I’ve shopped a lot for boats in years past and one thing that I’ve noticed a lot of is bent transoms. This is due to trailering with the motor up with OR without using the factory locking feature. Trailering like this literally bends the transom every time you hit a bump. What you seek is a TRANSOM SAVER device. This cradles the lower unit of the big motor and the other end of the transom saver goes again the TRAILER. This takes ALL of the stress OFF of the transom.
A kicker can be trailered in the DOWN position as they usually won’t come near the ground but a transom saver can be used here also. Even smaller kickers can still put a lot of stress on a transom if trailered UP without a transom saver.
Outboards should always be stored DOWN when not in use to allow drainage to prevent freezing AND to prevent water from calcifying inside the compartments in the lower unit. Replace a few impellers and you’ll see what I mean. Lots of white calcium buildup on the ones that people just leave up when not in use. Also, as mentioned above…sometimes oil will flow and pool where it really shouldn’t. This could easily foul your plugs every now and then and cause hard starting and poor running.
Here is what I do, and I didn’t invent this, it was taught to me by many people:
- Trailer with TRANSOM SAVERS always. Do not use the factory support for trailering. (Transom savers are cheap and easy to install by the way).
- When you get home from fishing, remove the transom savers, and lower the outboards all the way down to allow full drainage and leave the motor(s) down when in your driveway. This prevents water from calcifying and freezing. You should also BUMP the motors over, all the way down, when you take the boat out of the lake to remove the water from the impeller compartments. (for the same reasons as stated above). Also, with the motor down, it keeps the oils from going where they should be going and settling as mentioned above. It’s just good practice to leave the motors down when not in use.
On the water, big motor can be up or down when using the little motor for trolling, doesn’t matter. I think it steers better with the big motor down. At the same time…make sure the little motor is UP when using the big motor…leaving it down WILL bend the transom or rip off the motor when under way with the big motor! (I’ve seen this happen!)
Next time you are driving down the freeway, start noticing boats on trailers with outboards. Most WILL already have transom savers installed and you won’t see any “bouncing” of the motor flexing the transom. But look around for someone who doesn’t have a transom saver and notice how much the transom flexes when they hit a bump. Especially bigger motors like 150’s or above. It will shock you.
Transom failures are one of the most common causes of boats needing to be “retired”. And the biggest stress to the transom is NOT when the boat is being used on the water, it’s when the boat is being trailered.
DISCLAIMER: The above is my opinion only. Your mileage may vary! I’ve also run into people who advise AGAINST using the transom savers. So you will need to do research and decide for yourself. I also thought about the vibration that the trailer can put on the outdrive. Some transom savers come with a spring inside, but those are NOT recommended for hydraulic/electric ram systems. I also don’t force the hydraulics super tight against the transom saver.
There are pro’s and con’s with ANY method. I personally think the transom saver is the best option. The big convincer for me was following a guy with a a big 200 Mercury one day and watching that motor flex his transom every time he hit a bump. He was using the factory locking mechanism and it was shocking how much that motor flexed.
So I took the Dealers “word” that both Mercury and Crestliner now recommend using a ram block instead of transom saver. Do you actually know what the manufacturer recommendations are? I would really hate to create an issue that is easily avoidable. I tried to get ahold of crestliner, no luck. Like I said, my old boat I used a transom saver for 20 years with no issue. I would think the dealer would steer me in the right direction, but with what I had to pay for this boat, I really don’t want to screw it up. I have a 2021 1950 super hawk with a 200 xl merc and a 9.9. Let me know if you have actual manufacturers recommendations. Thanks
I’ve gone into the Lund dealership to buy winterization and tune up materials with my friends (2 of them) who both have Lund boats. On one occasion recently we were waiting in line and talking to a tech who was installing transom savers on a new boat that had just come in. We didn’t know that they didn’t come from the factory that way. His reply to us was that regardless of the trailer that is used on the Lunds, they (the dealership) always recommends the transom saver over any other device regardless of the outboard used (mostly Mercury however). This was just this year that that happened. I don’t know if that is what LUND actually recommends, but the Lund dealership does recommend them.
I purchased a used (2 years old) Alumacraft last year that did not have the transom saver installed (I was leary and put a straight edge on the transom before purchasing to make sure the transom was not bent) and went straight to Marine Products (Alumacraft dealer) to ask their recommendation (Actually, I went there to purchase a transom saver, but decided to get their opinion anyway…). The prior owner was using a rubber ram block on a Yamaha 115. Their reply to me was to get rid of the ram block and use the transom saver. When I asked why, they said that the ram block, since it is rubber will allow the ram to try to compress, thereby prematurely ruining the ram seals. (curiously…my seal was already leaking). AND…that it doesn’t prevent the transom from flexing much with the bouncing of the motor anyway, so it’s a double whammy. They also warned me to NOT get the transom saver that had the “spring” in it, for the same reason. Instead, just get the rigid one, with the hard rubber/plastic cradle, and when using it “gently” seat the lower unit into for transport. If you lower it too much, it ALSO puts pressure on the ram seals. Again, this was the DEALERSHIP, not the manufacturer.
I don’t know the official manufacturer recommendation for either brand mentioned above.
Both of these instances were fairly recent, yet reinforced what I’ve thought to be the best solution for years, that being the transom saver. 100% of all my boat owner friends either bought their boats with the transom saver already installed, or I helped them install one. (or two in some cases with kickers).
Again, my disclamer: I do not own any stock in any transom saver companies, so I’m not getting a kickback of any kind. I just think, based on my research, experience and conversations, that it’s a great product. I saw mentioned above, to go out and push down on the skeg of your outboard in the UP position and see what it does. The only one that prevents any flexing of the transom and prevents the ram from moving, is the transom saver. The Ram Block and the factory lock both do not prevent that from happening. The only thing the ram blocks and the factory lock will do (IN MY OPINION again), is to prevent the skeg from dragging on the ground if for some reason your ram fails, or fluid leaks out while on the road. They do not prevent ram or transom movement. There are RIGID ram blocks that are better than the rubber ones, but they still don’t prevent any transom flex, but at least they save the ram seals.
This all is just my opinion, and I’ve been wrong (once) about other things. 
So my advice is to go to your manufacturer or dealer and ask their opinion. I would also ask actual boat owners their opinions since some of the people that work at these local dealers don’t actually own boats. Most of the people on this thread are boat owners so I would consider their advice also, pro or con.
Someone else mentioned above that some boats have a lifetime transom warranty, so in that case maybe they don’t need anything other than the factory lock or a ram block. If I owned a boat with a lifetime warranty on the transom…I would still install a transom saver. But that’s just me!
Hope this helps!