Driving boat onto the trailer

[Paikea]

I have always used a winch to pull my boats onto their trailer, my current trailer has an electric winch fitted which is good if a little slow.

I recently tried driving the boat onto the trailer and had no end of problems lining the boat up, using the right speed, keeping the motor in gear and having it raised to the right angle etc.

I see a lot of owners driving their boats on with little trouble but a number of those boats were a bit knocked about on the bows. That is, gel coat chips or worse. Ally boats seemed less affected.

Anyone have any good tips on how to do it without risking damage to the bow or is that to be expected as the price for getting it on the trailer as quickly as possible.

I feel sure that there would be a lot more members who would like more info on this. Particularly if damage to the bow is inevitable at some time if you always drive the boat on.

Cheers

Paikea

[Fab1]

A beautiful boat like yours I'd keep winching.

Too many things can go wrong power loading, missing the rollers and scraping the hull on the 1001 sharp things on a trailer, raming it into the winch post, dragging your skeg on the concrete are all but a few that come to mind.

If you have impatient people waiting, well they can just wait.

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[Fab1]

A beautiful boat like yours I'd keep winching.

Too many things can go wrong power loading, missing the rollers and scraping the hull on the 1001 sharp things on a trailer, raming it into the winch post, dragging your skeg on the concrete are all but a few that come to mind.

If you have impatient people waiting, well they can just wait.

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Having said all that Paikea, you need to give consideration to the trailer depth, steepness of ramp, tide, wind, current, your own setup, other idiots around causing wakes.

I check all these things continually and once right it,s all about speed and timing.

I dunk my trailer until my second last roller is just under the surface then come in from the down wind/tide side of the trailer about 30meters out very slowly in and out of gear lining the centre of my bow with the centre of the trailer and once my keel hits that roller I tilt engine up a bit and power up steering the boat up the trailer stoping about a foot away from the winch post, i lean over bow connect winch strap and safety chain, stop engine and winch the rest of the way.

99% of the time it works a treat.

Once I missed the rollers because of a idiots wake on a jetski causing a dirty big gouge on my hull.

I'll post a pic.

Hope this helps but thats the way nearly everyone does it depending on there set up.

Preperation, timing, practice, luck.Those are the keys.

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[Fab1]

Here's the pic.

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[Fab1]

Here's the pic.

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[Paikea]

Thank you Fab, that gouge is certainly a put off. I think that I will keep winching most of the time but try to drive on when there is no cross current or boat wakes. Spent too much having the previous owners scrapes on the bow fixed up to add them back again.

I am going to fit a walkway on the trailer, waiting on a quote at present. If I fit that it will make retrieving a whole lot easier.

Cheers

Paikea

[Fab1]

The walkways help a lot especially in tandem with non slip tape everywhere you walk I think everyone should do it to their trailers as it helps avoid slips and falls.

I thought about putting galvanised mesh on my entire trailer but its just not necessary on my little boat.

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Edited June 23, 2014 by Fab1

[The Incredible Hull]

Is it possible to weld two poles (put soft wrapping around them) on the back corners of the trailer? Does such a thing already exist?

[Sydneyfisher12]

Some trailers are specially designed so that no matter how you hit the trailer the boat will always drive straight up onto the trailer straight and with no marks from hitting the trailer

I have a so called drive on trailer but it can be hard unless you get every thing right like the wind, waves, current, other boat waves and surges also hit the trailer with 5cm of room I have heaps of those marks on the bottom of my boat hull but is aluminium so it doesn't affect the structure of the boat

I've stopped driving it on and just winch it up which for me isn't really that hard

[The Iceman]

Is it possible to weld two poles (put soft wrapping around them) on the back corners of the trailer? Does such a thing already exist?

Yes it does exist and they are bolted on with a roller on it

Paikea you may need to modify your trailer so it is self centering

[Paikea]

The walkways help a lot especially in tandem with non slip tape everywhere you walk I think everyone should do it to their trailers as it helps avoid slips and falls.

I thought about putting galvanised mesh on my entire trailer but its just not necessary on my little boat.

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Where did you get the Tape? Looks great. Ditto the galvanised walkway.

Cheers

Paikea

[njsconst]

I ve got a 22ft fibreglass boat in mint condition and intend on keeping it that way. As a result I

always winch my boat on. The boat sits on a quality Mckay drive-on trailer but I dont want to

risk damaging the gel coat.

What I do to make it a little easier is have who ever I m with (mate/wife) catch the bow as I nose it in and line it up

with the centre of the trailer to compensate for wind/tide. Once the winch strap is attached my mate

winds it on about a third of the way just pull the hull straight then I slowly use the engine to power

up the trailer making it easier for mate/wife to winch on. The trick is to let the winch pull the boat onto the

trailer and not over run it with the motor. The motor should just lighten the effort used to winch.

This method works a treat everytime and never caused any damage to the hull.

I does take probably 30-60 secs longer but in my opinion worth it.

Everyone probably had their own method/opinion. Hope this helps.

[Paikea]

I have no problems winching the boat when I have a deckie to help me. But I have been trying to find ways to take the boat out on my own and thought that driving it on the trailer might be the go.

From the responses so far I think that it will be safer for me to get a regular deckie. When you recover Steve we should have a chat about that.

Cheers

Paikea

[Fab1]

Where did you get the Tape? Looks great. Ditto the galvanised walkway.

Cheers

Paikea

Hi mate, the big hardware carries the tape.

Can you explain to us your launching and retrieval technique when winching on/off solo.

Another thing I always tell people that drive there boats on up to the winch post and ram into it to save themselves a foot of winching is if they will listen DON,T otherwise it can eventually lead to this.The winch post cops enough of a beating with the stresses of your boat pushing and pulling on it as it is.

