Trailer Winch

M

Metric Rider

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 6, 2012
Messages
88
Fluid Motion Model
C-248 C
Hull Identification Number
FMLT2568L708
Vessel Name
Lil Toot
MMSI Number
316027188
I would like some info from those of you that trailer your boats regularly. The trailer that came with our 2008 R25 which we purchased last fall came with an electric Trac winch (installed by the previous owner) which I must admit I have not been too impressed with todate, mainly because of the slow speed for retreival. I would like to know what winch (I expect manual) do R25 or larger Ranger Tugs normally come with. Also if someone has a replacement winch which works well I would be interested in learning the make & model. Does anyone have a dual setup with manual and electric winches?

Any tips on loading would be appreciated, it seems more of a challenge than launching!
 
A strap winch is better than a cable winch - less tangling and not as likely to slice your hand open.
I have a remote control electric winch with a hand crank on it - but I almost always hand crank it (shrug) Shoulda saved the money.
Brand name escapes me at the moment. They are all about the same.
Trailer is a LoadMaster from Port Clinton, Ohio. Brand might be on their web site.

As far as advice - just like getting to Carnegie Hall - practice, practice, practice :mrgreen:
How deep to sink the trailer depends on how your trailer is built and the angle of the ramp. Mostly for me the top of the fenders just awash is right.
In any thing other than a dead calm guide poles are a must given the windage of our tugs.
Get good at lining up the keel with the center of your trailer as you drive on. I almost always drive it up onto the bunks then winch it home from there. Once you are up in the parking lot the bow will not be up against the roller stop (it is the angles that cause this - nuttin you can do about it) So a quick stop will usually set it against the roller (practice).
 
Levitation":v43pt07e said:
In any thing other than a dead calm guide poles are a must given the windage of our tugs.
Click to expand...

What do you mean 'guide poles'? Ones that are affixed to the trailer or a boat hook type? I've been thinking about guides for the trailer, but they may make the trailer wider than allowable for towing?

I've also been thinking that I may try lowering the tongue just before launch/retrieve with my adjustable hitch in order to lower the front of the trailer. On retrieval, I find I need to get the trailer so far into the water that the trailer floats and then causes problems lining up the boat when I pull it out. This way, I may not have to get the trailer in the water so deeply. Otherwise, the front of the trailer is too high out of the water and cranking is an issue. I scored up the bottom paint pretty badly yesterday where the bow scrapped on the bunk as it was coming up.
 
Thanks so much for the replys. I'm glad someone else marked up their hull loading,just like a first scratch on a new vehicle for me. I'm also interested in the guide poles, how long should they be for an R25?
 
The last pullup on the trailer, I ended up popping the strap stitching due to overload, and not having the boat up far enough on the bunks. Ended up having to back down the ramp and re-float the boat on the trailer to set the bow against the rollers.
Fortunately, a spare cargo strap was able to double as a winch strap, till we got to a West Marine up the road a few miles.

Did a few things since then:

1) Install guide posts from trailer manufacturer. they come up a couple of feet over the gunwale with boat on trailer, and don't protrude sideways more than the wheel fenders on trailer, so no concerns being overwidth.

2) re-carpet bunks

3) use liberal coating of "Liquid Rollers" on bunk carpets

4) install shorter winch strap, with higher weight capacity

Did a fair amount of research on boat trailer winch capacity, one link from BoatUS is here:
http://www.boatus.com/magazine/trailering/2012/march/which-winch-and-why.asp

With our 27 and F250 truck, i found the hard stop maneuver will only work on a downhill slope.

As someone mentioned, every ramp has a different slope, and every trailer/boat combo is a little different.

Hopefully the next round trip on the trailer will be a lot more easy going.

Good Luck and enjoy the summer!
 
Metric Rider":ootfx0lr said:
Thanks so much for the replys. I'm glad someone else marked up their hull loading,just like a first scratch on a new vehicle for me. I'm also interested in the guide poles, how long should they be for an R25?
Click to expand...

My trailer came with 6' PVC that slides over the aluminum bracket that mounts to the trailer. They could be shorter, someday I plan to instal LED guide post lights for more visibility, I will shorten them up a bit when I do that.
 
Crewdog":39lmjjl7 said:
With our 27 and F250 truck, i found the hard stop maneuver will only work on a downhill slope.
Click to expand...

I agree - in the mountains of Colorado, it works, but not on the flats in Florida!
 
knotflying":2aeftrpd said:
I used to have these on my trailer for my C-Dory ........
http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1|1794287|1794332&id=2106226
Click to expand...

The description for this product implies they are for visual sighting ("Boat guides help you visually guide your boat onto your trailer"). To me that means they do not position the boat themselves. Is that right? I don't understand if they are for visual sighting (like the long PVC posts), how do you see them - aren't they under water and therefore what good would they be?

