motor falling off

[jaymasta]

hey guys, there is alot of talk about rotting transoms, cracking transoms etc, but does anyone know of or have any pics of a transom that gave up completely and the motor just fell off either on land or water?
is it even possable or would the transom get bad enough that you just cound't take it out on the water anymore?

 

[strizzy]

Re: motor falling off

Yeah I guess it could happen... if the owner totally didnt pay attention to a thing... and it would probably hang by the wire harness and steering...

 

[klos]

Re: motor falling off

Four years ago I was on a friends boat fishing a salmon tournament on lake huron. The guys in the slip next to us one night were drunk and the owner started bragging about his boat (29' center concole with twin Yamaha O/B)but said that in a few years the transome would be replaced because it was getting soft.
The next day after the tournament was over they pulled into the marina even more drunk than the night before.
The owner pulled up to the launch dock, staggered to his truck, backed his trailer up every way but straight, wenched his boat up on his (roller trailer) failed to lock the wench, when he pulled out and got to the top of the ramp the wench let loose, the boat slid off the trailer and slid all the way down the ramp, the engines were still in the down position so the twin outboards peeled up underneath the boat and ripping off most of the transome. The guy started crying like a little girl. Guess he had one too many Bud lights.

If you want to see some realy stupid poeple go to any Michigan boat launch during the boating season.

 

[stevieray]

Re: motor falling off

If you want to see some realy stupid poeple go to any ________ boat launch during the boating season.

Fill in the name of your state here. It's the same anywhere you go. Believe me.

 

[Solittle]

Re: motor falling off

On a good Sunday afternoon folk gather with their lawn chairs and coolers to sit in the grass beside on of our local boat ramps to watch the show.

 

[jaymasta]

Re: motor falling off

On a good Sunday afternoon folk gather with their lawn chairs and coolers to sit in the grass beside on of our local boat ramps to watch the show.

lol
oh wow, the stupedest thing I have seen is when someone was launching there little aluminum boat, there was a guy in the boat and he started the motor to back it off and it start floating off and i guess the guy thought it was in reverse when it was really in forward and he gunned it and just went straight into the launch pad, damaged his prop and motor pretty bad i bet

 

[i386]

Re: motor falling off

Oh I love it when it's raining or getting dark and boats are waiting in line to take out at the boat ramp. There's always someone who takes all day to back up their trailer while I'm sitting there getting soaked.

But not to veer too far off topic. A substantial amount of torque is applied to the transom by the thrust of the propeller. Not to mention the weight of the engine applying torque in the opposite direction when the prop is at rest. I think it's very possible for the transom to be severly damaged if it's not strong enough.

People that are a lot smarter than me can calculate the amount torque that'll be applied by a certain size engine and then design a fiberglass structure that can withstand it + some extra.

 

[Chinewalker]

Re: motor falling off

I had a boat come into my shop with an old Chrysler 75hp 3-banger on it. It was a dumpy tri-hull and the guy wanted me to tune up the motor a bit. He drove it to my dock, so it wasn't that bad - or so I thought. He didn't give me much to go on as far as what was wrong, more of a "I just got this boat, check out the motor for me" kinda deal. Good enough...

That same day a friend of mine needs a ride across the River to pick up his wife at a baby shower. I decide to take the tri-hull on a shakedown cruise to see how the motor runs - killing two birds with one stone in the process. Motor starts fine, shifts fine, idles a bit rough, but not bad. We get out of the bay and open it up to scoot across the River. Seems alright, so far...

BANG!! The boat turns 180-degrees in an instant. My buddy lands on top of me and the throttle box is embedded in my gut. The motor is screaming away, but we're now not going anywhere, but we are turning in tight circles. We're getting drenched. My buddy manages to roll off me and I manage to push myself off the throttle box and pull the lever back and shut off the motor. Only at this point are we able to figure out what the heck happened...

