loading

[DougPhillips]

So we are down to a Ram-lin or CARBEC (Canadian made) dual axle trailer for our 216 AIR.

The Ram-lin does not have a winch and all the other trailers up here use one.

How easy is it to load the boat? What is the technique?

[MARK-S]

Have Ramlin put a wench on for you and thats the way to go.

[NautiqueJeff]

The technique for loading a Ram-Lin trailer without a winch is simple. Drop the trailer into the water so that the water is just below the top of the fenders. Drive the boat onto the trailer, up to the bowstop. Connect the turnbuckle. Pull trailer out of the water. Tighten turnbuckle appropriately.

Personally, I like the turnbuckle better than a winch.

[MARK-S]

The problem with that is by the end of the season my launch gets a big hole in it from powering on. come oct the fins on the bottom of the boat will rub the ground.

[Daryl]

anyone ever see a boat buddy http://www.cabelas.com/products/0001975011046a.jsp

on a nautique???? I've seen them on MC all the time but just wondering if anyone has ever retrofitted a standard nautique trailer with one...

PICS?????

[wake_fun]

I think I've seen one before. I believe to make it work you have to put a longer eye on the bow of your boat.

[cb]

I have the boat buddy on my Ryan trailer for my 216 Sport. On the plus side, it makes it easy to get the boat secure enough to get out of the water and off the ramp quickly. On the minus side, the angle of the boat buddy is such that the bow of the boat rubs the rubber guides until a positive connection is made with the eye. The rub has smeared the trim tape on my bow. I still have the strap winch to fall back on. My buddy with a '95 MC 205 has one and it works great (he has no trim tape however).

It raises the issue for me: Why does CC use trim tape instead of paint? Probably expense, but this stuff is fragile...

My rant of the day.

I can post pics if you need to see what is may look like.

[lcap]

What happens when you are in a state (Idaho) for one or a lake that does not allow power loading? Get a winch or get a different trailer

Boat buddy does not work on a 210 with a DHM trailer either.

My new DHM trailer (two months old) for a SAN: Winch Broke, rub rail rubbed through carpet on bow stop, paint comming off, boat "walks" up trailer to bow stops during travel.

[Socbum]

I have the boat buddy on my Ryan trailer for my 216 Sport. On the plus side, it makes it easy to get the boat secure enough to get out of the water and off the ramp quickly. On the minus side, the angle of the boat buddy is such that the bow of the boat rubs the rubber guides until a positive connection is made with the eye. The rub has smeared the trim tape on my bow. I still have the strap winch to fall back on. My buddy with a '95 MC 205 has one and it works great (he has no trim tape however).

It raises the issue for me: Why does CC use trim tape instead of paint? Probably expense, but this stuff is fragile...

My rant of the day.

I can post pics if you need to see what is may look like.

please post some pics ) I'm looking at making some changes to my trailer because of the hassles that I have had loading.

IMHO, Power loading is to risky. On some of the ramps where I go the water gets so choppy you can't hold the boat in place and I have seen some guys jam the boat up onto the trailer and rock the tow vehicle. Not the kind of stress that I want to have after a great day on the water.

I have tried to hook up the turn buckle while in the water and have lost my footing because of the muck on the ramps and the time it takes to get things hooked up. While that makes for some great antics for others watching at the ramps (loading and unloading seems to be a spectator sport for some) I hate going into the drink unexpected.

I'm leaning towards having a winch installed.

[FatBoy]

I had the boat buddy on my old Mastercraft Prostar 190 and I just loved it. It worked great, my wife did not have to get out of the truck. I would drive on and when I heard the sound of the pin popping in place I would signal her and she would pull me right out. I never had one problem with it not working as it was supposed to. Now she has to get out and hook the winch strap to the boat and tighten it down before she can pull me out. It's a little thing but at the end of a long day its a nice thing.

[Luke]

Some of the boat ramps in my area are pretty steep. I think it would be a major pain not to have a winch. The boat would have to be left in gear and powered up to stay pushed up on the trailer enough to adjust a turnbuckle.

A couple of my friends have boat buddies (as well as winches) on their MasterCraft trailers. These work pretty well most of the time, but I have seen the pin fire and occasionally if the boat isn’t lined up right the pin will hit the side of the eyelet and not go in all the way. Other times in wind or a strong current it takes several tries to get the pin to actually fire, and occasionally we will have to manually release it. So we always check that the pin went through the eyelet before pulling out of the water.

[DRAGON88]

So, Ramlin trailers are the way to go (for a SAN)?

[Daryl]

i could elaborate a little on my experience - my boat is the standard nautique trailer (1990) and our club boat is a MC PS190 (1997) with a boat buddy.... I love the boat buddy since it really ensures you have a good connection to the trailer when you pull out of the water....

so i was considering adding one to my trailer - maybe a winter project..... good comments in this thread!

the downside for the boat buddy for me are as follows:

- if the trailer isn't perfectly (or at least close) level then the bow of the boat can sort of miss the boat buddy and bend the crap out of it (remember this is on a club boat - it has never happened to me) but I have had to remove the boat buddy and do major repairs twice - ie. basically dismantle - straighten and re-weld the whole thing.

- the pin can get bent - but i attribute this to poor care when loading.

- on a steep launch it can be difficult to load - i don't like the idea of using a bunch of power to get the boat up that high.

- the part the boat hits is slowly wearing out - i'm pretty sure it will simply fail soon - then I'm not sure what to do... either replace or rebuild AGAIN

So for me - my project would be to add a centre guide on the trailer to make sure the bow was centred, then just mount the boat buddy to grab the boat at the right spot.

[cb]

Here are pics of our set up. The boat buddy rubs off on the bow giving me yet another clean up project each time out. Last time I was at the dealer, I noted that none of the other Nautiques had this set up, they only had the v-shaped roller in this place.

[DougPhillips]

So we put over 55 gallons in the boat this weekend. Great weather!

I had a look at the CARBEC sitting at our dealer. It looked to be a very well made trailer and it came standard with steel treadplates and fender steps, winch, tandem axle. Looks to be a heavy section they use. Each of the service guys I spoke to at the marina commented that it was their favorite trailer to move their boats around with. Time will tell. Photos in two weeks as I will not be picking it up until then.

By the way Mid Ohio has a great looking tandem axle Ramlin in stock available not. I would say just add a winch.