Trailering question

[Ben Cornett]

I remember seeing a post on here a while back about how to keep the steering wheel from turning and allowing the motor to turn while trailering the boat. I did a search and couldn't find anything. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[Greg Duggan]

i use a nylon gungy cord. go throught the steering wheel and around the throtle. put hooks together and whalaa. the motor will stay put.



GregD

 

[TritonGlenn]

If you have hydraulic steering, there are these little clips that go on the steering ram arms, called "Steer Stop". I got them from a local boat dealer, but Northern Bass Supply has them on page 153 of their 2005 catalog, or you can go to www.northernbass.com or call them at 800-BASS-032. They work fantastic. If you don't have hydraulic steering, you can just put a Transom Saver on there, and it should keep your engine straight - page 155 of BPS's Marine catalog.

PAT929

 

[TOMMY RICH]

Bungee

 

[Greg J.]

Isn't there something about putting the throttle in "forward" to keep the prop from spinning while trailering? I don't know if mine spins or not while going down the road..... because I keep running off the road everytime I try to crawl back there and look

 

[TrepMan]

Waterwings, my Merc manual did say to put the throttle in "forward" before moving, but that won't stop the motor/steering wheel moving during travel.

 

[Greg J.]

Trep,

I figured the transom-saver would prevent that, but I guess that could still put un-due stress on the frame where the transom-saver attaches. Hmmmmm, guess I'm gonna have to bungee the steering wheel.

 

[byron cooley]

My swivel-eze transom saver holds my heavy Opti straight without a problem. This is the saver with the 4 rubber pads for the lower unit.

 

[Larry Harp]

I don't know if the transom saver that holding it or not but my motor never moves. The one time I had the boat in the shop they gave it back to me with a piece of rope around the wheel and the stick. I took it off and threw it at the neighbors dog.



Also, I have driven behind quite a few boats on the highway and I don't recall ever seeing the prop turning....except for those goofy receiver covers that people put on their trucks to make them look like boats.



Harpo

 

[William H. (Bill) Barham]

When using a transom saver on my PT-17, the motor is still too low in my opinion. So, I just use a nylon rope to tie

the steering wheel to the throttle. Trep, I've been told to put the motor in gear so the prop doesn't turn while going down the road. I don't why that matters but I really hate

looking in my mirror and seeing that motor cocked to one side or another.



Bill

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

Do you guys ever worry about wear on your throttle handle....or even worse, breaking it?



TOXIC

 

[William H. (Bill) Barham]

Yep It's really more around the base Tox but yes, I have worried about it. I guess I'll have to figure something else out now that you've scared me



Bill

 

[Greg J.]

Since this topic started I've given the possible moving steering wheel some thought: What if you attached two small padeyes below the driver's seat into the wood of the underseat storage? Placing a padeye (one on the left and one to the right) and then hooking a bungee cord around the steering wheel with a hook in each padeye. Just a thought

 

[Paul P]

I use a bungee cord hooked around the steering wheel and the other end is hooked on part of the driver seat pedestal/base. If no spot on your current seat configuration, how about considering adding some type of bracket/eye hook on your seat base so you can attach a bungee cord to that? I would not consider attaching it to the throttle for obvious reasons as Toxic mentions.



Paul

 

[Bill Gintzel]

I use a swivel-eze on my 60 four stroke. I don't trust the tilt cylinder to hold up the engine and I watched a guy lose a lower unit on an on-ramp on I35 when his motor settled while he was accelerating up the ramp. The transom saver does more than save the transom and is cheap insurance.

 

[TrepMan]

My factory transom saver has a semi-hard rubber/plastic V that holds the motor, it is not the Swivel-eze that looks like it holds it better. Maybe on my list of extras one day is the swivel-eze one. Right now I just let it move if it does.

 

[Paul P]

I have a 115 HP 4 stroke and the transom saver does not keep the motor from turning. Only solution I found was the bungee cord on the steering wheel.



A friend has hydraulic steering and he uses the plasic clips on the steering rods to keep it from turning. Can't remember the product name.



Paul

 

[Larry Campbell]

When I got my Nitro 188 last year it came with a colormatched transom saver with the rubber head. My boat has the Mercury 115hp on it and I noticed that the motor would turn while cornering. I had an old swivel-eze transom saver in my garage from a previous boat so I put it on and it holds it without any problem. I am sold on the swivel-eze savers.

 

[Greg J.]

Which feature of the Swivel-eze makes it different from the stock transom savers? Inquiring minds want to know

 

[TrepMan]

What I believe is the head is longer and because the V is metal is holds it better??

 

[Greg J.]

Thanks, Trep! Are there specific models (width of "jaws") for specific engines?

 

[Paul P]

Good info Larry!



I also have a Nitro 188 with the stock transom saver and also experienced the same issue while trailering. Nice to know that the swivel-eze transom saver does the trick.



Paul

 

[Larry Campbell]

It works great on mine. My 188 is a 2001 also and the same color scheme as yours. I think you replied to a post I made last year about the fuse panel. I could not locate it in the compartment in front of the driver's seat. I installed the Baystar hydraulic steering at the end of last year and while in the driver's console I found a fuse panel inside there on the wall to the front compartment. You cannot access it without taking off the panel and then going into the driver's console. I guess mine was one of the first ones made or it was made on a Monday or Friday and they forgot to mount the access panel for the fuse block. Other than that, I have had no real problems and we love the functionality of the boat. We have 4 young kids and they love going to the lake. I prefer an aluminum fishing boat myself, but for now I'll compromise.

Larry

 

[Rick Hale]

Mounted another Cleat on the gunal--Use a bungee cord -- works great.

Rick

 

[Paul P]

Larry,



Sounds like they messed up on your fuse panel. Mine is accessed from the compartment on the other side of that wall.



Hydraulic Steering ... nice move!!!! My next boat will have it. Not having it now is one of the biggest negatives of the boat. Did you install it? What is the installation difficulty and part price?



Thanks



Paul

 

[Larry Campbell]

I am going to try and get a fuse panel and install it when I have some free time. My wife has a bad shoulder and she had a hard time steering the boat with just the dual cable system mainly because of the torque. I was going to go with a NFB helm to solve the torque issue, but she said get the hydraulic if it is better so I ordered it quick before she changed her mind. I went with the Baystar hydraulic system. It is good for up to 150 hp motors. I got mine new in the box off ebay from a marine dealer in Oregon and it was about $500.00 with shipping. A friend and I installed it in an afternoon. It probably took 4 or 5 hours including a trip to the store to get conduit to run the hoses through, I wanted to give them a little more protection. It took a little work to get the cyclinder mounted in the splashwell because of a lack of clearance, but it all went together great. There are several on ebay now. Here is one for $485.00 and free shipping.



Larry
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...tem=4537987088&category=31283&sspagename=WDVW