skills go, no-one here has ever owned up to engine up transom damage. Unless, someone knows different

[Seabay]

I spent around 14hrs following a mate up to Scotland towing a Fletcher with a 225 V4 Yamaha on the back. No precautions what so ever. It never moved a bit.

However the 5hp honda aux engine he stuck on the lowering bracket shook to bits and had to be removed within 40 miles. They aint designed for that.

Personally I am a block of wood and bungee kind of guy.

[Leapy]

Originally Posted by Seabay

Personally I am a block of wood and bungee kind of guy.

Yes, I see you have a Avon

[kerny]

If you shouldn't tow with the engine in the up position then you would have thought that the engine manufactures would have added some sort of device to support the engine while partially down instead of peeps having to ram pieces of wood between them fer fooks sake we pay enough money for them.

[willk]

Originally Posted by kerny

you would have thought that the engine manufactures would have added some sort of device to support the engine while partially down instead of peeps having to ram pieces of wood between them

A touch of Vorsprung durch Technik wouldn't go amiss in the outboard world, eh Kerny?

[kerny]

Originally Posted by willk

A touch of Vorsprung durch Technik wouldn't go amiss in the outboard world, eh Kerny?

Spot on Pity Audi don't make outboards "probably would be the best outboards in the world" even provide a stick of salami to do the job proper

[jambo]

Originally Posted by kerny

Spot on Pity Audi don't make outboards "probably would be the best outboards in the world" even provide a stick of salami to do the job proper

Nope that would be Carlsberg!

Sent from my iPhone using Rib.net

[TwoBob]

My unscientific, limited experience take on this is I have always towed engine up without thinking about it till this thread.... Having given it some thought and read though all this I will continue to do so.
The loads on the transom when blasting through waves to get to a casualty must surely be higher than a toddle at 60mph up a motorway on a trailer equipped with suspension and inflatable tyres? With the engine tilted the centre of gravity is moved above the transom so the loads are more evenly distributed than with all the motor hanging off the back. Anyway that is where I have got to having given it a bit of thought but I am prepared to be wrong (I usually am!).

[busybee]

I have spoken to Ribcraft via email, the official word was "Most people just rely on the Hydraulics and tow with the engine up, which is fine. Another method to use is to just use a decent size block of wood between the engine bracket to trim the engine down on to, for long journeys this my preferred method.
Whichever method, don’t use the up lock on the saddle bracket, they’re only for use when the boats are afloat."
I am thrilled with quality of my Ribcraft boat and they are a very professional outfit
and I would recommend them to anyone and as the boat builder and engine supplier I shall do as they recommend, they know far more than me.

[ribber]

My thoughts are, that the engine tilted up creates a nasty object for a rear end shunt. Dread to think what a motor cyclist would look like slamming into the back of the skeg

I suppose people put buckets over the prop or tie red cloth as protection/warning, still, having read through most of this, I will keep the engine down as much as possible in future.

[Leapy]

Originally Posted by ribber

My thoughts are, that the engine tilted up creates a nasty object for a rear end shunt. Dread to think what a motor cyclist would look like slamming into the back of the skeg

Skeg...artic...tractor...refuse truck...

[hadd]

I've just found this in the Evinrude etec Operator' guide they call it a TRAILERING BRACKET

[Anchorhandler]

Originally Posted by TwoBob

My unscientific, limited experience take on this is I have always towed engine up without thinking about it till this thread.... Having given it some thought and read though all this I will continue to do so.
The loads on the transom when blasting through waves to get to a casualty must surely be higher than a toddle at 60mph up a motorway on a trailer equipped with suspension and inflatable tyres? With the engine tilted the centre of gravity is moved above the transom so the loads are more evenly distributed than with all the motor hanging off the back. Anyway that is where I have got to having given it a bit of thought but I am prepared to be wrong (I usually am!).

Nope, i'm an engineer by nature and my philosophy is the same, instead of allowing the outboard to put a rotational torque on the transom i always tow with the outboard up.
I appreciate the forces involved taking into account shock loading etc and prefer to see as close as possible to a near vertical force acting downward directly above the transom.
I belieive that the shock loading an outboard/transom encoutesr when being towed in the downward position is more severe than the vertical loading it recieves when the boat is actually in the water (the water has far more give in it that the road)...especially on our crap UK roads

Simon

[9D280]

As it's friday and I'm in a mischevious mood......

