Do you drive on or winch on the trailer?
 

What do you guys do? My last boat had a roller trailer and it was easy to winch the boat on perfect every time. My current trailer in a bunk style and I've been winching the boat on (because thats what I'm used to), but never seem to get it centered the first time. I'm wondering if I shouldn't go so deep with the trailer and try driving on.

I work best when I put the trailer in just far enough that the boat sits right, and I can force it up the last foot or two. Keeps it from floating around - especially on a steeper ramp.

I put my trailer in until just about a foot and a half of the front bunks are showing and drive it on. Lines up perfect every time unless it is a really really steep ramp.

Power on with a bunk trailer. You'll want some of the front of the bunks above water. How much depends on your setup and the steepness of the ramp.

Power loading is prohibited at many ramps in Michigan because of the wash out that occurs where the ramp pavement meets the lake bottom.
ed

Power loading destroys boat ramps, we have a difficult time keeping the two in our neighbourhood serviceable. Having said that I prefer to power on the last foot or so.

What he said! :drink:

yep, we have people in our neighborhood that drives them on and washes the ramp out, i keep telling them about it now that the lake is down 4 foot nobody can use the ramp

I heard somebody had a guest with a 38 footer cig earlier this year that powered on the last 20 feet or so and was blowing water onto the bank on the opposite side of the canal, WTF

I partially drive on to get it started straight. I have wondered about the long term effect of the trailer and tow vehicle if you power on like I have seen alot of people do. I just get it started and to a point that it is wedged into place then winch it the remainder of the way.

I keep 1/3 of the trailer out of the water, line boat up and drive on slowly, then get up a little more with slight throttle as my wife backs up slowly..turn off everything walk across the deck and climb down, hook up and winch up rest of way and if need be my wife backs up a little more to get up the rest of the way. move out the way for the next guy and then put the 4 straps on.

Our lake has a clay bottom and to my knowledge, no ramp has ever been damaged to the point of not being usable due to powering on. If done properly, you should not have to apply much power at all to get the boat up to where it needs to be. I can see you lakes with soft/sandy bottoms would not tolerate the practice.

I winch it on. Good exercise!

I was actually contemplating putting rollers on my trailer because all the ramps here where I live suck azz!!!
The trailer can never get far enough into the water to get the boat within 3 feet of the winch stand.
The trailer is just to long for the ramps and will fall off the end of the ramp before it goes deep enough to get the boat close enough to winch it.
Has anyone ever converted a bunk to a roller trailer?

I winch it up. Only need to winch the last foot or two. Lines up nicely on the Eagle. Power loading, as said above, tears the chit out of the ramps around my neck of the woods. Most launches don't allow it.

Watched this one chick power on a few years back. Totally douched the boat in back of her waiting at the dock to take out. Mucky crap blown all over this guys boat. I had to chuckle but it's really not funny:p That guy was anything but happy.

Same here in Holland.

Same here, ramp is too steep to do it any other way anyhow.

I have about 2' or less of strap out, doesn't get tough till the last 8-10".

I winch it up the last foot or two. If its too hard to winch just back up a foot.

Something else to consider besides washing out the bottom of the ramp is the strain on your trailer. Bought a used boat that had always been powerloaded. It was on a Myco trailer that was 2 years old. Had to replace the front v bunks and some of the rear bunks. The bunks that I didnt replace I had to but new bolts in them to tighten them up. Those pieces of angle that the 2x4's or 2x6's are bolted to can't stand up to a 10,000 lbs. boat being pushed up those bunks by 1000 hp. You know what happens, if you didnt get the trailer quit deep enough, just give it a little more throttle to push it up.

Don't go to a roller trailer for a perf boat. They don't support the bottom well. They make some slicker bunk covers that might help.
Powering the boat on the last 3 feet is about what I do anyway.

Ditto except I have a girlfriend, not a wife!:ernaehrung004:

I winched it on the last couple of feet...

Winch it up, if it is not lining up, move your trailer bunks closer together. If you can't winch, back up a foot into the water. I see more boats damaged by driving onto the trailer. You can hit the prop on the trailer, hit a rock, hit your truck with the boat (yes it happens), not to mention we usually have 4 boats deep waiting to get out, you send everyone holding onto their boats for dear life.

