Tie Down Tips....
 

Trailer delivered yesterday.....all looks good....now I have a few questions about tieing down the boat......

1...How many tie downs needed for a 35' Sonic (8400lb dry)? I am thinking five....two at the transom, two mid ship, and the fifth from the hook at the front, but hooked to the trailer not the winch.....

2...What size Tie Down Straps ? Weight capacity ?Any good ones/site/link you can recomend?

3...any other tips appreciated.....

How are you planning to tie it down mid ship? Wouldn't think you'd end up scuffing gel coat and paint.

Most people I now run 3, 2 on the transom and 1 from bow eye to trailer. I picked up some 10K straps from Home Depot, heaviest thing I could find local.

If three will do then I will only use three.....the trailer has hooks midship so I felt if I needed the extra security I could use the cleats? or one long strap over the entire boat.......but sounds like I only need the two on the transom and the bow eye.......thanks......

The mid ship hooks are probably for securing a full cover during storage.

I have three tie downs (2 on the transom angled back and 1 on the bow eye angled forward) plus the safety chain on the bow eye. I think I am going to add a fourth tie down, from the bow eye angled toward the back of the trailer. I've seen enough accident pictures with the boat up in the bed of a pickup truck that I want to do everything I can to prevent the boat from ever coming forward on me.

BGIII......what's the capacity on those tie-down straps in the pic...... They sell those exact one's (in a few diff. sizes) in a store a few blocks from my office........

When I re-did my trailer, I made sure to have five tie points.

One is the bow strap that is more than enough to keep the boat from sliding back. I have two at the transom angled slightly away from the hull so I could put some substantial straps on there that would not rub the hull. Then I have two at the front angled back again to keep the boat from jumping the bow stop in case I have an accident.

It may be overkill to some but I would rather be safe than sorry.

I like that front bowstop they have there. Looks like a nice trailer.

Very few people do this and even fewer realize just how important it really is. Two thumbs up!

I believe they are 10,000# break strength, 3,333# work strength.

Thanks.....

If your reffering to my pic, thanks.....I have to say it is a nice stout piece.....Ace Trailers in Florida.....less then two weeks built and deilvered.....price was great......8.5" I-Beam (18,000lb GVW).....all stainless hardware.....all three axles have electric over hydraulic disc brakes.......torsion suspension.....bow stop.....mounted tool box.....mounted spare rim and tire.....8 lug, 16" Aluminium rims......plenty of bunks....... I'll let you know how it tows in a few weeks..........

Here are a couple pictures of my setup. 10,000 pound ratchet straps with the spring eye ends I found at the local race shop.

***pay no attention to the scum line on the transom, the boat had sat in the water for two days while we refurbished the trailer.

OMG !!!! look at that scum line ! what a disgrace !, lol just kidding, just kidding !, nice set up ,I need to do some learnin on tieing down too, i mostly trailer a few blocks to the ramp , never thought about more then two rear tie downs, i think i may start tieing the bow down (besides the cable) too after seeing some pics of boats passing the rig on the high way

Yeah - I was talking about the picture. Really looks like a nice trailer, congrats.

I found the same straps that BGIII has at several stores around town. Almost picked them up at Pep Boy's then realized the exact same straps were 1/2 the price at Home Depot.

I like those straps!! what brand are they????

I'll have to look when I get home. A lot of companies make similar straps and they can be found at most race shops.

Do your straps have the flat snap hook perpendicular to the strap. In your case with the drive guard, it's fine. But if you are running the transom straps vertical up from your trailer like mine, they need to be in the same "plane" with the straps. I like your set-up!
Steve

Thanks. Here is a close-up of the rear straps. I know what you are talking about and in some cases the distance between the eye on the transom and the trailer mounting point can be too short for any kind of substantial ratchet strap as well. It was another reason I angled mine out when I rebuilt my trailer. I wanted a strap that was actually going to hold something.

Thanks for the closeup, that style won't work in my application.
Steve

Sorry for the delay. They are from S-Line.

http://www.s-line.com/products/cartiedown.htm

Thanks for the info! :coolcowboy: I like the ends on them most of all.

Great info here.

What's the average distance you guys trailer to ramp?

I'd say my distance to the ramp I use on most weekends is about 15-18 miles or so. We travel quite a bit with the boat with some trips as far as 10-12 hours during the season. To me, it does not matter if your ramp is 5 miles away or 50, the chance of having an accident is the same so I always strap before I go.

About 500 feet. :)