Jersey Jim
Well-known member
After putting the 9000# electric winch on the trailer, launching and retrieving was a lot easier Saturday. I did feel the need to have something sturdier to walk down the trailer frame than a 3-inch wide piece of 3x4 steel tubing to balance on. So Monday I went to a local steel supplier 20 miles away (Fazzio's steel) in Glassboro, NJ and had them cut me a piece of galvanized grating. I went with 1-1/4" tall stock, 3/16" thick runners, and had them cut it 11-inches wide, and 13.5 feet long. This weighs 110 pounds. I have plenty of height above the trailer's cross members to the keel, but not sure if I'll have to add a keel roller at the start of the grating. Would like to know what everyone thinks about this starting clearance. I didn't go wider than 11" just in case the rollers tilt down that low, although the first roller is way behind the cross member & grating. It appears everything will clear nicely once up on the 1st roller. Since I launch by myself often, this addition gives an added degree of convenience when attaching the winch strap, with just wearing slip-on boots. Oh, and the cost for the grating was $226 for 12-inch wide. Then there was a little galvanized angle iron, SS fasteners, and some galvanized unistrut for drawing up under the cross members.