Trailering boat on ramp with almost no incline to it?

[scottrob]

I almost was not going to post this, cause I'm sure you're gonna make jokes - but that's cool.

A few weeks ago, I went to a lake with my 216 and the ramp had almost no incline to it at all. Getting the boat off the trailer wasn't that bad, but seemed to hang a little on the nose coming out (e.g. like it was already floating on the back and not resting on the bunks to keep level).

When I came back to put it on the trailer - well that was an interesting task, as the nose did not want to rise above my bow roller. Overall, my guess is that I had the trailer too far in the water and my boat was not on the bunks enough to make the bow rise. I got it corrected, but was frustrating and embarrassing. Steep ramp - no problem. This, man - what a pain.

So - my question is simple. In this situation, how much of the bunks need to be "out" of the water so I can better judge loading easily? I want to know that my bow will in fact rise above the bow roller vs. me having to screw with it.

[surroundsound64]

RE: Trailering boat on ramp with almost no incline to it?

I had the same problem last weekend at an unfamaliar ramp.

[pj]

RE: Trailering boat on ramp with almost no incline to it?

I usually just make sure the fenders of the trailer are just at the surface of the water. I haven't had much experience with really "flat" ramps. So, I don't know if this tip would work out in that case.
I have had a lot of fun with one of the ramps on the lake up at the cabin. It has a pretty nice incline. But, just before the trailer gets in far enough to get the boat off, the ramp quits and there is a 2 foot drop-off. This works nice for unloading because you just back it down off the drop and now your floating. For loading it back up though, it's almost impossible to get the boat on the trailer at all.

[ag4ever]

RE: Trailering boat on ramp with almost no incline to it?

I back down (er, my wife does) untill the fenders are just barely above the water. I also have my hitch set up so the tongue is low, and it helps level out the trailer when retrieving the boat. this way the boat does not need to have the bow rise, It just slides on with a little friction on the bunks. If I have it where the back does not contact the bunks along their entire length, it will cause the boat to be off to one side or the other, and it could have the water intake resting on the bunk (very bad trailer design).

Most of the ramps, I go to are not really shallow, but more of what I would call and average ramp, but I do visit really steep ramps on Lake Travis, so that is the main reason i have the trailer tongue low. And before anybody tells me that that can cause bad trailer handling while towing, I know, but I tow with a F250 where the trailer does not even affect the truck at all. It also raises my prop guard for backing into driveways.

[talbertini]

RE: Trailering boat on ramp with almost no incline to it?

my lake also has a shallow ramp. I usually back in until the top of the fenders are just barely under the surface of the water. I've never had a problem.

[surroundsound64]

RE: Trailering boat on ramp with almost no incline to it?

As stated a lot above, I also back until the tops of my fenders are about water level. But with some ramps that's not enough, some it's too much. The ramp I used the other day, it was too much.