trailer loading

[Intuition]

Looking for advice on loading R25 on the trailer-
I back trailer in, walk boat onto trailer, hook up winch, pull boat to snug bow against trailer roller. But as I pull up the ramp and the stern lowers onto the trailer bunks, the bow moves about 2-3 inches away from the roller. I pull up a couple feet, but the winch cannot pull the boat forward on the bunks.
Any suggestions to get the bow snugged against the roller?

 

[rt11002003]

If all of the bunks are throughly wetted and the trailer is pulled to level ground, sometimes one can winch the boat forward.

Another approach is to try winching it as the boat is very slowly pulled from the water, again the bunks must be wetted throughly. This will sometimes work because the change in flotation of the stern of the boat.

If that doesn't work, I've always moved the boat on the trailer at 2 to 3 MPH and applied the brakes, the boat will slide forward. That has always worked for me with a variety of boats. Be very careful, too much speed will slide the boat into the tow vehicle. :cry:

Gene

 

[bluebayou]

Intuition,
You're absolutely correct. If you snug the R-25 to the trailer mast when the trailer is deep enough to float the boat on, there will be an adjustment as you come up the ramp, and the stern settles onto the trailer. Something about the design of the hull and bow, I presume. That puzzled me, and I concluded, as you have, that the solution is to pull the trailer a few feet forward, and re-winch the bow, up tight.
I think all that's lacking in your question, is more practice with just the right amount of crawling forward with the trailer. You want the stern of the R-25 to sill be floating, enough to keep the weigh from snapping the winch (I have already busted one winch trying to pull the R-25 foward on the trailer without enough water under the hull). What works for me is to get the R-25 attached at the bow, while afloat, then pull the trailer about 3 feet up the ramp, then use the combination of a second winching, plus the stern still floating free, then maybe pull another 2 feet and check everything.
I did this last weekend, and now the bow is a half inch from the mast on the trailer. Close enough.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't see any Safety reason why the bow has to touch the trailer mast precisely. Half inch allows for any sudden braking or acceleration of your trailer on the highway, while still keep the boat up snug enough.

 

[rt11002003]

Something about an object in motion tends to remain in motion causes me to be much more comfortable if I can get the boat loaded against that front upright. However, one can't depend on that upright to keep the boat in place it there is hard deceleration. A RF-246, Rosbourgh(?), recently removed the upright as it went forward unto the highway.

I always use tiedowns leading from the bow to an aft position on the trailer if the boat and trailer are going on the highway. Moving around the club or marina, I probably won't use tiedowns.

Losing a boat from a trailer will tend to make one very safety conscious.

Gene

 

[Gregg]

Im with Gene on this. I can snug up the bow to the roller with quick braking on the tow vehicle after I get it out and on level ground. It works well every time. Then again, it's the 21 and not a 25 and twice the weight.

Gregg

 

[captain's cat]

Im with Gene on this. I can snug up the bow to the roller with quick braking on the tow vehicle after I get it out and on level ground. It works well every time. Then again, it's the 21 and not a 25 and twice the weight.

Gregg

I have to do this with my TomCat and it's as heavy or heavier than an R-25. Start slowly and be careful. Another option is to spray your bunks with "Liquid Rollers", available at WM or other boat places just before you load. After getting on a level surface, it may be possible to move the boat on the bunks.

Charlie

 

[Sterellie]

Jeff made a suggestion of using vegtable oil on the bunks, as I have been used to roller trailers in the past. Have also used the mentioned method of hard breaking to adjust the seating of a boat when loaded. Also, always use tie-downs.

 

[Tom Ray]

When the carpet on your bunks wears out, you might consider replacing it with those slick plastic bunk liners. Careful, they are really slick. Some have reported gelcoat damage using them, others seem to have no problem.

As for how to move the boat forward those few inches, I'm in the slam-n-slide camp. You need to apply enough force to the boat to overcome the friction. Apply all of it to the bow eye, strap, and winch, or distribute the force evenly throughout the boat by braking? I think braking is the better idea, but don't go too fast. It's surprisingly easy to move a boat this way, and easy to overdo it.

 

[j&lgray]

We load and off-load the Laurie Ann at least twice a month from its trailer and we have bunks. We float her on and off the trailer and have given up on winching it on the trailer like we did on our previous boat for 10 years on a roller trailer.

In that context, the slam and slide method simply does not work on carpet bunks but we have stopped trying at 10 MPH. The boat is frequently about an inch from the bow roller and if we keep the bow strap tight, after about 20 miles of highway, the boat vibrates up to the roller. When we do long trips, we stop and tighten up the straps but we are also constantly checking all the trailering elements.

We are not an advocate of the plastic bunk slides because they will scratch the gel coat. The cause of the scratching is not the load and off-load but the road trip and subsequent vibration through the boat. When the bunk carpet is worn, we add another layer using Home Depot's black indoor/outdoor carpet and use stainless steel wood screws on the sides of the bunk. A trailer maker told us that what they use.

We have pulled the Laurie Ann over 5,000 miles of freeway from Seattle to the midwest and back and we will be doing it again in October. We are quite happy with the system.