The motor was sitting on the transom at about a 60-degree angle from verticle. The tilt tube was broken with one clamp still on the transom, vertically, the other clamp up in the air in line with the motor. These old Chryslers were bolted and clamped with thumbscrews and it appeared that the throughbolts had pulled through the rotted transom and the thumbscrews were no longer compressing on anything solid. It was a miracle the motor was still barely attached to the boat and not hanging by the cables underwater.

We managed to horse the motor back too vertical and clamp the one good clamp down as tight as possible. We IDLED back to my dock and parked the boat. I called the owner and explained that he had bigger issues than a minor tune-up and told him to come get his boat....

I was still shaking an hour after I had gotten home. I let my buddy use my own boat to get his wife, and he, too was shaking a bit. Anytime I see a post here on the boards about someone wanting to do a halfway patch job on their boat, I remember that day. Fix it right. Fix it once. If you can't afford to do it that way, don't use the boat until you can. Half way is the wrong way....

- Scott

 

[AlanR]

Re: motor falling off

My johnson Gt 150 fell off the back of my sidewinder. I was drive way to fast and the motor was overrated for the boat the boat was rated for a 90 and I had a 150 on it. So it was a sunny after noon and I was driven with 3 of my buddies in my boat and we were going fast jumping waves and we came to a corner so I turned hard and all of a sudden the controls came screamen outta my hands and my motor went wide open and then stoped. the controles went with the motor and most of my wiring to the bottom of the lake. I relised later after i got it out that my transom was REALLY soft and shot. I replaced the transom and still have my 150 on it today. I have since bought a new boat and new motor d

 

[tiller7104]

Re: motor falling off

Then there is the peverbial wife in the truck husband in the boat and "Hey honey pull up...and then it happens wife forgets the truck is in reverse and in the river they go. How do I know this.......................

This happened in 2005
The truck was a 2005
Figure the rest out for your self,,,and yes I am still married to her LOL

 

[Chris1956]

Re: motor falling off

I had a '58 Johnson "Fat-Fifty" fall off a runabout I was driving. It was a nice Saturday morning, and I was testing the motor mounting position, prior to installing the transom bolts. As I cruised at a smooth planing speed of 12MPH, I heard the motor surge a bit and then silence. The motor snapped the control cables, wiring harness, fuel line and steering cables, and went straight to Davy Jones. It was shocking to see the transom in it's naked form. I recovered after several seconds and jumped overboard to try to retrieve the motor. Even though the water was only 3' deep, it took an extensive search to find the motor. I didn't locate it until Monday night.

Now the motor went under salt water while running, and suffered no real damage, thus proving that Ole Evinrude designed a bulletproof motor, and sixty hours of saltwater cannot defeat 35 years of grease and oil.

 

[robpoe]

Re: motor falling off

I had a 1969 Mark Twain V closed bow boat that the transom split vertically on (about 4"). If you powered it up, the motor would bend WAAAAY back.

I cut that hull up..

A guy @ the lake on the 4th of July brought a boat back into the campground with a gaping hole in the transom, and the motor tossed up in the boat.

From what another guy said (the owner of the boat was in his tent, trying to cool off) was they pulled the boat off the water, were coming up a road and the motor started sagging and dragging. They stopped, yanked on the motor which promptly fell off and they tossed it into the boat.

At least nobody got hurt and/or it didn't happen in the water.

The transom wood was all dark brown and mushy looking...

Nice looking boat, too..Except for the small ding in the back (err)..

My el-cheapo Bayliner Capri (bought the hull for $800 and it came with an Escort galvanized trailer in PERFECT shape!) is starting to get a weak transom. The previous owner(s) of the boat thought RTV blue was a good sealant for old bolt holes...

I epoxied them and put in a new bilge drain, but there were also about 20 other holes in it .. dried it best i could and ran it for 2 summers..Not sure what I'm going to do..Might cut it up, might re-do it. But I'm happy ... I only have about $900 (including purchase price) in that boat. And it lasted 2 summers.. I got my money's worth..

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: motor falling off

save the engine and find another hull.

 

[robpoe]

Re: motor falling off

Likely what I'll do .. I like having a smaller boat, but I have a 125 HP motor available .. and the bayliner just won't handle it .. 90hp max so it says..