How's everyone retrieving their boat when trailering?

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Cheapie408

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I still have not figured out an easy way to bring the boat onto the trailer.

My process is my buddy will take the boat as far as they can onto the bunk without fully driving up, I'd walk the plank and reach over and latch then winch.

I see those auto latch system but not sure if they'll work for our boats. Anyone used them?
 
Try putting your trailer a little deeper to make it easier to pull further onto the trailer. It will be different at different ramps because of their angle
 
You basically have it. Ramp angle and tide are important as is dock conditions. Having a floating dock to pull up to is the best arrangement, but often that is not available. I have found that getting my trailer fenders about two inches below the water is a good indicator for getting the boat onto the bunks.
 
I load and launch solo and bury my trailer in the water and float the boat right up with a dockline from the dock. My tow car, 1996 grand cherokee, is in pretty deep (the bumper gets wet). I need to extend the 3x3 beam in front of the swing-away about 24" which will also reduce the tongue weight.
 
The problem with TomC585 is to deep and the boat floats sideways......Unless your one of those that pinches your boat with guide-on's.

When your winching.....Is your buddy using the engine to help, while your turning the crank?

2 people knowing what their doing.....Knowing the ramp....We'd be on and gone in 3min.
 
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True, this does happen and sometimes I do have to reset it ....more than once 😖. I dont have guides but I only have to do it once a year.
My dock ramp is friendly so there's a good chance someone is around offering to assist (which isnt always helpful)
 
i launch and pull solo probably 40x a season. another 30-40 x with another person.

key to bunks is definitely how far in you put them. pretty much any ramp, my rule is “til you see the tips of the bunks about 1” out of the water”.

then w/ one guy or two - drive the boat slowly onto the trailer and let it “settle in”. coming in, give yourself some space to line her up and use the motors to keep her as strait as you can w/ any wind or current etc. you should be left with a foot or so to go but the boat will have settled in level and strait. make sure your engines are back to strait and trimmed level, then accelerate slowly til you get to the stopper. if alone - when you think you hit it - leave motors in gear to hold her there and go look. if good -climb down (i have a bow ladder on my trailer for this) hook up and wind tight. Climb back on, neutral, off, raise motors, climb back down, drive up ramp.

with two guys, one can watch to see when the boat is at the stopper and help with directions. once the boat is up to the stopper, they can come over and hook up the winch strap and safety chain and pull her tight. then the guy on the boat goes neutral, off, raise. same guy on the ground can then climb in the vehicle and slowly drive her up the ramp to a safe spot…
 
i launch and pull solo probably 40x a season. another 30-40 x with another person.

key to bunks is definitely how far in you put them. pretty much any ramp, my rule is “til you see the tips of the bunks about 1” out of the water”.

then w/ one guy or two - drive the boat slowly onto the trailer and let it “settle in”. coming in, give yourself some space to line her up and use the motors to keep her as strait as you can w/ any wind or current etc. you should be left with a foot or so to go but the boat will have settled in level and strait. make sure your engines are back to strait and trimmed level, then accelerate slowly til you get to the stopper. if alone - when you think you hit it - leave motors in gear to hold her there and go look. if good -climb down (i have a bow ladder on my trailer for this) hook up and wind tight. Climb back on, neutral, off, raise motors, climb back down, drive up ramp.

with two guys, one can watch to see when the boat is at the stopper and help with directions. once the boat is up to the stopper, they can come over and hook up the winch strap and safety chain and pull her tight. then the guy on the boat goes neutral, off, raise. same guy on the ground can then climb in the vehicle and slowly drive her up the ramp to a safe spot…

Do you use Target bunks?
 
I have found that the key is consistency. Find the happy spot that the boat launches well and note the trailer depth. Likewise, when loading the boat, find the happy spot, note it, and be consistent every time. The boat will always react predictably if your trailer is at the same depth every time. Going on 19 years of 2-3 times a week trailering.
 
I load and launch solo and bury my trailer in the water and float the boat right up with a dockline from the dock. My tow car, 1996 grand cherokee, is in pretty deep (the bumper gets wet). I need to extend the 3x3 beam in front of the swing-away about 24" which will also reduce the tongue weight.

Extending the goose neck will increase your tongue weight. Weight X Arm = Moment. Moving the boat further back on the trailer will decrease your tongue weight by moving Mass rearward over the fulcrum (axles)
 
the smaller bunks near the front center ?
don’t all v hull bunk trailers have those ?
Yes, the smaller ones up at the bow. I believe they are meant to auto align the transom on the trailer. Given your next question I would guess that you do have them...

I've been looking to add them to my EZ Loader trailer but am having a difficult time locating the parts..
 
Never heard of that.

I call them "Forward Keel Bunks" I've installed a bunch of them.
Yeh, when I started looking for them online I called them something like that but quickly found that many people call them 'target bunks'..

Any idea where I can get a complete setup for my EZ Loader? I've seen a kit from LoadRite that has everything but the front crossmember. There is a place in SC that supposedly has a complete setup but they are proving to be less than reliable..
 
If I have a friend helping me I have him back the trailer down about half as deep as needed to get the boat fully onto the trailer. That way a lot of the bunks are out of the water. I drive the boat up as far as it will go. With half of the bunks out it aligns the boat nicely. Then he will back the trailer down a little deeper as I apply a little thrust and the boat slides right on straight.
 
Extending the goose neck will increase your tongue weight. Weight X Arm = Moment. Moving the boat further back on the trailer will decrease your tongue weight by moving Mass rearward over the fulcrum (axles)
I believe you are mistaken or mispoke. Extending the trailers tongue, arm, goose neck further from its axel will result in less tongue weight on the tow vehicle.
 
I believe you are mistaken or mispoke. Extending the trailers tongue, arm, goose neck further from its axel will result in less tongue weight on the tow vehicle.

I'm pretty sure I got this right.

The trailer pivots on its axle(s). The trailers tongue is an arm. If you increase the length of the arm you will increase the measured down force on the tow vehicle. Not only are you increasing the "lever" you are also adding weight to the front of the trailer. The only ways to lighten the tongue weight of your trailer is to move the boat back on the trailer or move the axles forward on the trailer

Big rig trucks can move the fifth wheel forward or aft in order adjust the balance on the truck. This is so they don't overload the front axle compared to the drive axles. Some trailers can also move their wheels in order to not over load any axles. Sliding the trailer wheels forward takes weight off the truck. Sliding them back increases the load on the truck.
 
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