Towing Question

[DanM]

I'm curious hear what SunCat owners do with their motor when towing (I have a 5 hp Honda). Is it considered OK to tow the boat with the motor mounted on the bracket? The previous owner did that, (with a ratchet strap from the stern cleats, or maybe the lowest point of the two gallows supports,  to take some off the weight and road shock.) Does Hutchins have a position or recommendation on this?

[Gerry]

I always tow my motor on its bracket.  In fact, it is locked to the bracket so it never comes off.

[Tom L.]

I towed my S.C. with a 5hp Nissan always on the bracket. I did use a piece of line around the lower part of the gallows using a truckers hitch to snub it up tight an eliminate the bouncing around and subsequent shock.  I also added large backing plates to the motor mount inside the transom. The plates aren't really necessary but I had the horn off to repair the rudder mount so adding back up plates to the motor mount was easy.

Tom L.

[Catawampus]

I have the 4hp 4 cycle Yamaha. I leave the outboard on the bracket, raise the bracket to its highest position, and then run a dock line from one stern docking cleat, around the motor, to the other stern cleat, with as much tension as I can give it to reduce bounce. So far, so good. Fingers crossed for the future. I've only taken her on the road like this four times, about a hundred miles each time. She normally rests on her trailer at our sail club just a few hundred yards from the launch ramp. I don't tie the outboard up when launching at the club.

[Anorada]

I had the same question about towing with the outboard attached to the bracket, and not finding a definitive answer, asked Gerry Hutchins- got this response:

Actually we trailer them around with the motor on the bracket but, we do recommend that it not
be kicked up and that it should be cinched to the boat with a line.  This line acts as a snubber to stop excessive wiggling and movement of the bracket.  I don't know that I would go across country that way but for local travels it will be fine.  We do not have a mounting plate that fits on the trailer.  I have seen spare tire carriers converted to do that.

So, I'm satisfied that at least for local trips I'll use a line to immobilize the motor... might look to modify a spare tire carrier for longer trips... Cheers

[rogerschwake]

  Here is someone how just replaced his motor mount on his Sun Cat. I had been towing with the motor bracket in the down position, that means it is hanging out further from the transom, giving it more leverage. One of the angle brackets broke from the weight of the motor bouncing. Removed the horn around the tiller to get at the bolts that go through the transom, about a three hour job getting the horn flange loose with out breaking anything. Added a 1' by 2' and 3/4" thick piece of plywood inside behind the motor mount. It looked like the glass had been flexing because of some stress cracks around the bolt hole nearest to where the bracket was broken. Plan on trailering with the motor in the raised position and a line strung behind the motor to help reduce the bouncing. Just a word from someone whose been there and done that.

ROGER

[Anorada]

Roger- just curious as to what size motor you have hanging off your transom- I'm that Gerry was referring to the 3.5hp, 42 lb Tohatsu engine when he was answering my question. Thanks!

[rogerschwake]

  I have a Tohatsu 4 horsepower. I went with this motor because it was the smallest engine with forward and reverse. The reverse is real handy when docking when single handing.

ROGER

[kickingbug1]

    even though i no longer own a com-pac ill put in my nickles worth. i have talked with other catalina 18 owners and get pretty much the same response. some leave the motor on some take it off for towing. like roger i have a 4 hp merc which weighs in at 60 lbs. for me i would rather have that 60 lbs in the bed of my truck rather than off the transom. it cant help but bounce around some and all that weight even at rest cant be good. it takes like 10 seconds to take it off and put it in the bed. one less worry.

[CayugaSailor]

Why take a chance towing with a motor on the transom? You can hit a pot hole at any time and cause damage.

I have a 4HP Yamaha, weighing about 60 pounds, on my Legacy. I transport the motor on a standard outboard motor bracket that I installed on the trailer winch post.

No spillage or fumes in the car. No damage to the transom. Easy (sort of) to move to the transom and back. Bonus: a standard 5 gallon pail fits sitting on the trailer tongue to test run the motor at home before heading to the lake!

[Tom L.]

No problem towing with the motor in place but you must tie a line from the motor to the gallows and pull it up tight to eliminate the motor bouncing around while on the motor mount. One less thing to do to get ready to sail. The Sun Cat has a whole slew of one less things that make it the great trailer sailor that it is.

Tom L.

[Matt C]

I have kept the motor on the bracket for all but very long trips.  I ran two lines to secure.   One with a loop around the engine part of the outboard over the top of the gallow to the cleat on that side through the cleat, back through a loop tied in the line between gallow and cleat and back to cleat.  This provided additional purchase to lift up the outboard taking much of the weight off the mount.  A second line from cleat to cleat snugged the bottom unit down.  Between the tow the motor was very stable, without much weight on the bracket.  I preferred this to laying outboard on it's side in the back of my truck. 
Matt

[Bilge Rat]

I've always thought that towing with the motor on the bracket would put unwanted stress on the bracket and transom and just hearing recently about the broken bracket on a Sun Cat owner's boat due to this confirmed my suspicion.  I have a 3.5 Tohatsu so pretty light motor anyway. I suppose towing for a short distance would be OK but would not for long trips. Plus, I reside in California which has very poorly maintained roads - lots of potholes, means lots of bouncing.
The other advantage of putting it in your car is the less likelihood of theft. 

[Bilge Rat]

I should add that one negative about transporting the outboard in your vehicle is the fumes, as pointed out by a previous poster. I would love to see photos of brackets attached to the winch posts on the Sun Cat trailer. The ones I have seen usually require some modification, use of boards and backing, etc.