tommymonza

Back in the day when i had my 31 foot parasail boat with a inboard Vee drive that took 4 and a half feet to float powerlaoding and unloading was the only option. The dam trailer looked like a sailboat trailer with how high the bunks had to be and some days i still knicked the prop pulling into a driveway

I had teflon strips on the bunks and on a low tide the boat could be short a foot of water from floating with the trailer at the end of the ramp.

Thing had tons of torque though once you got into the turbo all of a sudden it would fly off the trailer and drop about a foot.

Had no choice that was all you could do for the conditions.

Driving it back on was a whole other story.

Needles to say i blew out 1 of the 4 ramps that was there that i always used that a old 25 foot boat trailer that had been lost at the end of the ramp in the sludge for years suddenly appeared.

inspector747

iTrader: (3)

I'm just as guilty as the next guy for powerloading, but most of the salt water ramps here are covered with seaweed and are as slimy as hell thus you tend to not back in as far when the tide is out, also loading by yourself isn't easy when the boat wants to float off the trailer.
With that said.... last year I was powerloading because my dumbass brother is a clueless POS and doesn't know how far to back a trailer in, I had just rolled the boat on the trailer and realized what he had done thus I had to power.. Yes POWER it on.. not realizing there was a "nice" lady behind me on another dock, she got a saltwater shower.... amazing enough I apologized numerous times and she was understanding.

Scagburner

You should see that concrete curb beside my vehicle!!! I wish they would have done as good with the parking lots... I guess back in 1972 when a big boat was 14' and crew cab trucks didn't exist the parking was fine. I can deal with parking the truck and trailer at the house (actually prefer it) but the turn radius could be a little larger.

BTW - We all know it's you cat guys causing problems anyways!

Back to the power loading topic, It's good to be reminded on here from time to time for when I'm at different lakes I can follow local protocol.

sommerfliesby

Don't forget the second part of the conversation..."Well, fine then. I'm taking down your license plate." Me: (under my breath): "Well, I'm changing that too, sucker."

Went from 35 LTNG to 37 XCSS. I'm totally incognito now! But I still won't use that horsesh!t launch again!

Griff

There is pretty much no way not to power load at LOTO or the Mo river here. The ramps are too steep and there is no pier or dock next to the ramps.
I never have to go beyond about 1500-2000rpms though. The wife usually winches as I apply throttle.

donzi33zx

I've always *****ed about the ramps up here, but from listening I should be blessed. Always enough water to back trailer under the tied up boat and then walk the boat onto the trailer.

Scagburner

I’ve been up to Seneca a few times and it’s completely different, actually completely backwards from here. Here the line to get off the water forms on shore with the trucks. When your truck backs in, it’s your turn and there is no way to jump line. At Seneca, the line to get out forms on the water and line jumping is common. Someone will squeeze in and tie to a dock then their truck will weave thru the pack and back in. Or even worse, they will walk up and get their own truck! Kinda frustration if I must say… Not sure I could handle that on a regular basis since I’ve been known to suffer from spontaneous ramp rage…

Randy Nielsen

iTrader: (4)

Like Griff said on the Missouri river public ramps you are in the current so it is a given there. My home marina used to have the ramp pretty close to the inlet & it was narrow with people loading or unloading and having boats coming in or going out of the marina you had to watch out or you could get blown into the rock dike if you were behind a boat trying to load. The bigger the boat the worse it was. A 42' would almost have to angle down the ramp just to unload. The marina is now being rebuilt & the new owner has fixed that problem but man back in the day you could sit at the ramp with a cooler & get entertained like going to a pro wrestling event. Lol Randy

abmotorman

Current sure make things interesting. Looking back, trying to load a boat in a jetty, in Destin Fl. that is known to have 13mph max current. I now understand why the ramp was shaped like a sand bowl. From everyone power loading. It was a nightmare for a guy being used to looking which way the wind was coming from. Good thing I had many hands to help because I never even thought of driving it on at the time.

Sydwayz

iTrader: (1)

How about powering up the ramp? I've done this many times before in FL with slick ramps. Think that would get me into a fist fight in Illinois?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWyi62tCQEk