Trailering w/motor and rudder attached

[john3357]

Is it safe to trailer your boat with the motor and rudder in place? Is there too much tension on the motor mount, etc.?

!	Moderator Note:
	The question is about trailering a Venture 2-22 ~Rich---Hamin' X~

[March]

I do it all the time: as a safefail device, bolts through the rudders to keep them in the up position, rather than simply rely on the ropes. Also, with the engine, I lift it to the max and put several pieces of styrofoam as wedges and then lower it. Never rely only on the little metal ears.

[c130king]

I put a long bungy cord around the rudders to hold them up when trailering. Don't do anything with the motor...just raise it and go. But maybe the bigger/heavier motors might need extra support.

Cheers,
Jim
Sailing on König
Sailing on König YouTube Channel

[Hamin' X]

!	Moderator Note:
	The question is about trailering a Venture 2-22. Moved from trailering forum, to avoid confusion. ~Rich---Hamin' X~

[NiceAft]

Jim,

You have an "05" M. There should be a hole in each rudder which permits a bolt to pass through the rudder and bracket, and thus holding the rudder in place while trailering. Do you use this along with the bungy cord

Ray

[c130king]

Jim,

You have an "05" M. There should be a hole in each rudder which permits a bolt to pass through the rudder and bracket, and thus holding the rudder in place while trailering. Do you use this along with the bungy cord

Ray

Not familiar with the bolt hole. I just use the bungy cord and of course the normal rudder lines are also secured.

Jim

[NiceAft]

Jim,

Here are photographs of both sides of the starboard rudder. The smaller bolt is what you should have in place while trailering.

Ray

[c130king]

Jim,

Here are photographs of both sides of the starboard rudder. The smaller bolt is what you should have in place while trailering.

Ray

Too much work me thinks. Bungy cords are much easier. Funny how I have never noticed those holes. Will have to dig around through my millions of photos and see if I can find them.

Jim

[john3357]

ok - I'm clear on the rudder. I have a 7.5 honda four stroke engine on a Venture 2-22. Is this too heavy to keep on the boat while trailering?

[c130king]

John,

I am afraid a couple of guys may have hijacked your thread (I am pretty infamous for that...sorry). I did not realize, at first, that you were talking about one of the older and smaller Macs. I do not know about limits on your boat. I was making my remarks, and Ray chimed in as well, about s.

Hopefully some experienced Venture guys will chime in with their experiences in terms of trailering with motors and rudders and how they did it.

Good luck.

Jim

[3sheets]

I've an m25 with a Honda 9.9. I carry the rudder in the cockpit, (paranoid about incidental damage-I've already spent alot of time repairing it), but leave the outboard on the mount. I just raise it up and latch the mount in that position. I also tie it up, just to be sure... It's heavy, but well within the limits of the mount.
Robert

[ChockFullOnuts22]

I have a Venture 2-22, but it's a 1972 model with the built-in motor well (no need for a motor mount). If the later V2-22's have the same reinforcement in the outboard mounting area of the transom as my boat does, then you should be fine if your motor mount is in solid shape. You need to be sure that you won't be stressing the transom, though. With the motor on the mount, try to shake the motor in place (up and down) and watch how much the transom flexes. Some flex is normal, but it should be minimal at most.

As for the rudder, I keep mine down in the cabin when I trailer because my aft mast crutch mounts on the rudder pintle brackets. The only concern I would have about leaving the rudder on while trailering, if I was able to do so, would be for damage to the rudder. If your blade folds up higher than parallel to the ground, though, you're probably fine. Just tie off the tiller so the rudder doesn't swing back and forth in the breeze.

[Jeremy K]

I hope it's not inappropriate to resurrect a thread this old. Some mod slap me down if it is

As noted in some post below, I recently acquired a 1985 M25. It didn't come with a motor, and I bought a Merc 9.9 longshaft bigfoot. The transom the PO had bolted to the stern has 2 HP limits, one for a 2- and the other for a 4-stroke (not sure why that is, but there you are). If the Merc were a 2-stroke it would fall within it, but being a 4-stroke it's officially too much HP, however it falls within the weight limit of the transom (120#). We've used it in the water a few times briefly despite that and haven't seen any prob's so far, but I presume we wouldn't until it fell off, so I do plan to replace the transom if possible with one rated for the Merc.

Biggest question is trailering with it in place. It's pretty heavy (~ 95 #). When my strong boys are with me, it's not so much of an issue (altho' it still takes up a lot of room in the car, and my boys are none too keen on the idea of handling it in and out of the cockpit). But when it's going to be just my wife and me, I'm not sure we'll be able to handle taking it off and putting it on routinely. Anyone have any ideas of exactly how foolhardy it is to trailer with the motor in place? War stories? Worthwhile precautionary tactics? All advice gratefully received.

Jeremy

[Freedom77]

I guess it is a matter of personal choice. I never trailered with the rudder or the motor for a couple of reasons. We have Honda 7.5 also. 1. motor puts stress on stern when bouncing down the road no matter how much backing there is. 2. Motor adds weight to back end which takes weight of trailer tongue. 3.A rear end collision, which I have witnessed, can ruin your day and will pretty well wipe out the rudder and motor among other things. Had '22 for five years and always stowed rudder in the boat and motor in the car. Stored motor upright in the garage on a bracket. Jus' Sayin' Fair Winds and Full Sails...Old Salt.

[Steve K]

Travel with the rudder in the back of the pickup. I've seen many people who keep it mounted on the boat.

I install my Honda 8hp 4 stroke, at home, before going out. Doesn't seem to cause any harm to the boat.

Keep the outboard in the garage, when storing the boat @ home, because I've seen others out here on the high desert that have caused the transom to warp from the weight, (likely over a period of years of storage though).

Plus, just sandblasted the ob and re painted about a year ago. Gotta keep the sun off my pretty new finish as much as possible

Best Breezes,
Steve K.
Mac26D "Three Sheets"