Who trailers with boat in gear?

I Hope everyone’s enjoying the great outdoors. I recently Had a discussion with a neighbour. He asked if I trailer my boat in gear. I hadn’t put much thought into it. I usually knock it back into neutral once I have it on trailer. But I have left it in forward. Can it harm motor if it’s in neutral? Spinning down the road. While being trailerd. Thanks and tite lines all.

I put it in gear… I figure less spinning is less wear.

In gear. The only reason is that so other drivers don't get distracted by the spinning thing out back. I have had drivers pull up next to me and point back at the prop to tell me its spinning. Keep your eyes on the road jack and don't worry about my prop but thanks. But then I had an older guy at a gas station ask me if I lost the prop on my boat (I had a jetboat at the time) and before I could correct him he went on to say that it was tough luck because I would never find it by the highway because those things you know... "once they get spinning they really take off". I just smiled and thanked him.

Thanks for reading. Makes sense less wear Forsure. In gear for now on for me. Taker easy if it’s easy taker twice

The owners manual on mine said to not change gear with the motor off. I have never done it.

Same here. Never trailering boat with motor in gear, always in neutral, as recommended by manual.
i don't care what folks on the road are thinking...

In my opinion, I think it does not really matter, whether it;s in neutral or in gear. There is no much wear from the prop spinning occasionally in the air during towing.

That is funny. People man

My main engine is in neutral, but my 4 stroke kicker is in gear as per the manual

Trailer in gear, a boat guy told me that the wind can make the prop spin sometimes faster than it is meant to spin.

Bottom unit is designed to be in water and water cooled while running/spinning.. It's possible a spinning prop could generate heat but it would depend on how far your traveling.. Would a prop even spin if it was in gear..
My mechanic told me to always prevent spin with a bungie cord around the prop to the transom saver..

So I did some reading up on this and basically what I found was this

a prop sinning in neutral maybe tops out at 200 rpm, far from 4-6 thousand...also it's just spinning and does not harm any of the inner seals

motors are supposed to be vertical in tow, but most of us use transom savers so they are on a tilt, reducing the spin

some brands state to trailer in gear.....4 stroke mercury kickers for example

Shifting into gear while engine off is not recommended

best summary I read

Just go trailer and go fish, not even worth worrying about


but if you still concerned......use a bungee cord, easy peasy

In gear always when on trailor...no water no cooling no good...after driving a few hours get out and touch your lower drive and then make the decision...if you still have finger prints then its probably ok not in gear...just my two cents worth....happy fishing

to be honest have never thought about it. I always have it in neutral. Same goes with my last 5 boats and have never had any issues. So I will continue to do what I have always done.

I trailer with mine in gear, but I put it in reverse. There's a new twist for the conversation. I figure if it's in forward it could still spin as you drive, although much slower so I thought reverse would stop it totally from spinning.
Have at her boys!

So, since reading this thread and wondering if my prop actually spins, I had a buddy follow me and asked if my prop moves while i'm driving. He said it didn't move a bit.

I trailer in neutral with a transom saver so the engine is tilted a little bit, maybe that's why? Engine is a 40 yamaha tiller.

S.