Vertical force on the transom I assume we are all talking a force parallel to the face of the transom as opposed to actually vertical?

So, the force imparted by the pothole is applied to the end pivoted lever (the trailer chassis rotating about the towball) which will impart the force t othe engine in a 6-ish (for a 5.something m boat) m radius arc. The actual force excerted will depend o nthe transom rake and the baot's position on the trailer relative to the towball.

Now, how high do most ribs sit relative to the ball? If we draw an imaginary line along the centreline of the boat forwards, it will more than likely clear the car by quite a distance. Now move that line down vertically until it intersects the ball. That is the point where the transom will geometrically see a "pure vertical" (or more accurately paralell to the transom face shunt) As that eoud probably have the powerhead at or below the road surface in most cases, the geometry puts the transom out o nthe tangent to the rradius. Thus any movement will impart a small forward motion. I reckon that "pothole force" is likely to try & lever the transom backwards even just a litle bit, regardless of the engine position....



Let;s face it, the engine regardless of how it's "parked" is not perfectly balanced. The trialer wheels see random pothols, so the forces are anything but vertical - there's twisting & all sorts going on as well as one wheel hits a hole. Bottom line is the piddley "hold it u" bracket is never going to survive, so it needs braced. Whether by wood, hydraulics or whatever.

[PeterM]

Originally Posted by Anchorhandler

Nope, i'm an engineer by nature and my philosophy is the same, instead of allowing the outboard to put a rotational torque on the transom i always tow with the outboard up.
I appreciate the forces involved taking into account shock loading etc and prefer to see as close as possible to a near vertical force acting downward directly above the transom.
I belieive that the shock loading an outboard/transom encoutesr when being towed in the downward position is more severe than the vertical loading it recieves when the boat is actually in the water (the water has far more give in it that the road)...especially on our crap UK roads

Simon

Seconded .....with the engine up the mass of the engine block etc is vertically above the transom as opposed to 'hanging off' it - even a big bounce on the trailier just tries to vertically compress the transom as opposed to twist/torque the transom off the back of the boat.

I've always towed engine up, with the lock/support in place but only lightly loaded letting the hydraulics take the load...

[gotchiguy]

Originally Posted by willk

A touch of Vorsprung durch Technik wouldn't go amiss in the outboard world, eh Kerny?

A German guy approaches a prostitute.
"I vish to buy zex vit you"
"OK" says the girl, "I'll charge 50 an hour".
"Ist goot, but I must varn you, I am a little kinky".
"No problem", she replies cautiously, "I can do a little kinky". So off they go to the girls flat, where the German produces four large bedsprings and a duck caller. "I vant you to tie ze springs to each of your limbs". The girl finds this most odd, but complies, fastening the springs to her hands and knees.
"Now you vil get on your hans und knees".
She duly does this, balancing on the springs.
"You vill please blow Zis vistle as I make love to you."
She finds this odd, but figures its harmless, and the guy is paying. The sex is fantastic. She is bounced all over the room by the energetic German, all the time honking on the duckcaller. The climax is the most sensational that she has ever experienced, and it is several minutes before she has recovered the breath to say:
"That was totally amazing, what do you call that?"
"Ah", says the German, "Four-sprung duck technique!"

[kerny]

Originally Posted by hadd

I've just found this in the Evinrude etec Operator' guide they call it a TRAILERING BRACKET

Just double checked my Etec manual and under trailering it says... Trailer your outboard in a vertical position. If your trailer does not provide adequate road clearance, tilt the outboard as needed and support the outboard with an accessory trailering bracket.

Notice... use of tilt lock lever when trailering may cause damage to outboard.

Andy I presume yours as you say is a trailering bracket and is fine

I haven't got one on mine and I have wrongly been using the tilt lock while towing

I have tried googling to find out who sells them but nothing coming up, any Etec owners know where I can get one.... thanks.