takes the load off the hydraulic rams. There is significant jarring when traveling and the rams /motors are not cheap to replace. It is just being kinder to them to make them last a little longer.

Silly question, Where can you get them from?

Or aster they already on the motor?

 A block of soft wood such as pine between motor and transom works well.  Just position it so as it doesn't squeeze any parts on the motor such as ram or tilt mechanism and make sure you attach a safety rope to the block of wood.  A 50cm length of timber coming loose and hitting the freeway in front of anyone travelling behind you is not good.

I have a yammy 4 stroke and Chivas gave me a rubber block with a channel in it.  Looks like it might have been genuine yammy. In any case it slots around the ram so stops it bouncing.

Try Luke at Chivas.

 The brace between the motor and trailer  helps take the pressure off the transom. With the motor trimed up it creates a leverage point putting stress on the transom, the brace helps support the weight of the motor.

 Interesting topic. I was told by a Suzuki mech not to worry about chocking the motor when travelling as the transom and outboard are designed to withstand driving a fully loaded boat through rough seas at speed.

 I use a flat keel roller cut in half so it slips over the hydraulic cylinder rod. It protects the rod and is soft so places a small amount of pressure on to help stop bouncing.

Gunner

 We were only dicussing that yesterday...........mine has a brace from the back of the trailer to the skeg supporting the motor.

Another thing that was bought up was leaving your motor in gear while transporting (apparently its suggested in the Mercury  15hp manual). Only thing I can think of is wind spining your prop at 100km causing it to overheat because of no cooling (water)?????Cant say Iv ever noticed a prop turning while transporting?

I was looking online and noticed BCF do one from the trailer to the motor, not sure the quality would be any good though. might try a piece of wood or hard rubber

 Bit of 4 x 2 x 12” doubles as a pacifier as well 

 I have a 40hp tiller steere Yammy 4 stroke and use a small length of 70mm treated pine pole.  Works for me.

At the end of the day It's just something else to spend your money on... I've NEVER heard or seen reports of tilt hydraulics failing or transoms falling off by not using timber or a leg support. Most people probably put the hydraulics under more pressure by locking in the piece of timber or rubber...

Off topic but one thing I would definitely recommend for you is starter motor winch setup for retrieving your boat! I would be spending money there before worrying about a support for your motor, I have a similar boat to you and takes 8 seconds to pull my fully loaded boat up! 

 I use a bit of pine. As i also have to make sure the motor stays up, as when all the way down it would be dragging on the road.  As i nearly found out relying on just the hydraulic rams taking my boat on a 3 hour road trip.

When i pulled over for a break the bottom of the motor had gotten down to about 6cm off the ground where  it started at least 60cm off the ground when trimmed up.

Not as much an issue if your motor wouldn't hit the ground when fully down anyway. 

 I only use a timber wedge when driving on the tracks around Gnaraloo, they're hard enough on the trailer let alone the hyd rams. 

 Have seen a heap of cracked transoms from motors tilted up while traveling,mainly small alloy boats but glass as well,i always have  motor tilted as low as practible ie so it doesn't  hit road going through dips, speed humps etc. lot of leverage with motor tilted up unsupported. If you see towed boat on road follow it for a while and see how much motor moves up and down(tilted up) might surprise you. Food for though, soft block of wood works well motor tilted against it, or you can by plastic type blocks that go round tilt rams, bit of thought along with common sense saves bucks of period of time.

 I have never used anything other than the outboard support leg to lower it off the Hydrolocs. 

I can understand how much stress it puts on the transom but it would also take this sort of battering at 30knts. 

However it is an interesting point as I have seen a few boats with timber under the outboard but would have thought this would still bounce up and down.... I don't understand how the timber is locked into place. The motor will still bounce to some extent so would the timber just fall out...? Maybe I missed something. 

 Frosty I reckon the Suzi rep has given you a bum steer, the transom is one of the furtherest points stern on the boat ( obviously ).... Its like the pivot point, everything in front of it rises and falls but really its only the angle that changes on the transom and i wouldnt exactly call it load per se... Not compared to an outboard in the upright position on a light dingy/trailer bouncing its way down down a track... Sure there is some load on the transom while travelling but it is designed to support this load... The outboard in a lower position with a brace back to the trailer would be my pick followed by the timber....

If you have ever travelled behind a boat on a rough track you'll soon see that it can't be good for it to be totally unsupported...

