Pro rule or my wedge transom saver thoughts?

[wally hunter]

Any input on either one would be great, I am sick of my lower unit getting beat up from using the traditional style one, Note a motor mate or lock and haul will not work have tried , because I have a Z250 hpdi with a 25" shaft, believe it's more of a saltwater gear case, so I am looking at a model that fits over the trim rams, any problems with them, do they do any wear to the trim ram caps, and how are the steering stabilizer clips? Any input would be appreciated, or another brand possibly, I kind of like the profile one because it goes over both rams

[BASS BUM]

I am using a my wedge on my new to me 2014 pathfinder 2200 t with a Yamaha 250 sho. It seems to work fine. The only thing I had to do was cut down the hard plastic cover at the top about 3/16" because the motor was chewing the end up. It was supplied by the dealer I bought the boat from. I am going to haul the boat on an 1800 mile trip shortly and both the boat manufacturer and the inventor of my wedge both said there won't be any problems. I have the stabilizer clips ordered.

[Rich Z]

Have a local machine shop make you one of these.
20141004_123159-1161x2064.jpg

[jaybee193]

Been using these for years. No issues at all and steering clips not needed. Motor sits on with no movement at all.
https://www.lock-n-haul.com/home.html

[Cestratton]

I just ordered a Moto-Stop for my 175 HPDI. It will be here Monday so I can't give a review yet.

[onewalker]

Hey Wally,
The lock-n-haul should work on your motor still. I'd be surprised if it does not as I'm assuming your motor has the slots on the plate side. If the flange bolts are in a higher/lower position the I guess it may cause a problem, but I would think that would all be the same even on a shorter shaft. If I lived near you I would be happy to verify this for you.

[wally hunter]

One walker, thanks , but if you go to the lock and haul site , and go to the pictures of will it fit my motor, and scroll all the way to the bottom, it shows to make a 3/4" tube I think 13 " long , like in picture, I cannot fit the bar in there because of the 2 centering arms I think they are called on the mid section are longer than the normal motor so they interfere, if the lock and haul had a slight bend in the bars upward then it would work , I wish it would work , I would rather have that style

[RangerRic]

My Wedge has worked well for me on several boats. Had to 'trim' one (as Bass Bum noted for his application) for a Tohatsu 50.
They make different models for different OB's, as well as a 'generic' one, which is the one that can be trimmed.

[tjbev13]

Motor mate or bust IMO

[wally hunter]

Will have to bust on the motormate, they don't fit my motor!

[tjbev13]

what motor do you have?

EDIT: Sorry just looked, that's unfortunate, mine is AMAZING!! Motor doesn't even thing about moving when trailering

[skeeter77346]

X2 on the Lock n Haul.

[Cestratton]

Got my Moto-Stop and used it this weekend. It's a heavy solid piece of aluminum with very heavy duty bushings. It comes with steering stops and although they alow a little motor vibration side to side it's way better than the old bar style. So far I really like it.

[DEFMP]

I used the pro rule. It's much better than the old school transom savers, but you'll need steering clips. The engine will shake a little side to side, so the clips help eliminate that. It's too bad you can't use the motor mate, it's the only truly secure device imo. I'm not familiar with the lock n haul though.

[Cowboy57]

Guys.....help me understand something here. If the purpose of a "transom saver" is to relieve the stresses induced on the transom of the boat as the boat is moved on a road from one place to another place (bumps, potholes, etc), how does the Lock-n-Haul, Moto-Stop, Motormate, etc type transom savers do that ? These will hold the motor up for sure and will take the stresses off the tilt and trim hydraulics, but the stresses are still carried through to the transom. Seems to me, and I'm no engineer, the the only way to do that is to use the old type transom savers that support the lower unit and keep those stresses off the transom by allowing the trailer to support the motor when bumps or potholes are hit. Am I missing something here???

[Cestratton]

This thread has alot of discussion on the topic, most seem to agree that the term "transom saver" is misleading.

http://www.bbcboards.net/showthread....hlight=Transom

[Randy T]

I had a pro rule w/ clips. Then moved over to the motor mate. Much less movement side-to-side. If you want my pro rule and clips send me a pm.

[wally hunter]

RandyT , tried to send you a pm back but it says your box is full

[1bluemcm]

Guys.....help me understand something here. If the purpose of a "transom saver" is to relieve the stresses induced on the transom of the boat as the boat is moved on a road from one place to another place (bumps, potholes, etc), how does the Lock-n-Haul, Moto-Stop, Motormate, etc type transom savers do that ? These will hold the motor up for sure and will take the stresses off the tilt and trim hydraulics, but the stresses are still carried through to the transom. Seems to me, and I'm no engineer, the the only way to do that is to use the old type transom savers that support the lower unit and keep those stresses off the transom by allowing the trailer to support the motor when bumps or potholes are hit. Am I missing something here???

I am with you and think this logic makes sense. I'm going back to the "old style" that supports off the rear roller on the trailer and using clips on the steering cylinder to keep it from flopping around and keep stress out of that system.


I think the ideal situation would be like the one I've seen made for Mercury, where there are two contact points on the motor to prevent it from turning and potentially damaging steering, and a long arm that carries the load to the trailer like the older supports.

http://www.basscatstore.com/largemou...otortoter.aspx

[txbass1]

I am with you and think this logic makes sense. I'm going back to the "old style" that supports off the rear roller on the trailer and using clips on the steering cylinder to keep it from flopping around and keep stress out of that system.


I think the ideal situation would be like the one I've seen made for Mercury, where there are two contact points on the motor to prevent it from turning and potentially damaging steering, and a long arm that carries the load to the trailer like the older supports.

http://www.basscatstore.com/largemou...otortoter.aspx

That is pretty sweet there, have to admit. I have read as much as I can stand on the subject and my takeaway was this......the stress put on your transom in motion on the water by that big ole 250 horses hanging off the back is exponentially more than any pothole can put on it. I use the Pro Rule with clips- right or not. My .02