By Jim Smith
Southern Staff Writer
July 22, 2010
We all know that if you take care of your equipment by regular and routine maintenance it will perform like it was designed to, when it is needed. This goes for any and all of your fishing tackle; rods, reels, lures and accessories that you have spent your hard earned money on.
For those who fish for money, these items are valuable tools and if you don’t take care of them, they will contribute to your lack of success sooner or later. There is no skill substitute for having the right tool in proper working condition to successfully perform that job when called upon.
Everyone has seen the new outboard motor trailering supports that are becoming more popular every day, and most everyone has a preference as to the type of support to use when it’s time to hit the road. There has been a lot of talk on the various fishing and boating message boards about the differences between the “transom saver/motor toter/motor support” devices, and I have been involved in many of them myself.
All of these devices fall into one of two major categories: lower unit to trailer (or long bar), and lower unit to motor mount (or short bar), and there are plenty of differences in the way that they work and the benefit that they provide.
I feel the short bar style provides the important benefit of isolating the lower unit from the independent movement of the trailer. The basic argument is that the trailer can and will move independently of the boat and motor, no matter how well you strap down your boat, and that by creating a connection between the lower unit of the motor and the trailer, we are introducing added stress to the lower unit (by trying in effect to separate the strapped down boat from the trailer with your tilt powered lower unit).
This added stress is amplified whenever the trailer receives shock from impact with holes and bumps in the road, not to mention the force introduced when the boat shifts on the trailer.
Add to this the uncontrolled swiveling of the steering pivot, and the lower unit paint scuffing and these few negatives alone are enough reasons for me to choose the short bar style over the long bar style.
The transoms in modern boats are built to handle the weight of the motor that it is rated for, but not necessarily to handle the uncontrolled gravitational impact of a loose motor being shaken on the back of the boat.
Have you ever observed the way a motor moves and shakes on the back of a boat when it is being trailered over rough roads and thought about the wear on all of the bushings and other rigging connections, as well as the extra transom stress? Whether you prefer a long or short bar solution, you need to stabilize and eliminate as much of the movement as possible of your motor in order to protect your rigging, including your transom, from the harmful effects of gravity and movement.
Whether you choose the multiple piece solution of a sleeve type with steering clips such as the M-y Wedge, or a single piece solution that completely stabilizes the steering pivot as well, such as the Lock-n-Haul, there are several short bar style solutions to choose from and any of them do better jobs of stabilizing the motor than the long bar style.
I encourage you to do a little study on the solutions that are available to you and to make it a priority to “Protect your transom...stabilize your motor.
*I want to again say thanks to my sponsors Costa Del Mar, Dobyns Rods, Laser Lure, Lock-n-Haul, Power Pole, SavePhace, and a special thanks to Gary Yamamoto Custom Baits for making the great products that I choose to include in the tools that I use in my pursuit of the prize.