Another thing I tell people is have your trailer walkway and winch handle on the drivers side to avoid stepping over the trailer when launching/retrieving.

Think about it when solo ,you get out of the drivers side.

Why would you want your winch handle on the left?

Or the walkway for that matter.

Cheers.

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[fragmeister]

I usually fish alone ( and that's not just because I have no friends lol) because I fish week days and mates are at work.

I have a new Quintrex Lazeabout 570 which I bought last year and it comes with a "drive on trailer".

The trailer is designed so that it is to some degree self aligning. If you get the bow in the guides it will straighten

it up as you drive it on the trailer.

Having said that, sometimes with cross winds, currents and the occasional river-cat wake it can be a little more difficult.

Under those conditions you can find that the current or wind wind will drag the stern around and powering on will leave you misaligned

on the trailer. That is relatively easy to overcome by just correcting with the steering bringing the motor back to dead ahead as the boat pulls up straight.

My 14 year son can do this even in reasonably tricky conditions. It is easier and faster than winching it on particularly when you are alone but I do appreciate that without a trailer designed for the job and if you had a glass glass boat it is a different proposition.

Once I did cause a little damage on the keel when I hit the trailer with too much speed... it was my very first attempt after its maiden voyage. There was an incoming tide assisted by 35 knot cross winds! In retrospect this was a winch job if there ever was one.

Cheers

Jim

Edited June 24, 2014 by fragmeister

[Paikea]

Fab asked;

"Can you explain to us your launching and retrieval technique when winching on/off solo."

I do not launch and retrieve the boat on my own, that is what I was aiming to do by learning to drive the boat onto the trailer.

Cheers

Paikea

[Fab1]

Fab asked;

"Can you explain to us your launching and retrieval technique when winching on/off solo."

I do not launch and retrieve the boat on my own, that is what I was aiming to do by learning to drive the boat onto the trailer.

Cheers

Paikea

fair enough.

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[Nolongeramember]

I have always used a winch to pull my boats onto their trailer, my current trailer has an electric winch fitted which is good if a little slow.

I recently tried driving the boat onto the trailer and had no end of problems lining the boat up, using the right speed, keeping the motor in gear and having it raised to the right angle etc.

I see a lot of owners driving their boats on with little trouble but a number of those boats were a bit knocked about on the bows. That is, gel coat chips or worse. Ally boats seemed less affected.

Anyone have any good tips on how to do it without risking damage to the bow or is that to be expected as the price for getting it on the trailer as quickly as possible.

I feel sure that there would be a lot more members who would like more info on this. Particularly if damage to the bow is inevitable at some time if you always drive the boat on.

Cheers

Paikea

Paikea

A big factor to how easy it is to drive onto the trailer is how well the trailer is set up to self align. Also, how far or deep you reverse into the water make a big difference. You need to find that 'sweet spot', remember that level somewhere on the trailer and reverse to there every time.

[Geoff]

Others have covered the main points , from my experience the three key aspects are ,

The trailer needs to be a "drive on" design

Correct trailer depth , in the water , that best suits your boat, is very important

Practice makes perfect , especially when the wind and or tide is pushing the boat side ways.

Geoff

[fragmeister]

Others have covered the main points , from my experience the three key aspects are ,

The trailer needs to be a "drive on" design

Correct trailer depth , in the water , that best suits your boat, is very important

Practice makes perfect , especially when the wind and or tide is pushing the boat side ways.

Geoff

Good summary Geoff.

[batfishing]

Pakiea, I don't have a trailer boat anymore.

However, my last a 540Sig, I always drove on and off, my fishing partner has a 6M scout we always drive on and off.

I keep my boat at Burraneer, so am in the area if you'd like a hand sometime, for a few pointers and setup etc

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Edited June 24, 2014 by Ian Bat

[Twinfisher 4.9]

I think it is a combination of a number of factors: Trailer setup - but if you can easily winch it on, you should be able to drive it on; practice - do it with a mate in calm conditions and with a mate to guide you and lastly confidence, and that only comes with practice. You may also like to consider a product like Boat Catch which makes single handed launching and retrieval very easy. Have one and the ramp is a breeze single handed.

Steve

[Paikea]

Pakiea, I don't have a trailer boat anymore.

However, my last a 540Sig, I always drove on and off, my fishing partner has a 6M scout we always drive on and off.

I keep my boat at Burraneer, so am in the area if you'd like a hand sometime, for a few pointers and setup etc

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Thank you Ian, I will take you up on that offer. Will PM you when I next plan to go out. Where do you launch for your drive ons, I like the look of Yowie bay?

Cheers

Paikea

[batfishing]

We normally launch at Wallys Wharf, Dolans Bay......my main preference for that is the steep hill puts off 95% of the people that are unsure about backing a trailer or handling a boat.....grin

Though if you are planning to launch Solo, then Yowie Bay, or Swallow Rock.

Doesn't affect me too much, my Boat is at Buraneer Bay and I live at Barden Ridge, so am driving past them all anyway.

I can also possibly do during the week, depending where business is at, best if I get a bit of warning though for that.

Mid week though is nice and quiet, and we can tie up the boat ramp, so you can drive on and off until your comfortable.

Once you get the hang of it and the confidence, you will never want to winch again.

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[fragmeister]

We normally launch at Wallys Wharf, Dolans Bay......my main preference for that is the steep hill puts off 95% of the people that are unsure about backing a trailer or handling a boat.....grin

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Interesting ramp that one... went there once with a full tank off fuel and spilt a couple of litres out the overflow because she road is so steep.

I caused the guy in a sedan all sorts of problems trying to get traction back of the hill after taming his boat out.

Its a little hard knowing how full my tank is when refilling so I have been reluctant to go back there as I am not keen on spilling fuel near any waterway.