I Think I Got Something
 

Been commiserating over how to support the Merc while towing...I'll never trust the T&T after a friends failed and dragged his 225 V-Max 75 miles down the road...

Anyway, took shaft from Minn Kota trolling motor and cut two lengths...the hollow center fits right down over the two extended rams...drop the motor down on the new extensions...and for good measure, a sturdy bungee strap around the back of the midsection the make sure no bouncing(that's what caused failure of 1st attempt)...
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y90...n/DSCN1628.jpg
Two of these
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y90...n/DSCN1629.jpg
One on
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y90...n/DSCN1629.jpg
Then the second one
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y90...n/DSCN1630.jpg
Both in place
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y90...n/DSCN1631.jpg
Now drop the motor down and wrap the strap around back, hooked on both sides
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y90...n/DSCN1632.jpg
I think this is gonna do it
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y90...n/DSCN1632.jpg
Rode to Lake Hartwell and back yesterday(yeah, Spare...I went FISHIN' again!!...LOL!!)...1 1/2 hrs each way w/plenty of those SC smooth(NOT) road-to-bridge transitions to test it and all in place when back home...

She might make the trip back to NJ for the next Get-Together...I kinda liked that....gotta get back to the Miracle Bar!!...:sun::beer::clap:

Great idea reel!!
Don't foresee any problems with that. :clap:

Now if you'd of had a Johnson, they already got a bracket made for that on the motors.

I's just gotta pick.

Looking good there reel.....sometimes the simplest things work the best...

My brother inlaws merc 125 had a bracket that flipped up to take the load off when trailering but I love that idea simple easy and not expensive like most things associated with a boat
Bring Out Another Thousand seems to be all too true

excellent idea, i love creative uses of pvc i modified this transom saver to fit into the drain hole to take the weight off the rams and transfer some it to the lower transom, but your idea is a lot simpler.
http://i377.photobucket.com/albums/o...DSCF0477-1.jpg


http://i377.photobucket.com/albums/o...6/DSCF0478.jpg

Phat, I've got one of the support brackets like yours and made a run at using just as you did having it fit into the drain hole...problem is when I got this boat the drain sleeve wasn't right and I hollowed it out and installed one of the screw-in garboard style plugs...concerned about messing up the threads inside...I know it can be made to work, but I came up w/the support tubes above before I figured out how to do it...BTW, you mentioned PVC uses...those tubes are cut from a Minn Kota trolling motor shaft and are reinforced fiberglass...it might, but I don't think PVC would last long...

What I REELY DO LIKE in your pics are the sprinkler-heads under your boat!!...I assume you FLOOD the bottom and trailer w/one turn of a spigot...GREAT IDEA!!...:clap:

Great idea!!!!!!

The Merc has a flip bracket for the full trim position on the port side of clamp, just not the 1/2 trimmed position. LOL. It tends to bounce when fully trimmed IMO. X2 Great Idea.

Nice one Ozzie! Always thinking. Yamaha makes something similar for thier ginormous f350 to keep them on the transom. The Miracle bar sounds good to me. I think Michele is making plans to go tonite. I can't drink too much though. I got some driving to do tomorrow.:sand:

Cant wait for the first time you're in the water sayin' "Why wont this damn motor go down.....oh wait a minute":clap:

LOL was thinking the same thing RW :you::clap:

Come on down!!..good news is Google says 662 miles @ 12 hrs....somethin' tells me you'll beat that...

Rob & Destroyer...probably not beyond my capabilities to leave those supports in place...but considering releasing trailer/transom straps, screwin' in plug, I don't THINK it'll happen...but ya never know what might wiggle by and distract ol' Oz...:love:

reel, i thought it was sch 40 3/4" or 1".
i have those heads hooked up to a solenoid valve & old irrigation timer and when i come in i hit it with a 10 minute rinse, i also have an injector to run a rinse of salt away.