Honestly when I see someone at the ramp throtteling up on the trailer I tell everyone to get the hell back because this guy has no idea what he is doing!!!!

Will:drink:

Funny, we think the same thing about the winch-on guys at our ramps. :p It all comes down to trailer placement in the water. I can load by myself...have had to do it for years due to a lame duck wife. I hit the center of the trailer slowly, let it glide up, burp the throttle once, twice max, and I have the bow eye right up against the roller. Hop off the bow to the trailer, attach the strap and crank her tight, and I'm off and on my way. No muss, no fuss, and have not tore one thing up in 11 years of doing it. I've seen others at the ramp that appear to be full throttle trying to drive the boat, trailer, and truck clear up the ramp. Those are the guys that give power loading a bad rap.

Like I said on another forum if you powerload in Michigan you might get shot! :D

This is how we do it :D

The only thing I hear you load up is Mentlepause's head on his 350SS:ernaehrung004:

Power loading is for people who do not know how to load!
It ruins the ramp.


Float them on and do it right!

Ask MP how many guys it takes to open a fridge door in the cockpit of a 350SS and what the best way is to cook frozen ribeyes!! :evilb: We missed you and Sandy!! Maybe next year?! :ernaehrung004:

I agree with you. Its about the trailer placement. I'm in and out before you guys get your winch cable hooked up.

We have a 4-5 ft. tide drop in our area so the ramps tend to be pretty steep and with a longer boat we HAVE to power up the last 3-4 ft depending on the trailer design and the bow eye locations. If you back the trailer to deep into the water the bow will actually go UNDER the roller. Smaller boats you can simply pull up to the roller stop and hook up the latch and pull out of the water...

Also, since the ramps are so steep my exhaust goes under water pretty far. We learned the hard way about 4 years ago with this boat that you DO NOT shut the engines off because the motors can/will hydrolock...

So, I pull the trailer in the water 2/3 of the way so the two forward bunks are about half way out of the water. Come in slowly until you're lined up and once you're on you blip the throttle a couple of times until the boat is far enough onto the trailer. You can't winch it on because it's too heavy and your strap/cable will break. So once your bow strap is secured and safety chain hooked up the boat is pulled out of the water. As the boat is being pulled up the ramp the engines are idling until the exhaust is no longer submerged, then shut down the engines and pull the rest of the way out...

I can't launch mine alone....which is also one of the reasons we don't trailer...too much of a PITA....

Powerloading is obviously easier. But it ruins launches.

Knot 4 Me

what you are describing is not what I consider power loading, you are just putting your boat on the trailer. Its when the guys put their trailer only half in the water and try to drive up the PHing ramp by prop power.

Will:ernaehrung004:

The most important thing that will determine how well any boat loads on the trailer is how level the ramp is. If the ramp is level I can float on and it will settle on the bunks perfect. Not so level means leaving more bunk out of the water to help guide the boat. If I can't get it in place with a nudge of the throttles, I'll dunk it enough to get the boat light on the trailer and postion it as needed. May not look as manly manly as throttling it up the trailer, but a bruised ego is cheaper then replacement parts. Ever think about how much sand and grit is get'n sucked up into the water pickups in a throttle on wash out??

Power on and winch the last 2 feet or so. Usually put trailer in far enough that we can float it on but sometimes that can't happen.

I back in the same depth everytime and walk it up. Cats are so simple I think even Randy and Bill could handle it.

I only power on at extremely steep ramps. Normally I float/winch on. Easier on the equipment. And I can launch and retrieve by my self if its not windy.

Ditto! Saturday I launched,parked the truck and had the engine started before the guy that was in front of me even had his boat lined up with the ramp. Sometimes I would rather do it myself.

I actually do a combination of both. Drive boat onto trailer till it gets a little sticky and give it enough throttle to get to about 1000rpms. Its usually with a foot or two away by then. Then just leave drives in forward at idle rpm and winch it up the rest of the way. The wife usally winches it while I'm in the boat. No way she could do it without me applying power.

Like was said earlier, you pretty much have to power the boat onto the trailer at steep ramps and thats all we have.

The way my boat sits in combination with the steepness of ramps, I have to power off the trailer as well. It does not hurt any of our ramps anyway. They are concrete and then drop off into muddy silt.

Right On !
Float your boat on to the trailer. Back the trailer into the water farther if need be. Don't wash out and ruin our ramps!