Never use them. The lock you get IMO (and that off a commercial dive owner neighbour in Karratha with lots of outboard travelling all over the NW) only needs the trim to be raised, then lowered onto the lock but don't stop lowering it back down unto the support just when it reaches it, lower it further, ie imagine that you are lowering it further down than the support needs. Takes the pressure off the hydro's and allows for a little "bounce' if you are travelling over rough tracks.

best thing ever

http://www.m-ywedge.com

 Quote "We were only dicussing that yesterday...........mine has a brace from the back of the trailer to the skeg supporting the motor. "Unquote   Obviously a big range of opinions on this subject , most of them valid to some extent or another.  But applying leverage to the end of your outboard leg and transferring this back to your transom and pivot gear as the boat bounces up and down--and it does--is making things worse not better. Probably not an issue on smooth bitumen, but it should never be done on unmade roads, let alone rough tracks, IMO.  This is probably why that old idea of the brace from the trailer is no longer widely used.

Having your motor as low as you get safely get it and maintain clearance while towing is the best way for both the bounce and safety of following traffic. While travelling across a rough sea at speed, there are huge forces on your transom and trim gear--mostly thrust transfer, think of how much thrust you are applying to that transom to push the boat through the water at that speed, then add the shock loading of banging up and down. Unless your motor is trimmed hard in against the mechanical stop ( and some motors don't seem to have them now??) there is always loading on the hydraulic trim ram. That's what it is for. Loading is a bit different in nature to the kind of rapid repetitive bounce you will get on a rough road if the motor is trimmed up , though.

There are plenty of proprietary devices for this purpose if you feel the need. Google it, Yamaha make a t least two different types that I have seen.

i guess the other thing to consider Is the difference between rigs. IMHO Any trailer setup that doesn't allow decent road clearance for the leg when it's in a reasonably trimmed in position for towing, isn't good enough. ( I am just thinking moments of force with a heavy donk trimmed right out and bouncing on the ram) The trend for dealers to flog boats on very marginal trailers with stupid small wheels, and then chuck on low profile radials, just to keep to a price point, infuriates me. I was the victim of this with my previous stink boat  rig, it went  well over the 750kg, provided new ( from the Mandurah boat show!!!) no brakes, stupid low profile tyres, ended up being total crap, ( Rhule....don't buy one) sold as a " Boat ShowSpecial" ( it was bloody special alright!) the leg nearly touched the road when trimmed down!!!

but that saga is  another story. My 2 bobs worth says it's fine to tow with your motor tilted for short trips, but I wouldn't do it on anything more than a few hundred km.

long trips- I keep the motor in the " down " position ( but I have heaps of clearance) I use elastic straps to stop bouncing, and have a full cover to avoid stone chips, oh......the new Merc doesn't have any facility to " rest" the leg.

But that's just my 2 bobs

I have enough clearance when trimmed down, so think I will leave it at that for now. I am only travelling about 15km to the boat ramp and not going over 80km.
good to see so many different views on this subject, only bought up the question as I see so many motors that appear to trimmed up all the way when travelling.

Traveling to Steep Point in May towing a 4.m tinnie.
Thinking of using a slightly dropped tow hitch to lift the back of the boat up for clearance in the sand hills.
Also having the motor fully down, locked in and using a bar from the motor strapped back to the trailer.
Should make it all solid with no movement and clear of the ground.
Thoughts on this appreciated.

 are the front of your drawbar channels closed or open ?.  If the drawbar digs in to one of those lumps in the sand dunes you may come to a sudden stop. I wouldn't have the motor all the way down - just up enough to clear the prop through the sand.  May even take the prop off and wrap cover over the prop shaft.

 How bigs the motor ? I'd put it inside the boat and secure it, I've done that track  with a rooftoper though not a trailer. but it's pretty bouncy through the sandy ruts.. 

I use block of wood on my small motor. 10hp

On my 300 Yammy i use the yamaha motor support. works great!

 just got home and found the outboard has a locking arm so all good

 oh ok luckily i havent driven anywhere and only put it up while it has been in the driveway

Hi I have been advised by both a Honda and Mercury mechanic (two seperate boats) that the lever on the motor is only for servicing and that you should trim your motor only as far as necessary to stop it hitting anythng and that you then can use a wooden chock.

Hope this helps.