When I'm at the beach, my concern is the time the trailer spends in the ramp's parking lot, baking in the hot sun and that salt eatin' away while I'm out in the boat...a set-up like yours, attached to the trailer w/a reservoir for water in the truck...a pump that plugs into the trailer light plug would solve that...then have a hose connect for when ya get back home w/the injector for the salt away...just thinkin out loud...anyway, I like your setup!!..beats hell outta bendin & squatin around the trailer w/a hose!!...:clap:

great minds think alike, i am actually working on a system that uses an old bladder tank as a reservoir. it will hold about 3-4 gallons under pressure. when you leave the house, fill the tank from a garden hose until it goes static, about 45 psi, close a ball valve on the manifold, pump the top of the tank with about 70 or 80 psi of air. when you get through with launch and park trailer, just open ball valve and let system bleed down. no power to worry about and really nothing worth stealing. i am going to try and get it mounted this spring, i'll post some pics.

you can use the mister hoses from Lowes, they are supposed to be installed on a fan, just tie wrap them to the trailer frame, hook it to the water bladder and let it spray

Phat, the bladder under pressure is a GREAT idea!!...so simple...and Spare's is another!!...this could go somewhere!!

But the only thing is, I heard this morning from a leading authority on corrosion...one of the most corrosive personalities I know...(well that didn't come out right :head:)...

Mr Krinkle, HIMSELF!!...he assures me it takes LOTS more time for the corrosive effects of salt on galvanized surface, even on unprotected steel, than you are likely to spend out out on the boat for a day....SO, back to the house foe a good dose of fresh water and salt away w/your home system oughtta do it, Phat...

Damn the brains that flow around here are ASTOUNDING!!...:clap::sun:

well, my dad has a 98 cajun bass boat with a painted steel trailer that has never been dunked in salt water and it still has original springs. i have a 97 al trailer that is on it's second set of galv torsion axles. i know guys that carry a pump up garden sprayer and go around and rinse after launching and they say they can tell the difference. don't know if we haver a higher salinity, but this stuff is unreal. i have to put a new set of leaf springs on the scallop boat every 2 years. but it is 35 miles from here to st joe, so it dosen't get a bath for about an hour after dunking.

reel, you are my muse. i have been collecting these spare parts from irrigation jobs for about 6 months, nice sunny afternoon and no football, so i got busy on my project. this tank will spray about 3-3.5 gallons through these xeri spray greenhouse heads in about 45 seconds. the tank will mount on the tongue and the black pipe will run down the i-beams and heads will spray outside and inside of all four tires & hubs. iusually take the boat off the trailer in feb and do maintenance. so i will mount it and update pics then.

http://i377.photobucket.com/albums/o...6/DSCF0570.jpg
mock up with fill hose hooked and charging, once static shut off black ball valve.


http://i377.photobucket.com/albums/o...6/DSCF0572.jpg

spraying through 8 heads, in & out for all four tires & hubs

My Father in law once told me(he was in the Navy), "there's nothing in this world that can't be screwed up by salt water or a Marine, avoid both when possible"

I just happen to see these lastnight on a yamaha website. they are $80 dollars for a set. you made out like a fat rat!!!!

I got some heavy rubber cushions about the same diameter as theses tubes that I was thinkin' about puttin' on mine...gotta holler out the hole thru 'em some...gotta keep up w/the Yammers...

$80 a pair, huh???...might be time to go into production...:head:

Came up with an idea for boat ramps that have a hose a couple of years ago.
Put one of those fixed sprinkler heads with a pretty good wide pattern on the ground under the boat and trailer, with hose attached of course.
Have a thirty some foot length of para cord, attached to the other side of the sprinkler and a weight on the other end of the para cord. Toss the length of the trailer on the ground and just ull it along underneath pausing as long as you want to flush the the whole underside of the trailer and boat.
Have a handle on the sprinkler and an adjustable spray pattern and use it for the rest of the boat.

Always wondered if it would be beneficial to put zincs on a trailer the way you do on the outboard? also heard of hooking a zinc to the negetive terminal of your batery to protect the electrical connections from corrosion.

Orlando I'm not pro on this at all but I would think zincs would be useless on a trailer due to it only being submersed for a few minutes then its introduced back to an air enviroment. Drying it out ultimately. I think zincs have to be submersed to work. Don't hold me to that its simply a assumption.

kraker is right, the zincs are there to prevent electrolysis, the trailer would have to be submersed for electrolysis to occur, even if it were to occur, the galvanizing is made of zinc, so it probably wouldn't help

Well hell...Ya might be on to somethin' there...according to our resident corrosion expert, you could have such a device at home, cuz salt on galvanized take s as much as 36 hours to become corrosive...and on unprotected steel like leaf springs as much as 24 hrs...

I like those spray down ideas Phat and Spare. Saltwater will rust Tupperware.