I'm hoping to find a set that forcibly positions the boat properly - no guess work. Is that possible with a Ranger Tug?

Doug
 
I presume you have studied this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wB75gG3ugUU

I did and screwed it up royally the first dozen times, then realized a few simple simple tricks. I put it on and off the trailer by myself all the time now.

If you have a trailer that has bunks, don't try to blast the boat up onto it. With the rear wheel of your truck just in or at the water, the forward bunks should be just under water (drop the tailgate so you can see this). Better to be a little deep. Slowly nestle the boat onto the trailer, letting the forward bunks line your bow up. Then STEER the boat as you push it up the trailer, keeping it aligned with the bunks by using your rudder. You can even stick your head out of the window next to the helm to see what your alignment is over the fenders on your trailer. Don't be afraid to use a lot of power, but be sure to back off as you get close to the trailer stop.

Once you have "doinked" the stop, climb out on the dock and check your alignment. If the stop is not centered on the bow stem, it is easy to push or pull the rails near the stern to line the boat up. Even a boat hook works. Remember, the stern is still floating. Then climb into your truck bed, step off the tailgate onto the trailer, attach the strap and snug the boat up to the stop.

Then haul it out knowing full well that there will be about six inches between the stop and the bow stem when the boat settles onto the trailer. I usually set my hydraulic brake controller on its highest level, cruise across the parking lot at about 15 mph and slam on the brakes. That usually snugs it back up so I can finish tightening the strap.

Then I climb back Into the boat to discover that full, open beer I had left out on the table has now emptied itself in the cabin along with anything else I had not secured for a collision. It only took one of those to learn the lesson, tho.

As was noted previously, nothing beats practice, which I view as an excuse to go boating.

The launching and retrieving drama is gone, and I am much relieved.
 
That video makes it look wat too easy!!
 
Back to the original question, I have a King Trailer with a manual winch with a two-speed crank (it allows the operator to select the proper gearing).

Now for my two cents regarding the bunks - The last time we took the boat out of the water, we ran the boat (2007 R-25) up as far as possible before attempting to winch it into place. The strap broke due to it (the strap) being degraded by sunlight and the friction between the bunk carpet and the hull bottom paint. We used an extra chain as a safety and left the boat 3/4 loaded on the trailer and dropped the trailer in the launch parking lot while we went to purchase a new strap. Back to the launch ramp from the parking lot where we re-launched the boat, buried the rear brakes of the truck in the water and Robyn took over as driver of the truck and I drove the boat onto the trailer.
On the way home for annual maintenance, I promised myself we would not go through that again. This was not the first time we had put the rear wheels in the water, which causes nasty problems with the brakes.
After returning the boat to the marina, and conducting considerable research, we had "slick bunks" installed on our trailer. The carpet was removed and these u-shaped extruded plastic was screwed to the 4x6 bunks. While we have not hauled our boat out yet, we have high expectations of this being an excellent solution.
The one warning everyone agrees upon - do not unhook the safety chain from the bow eye until the boat's stern is in the water, otherwise the boat may slide off the bunks onto the ramp. That, in itself, tells me this will make a huge difference. I'll up-date this post when we haul out to check the zincs.
Joe
 
I have steel guide poles that are strong enough to hold the boat in a stiff cross wind. They have rollers on them to protect the hull. They are a bit over the width limit. Having hauled the boat some 12,000 miles I don't even think aobut it any more.
The only time a police officer came up to me . . . . . . . he wanted to talk about the Tug. :mrgreen:

Everyone develops their own way of doing things. Just keep heading for Carnegie Hall.
 
I have given up on worrying about getting the boat up tight to the front stop. Just head down the road with it on the trailer where it sets and check it once in a while. The hooks on the winch strap and safety chain have retainer clips so they can not fall off even if loose. I also install front and rear tie downs to the trailer although I doubt it would ever bounce off the trailer, DOT requires loads to be tied down. After several thousand miles of driving I think I have snugged up the winch maybe once or twice. The boat usually rides right where I left it as evidenced by the fact that to get them to slide requires extreme breaking while pointed down hill with wet slippery bunks. Don't worry about, just tie it down and let it ride where lands after being loaded.
 
Here's how we do it. We have a Float-on trailer with the standard PVC uprights that work really well for us. I NEVER have driven the boat on the trailer, not even the smaller boats we've owned. I sink the trailer as deep as I can, use the thruster remote to center her while walking the bow line up the dock. When I do this alone, I keep one long line tied to the dock at all times. Now comes the fun part. I walk the winch strap down and hook it to the bow eye, then winch her up. Another thing I don't do is hit the brakes to slide the boat to the winch stop. I really think this is very dangerous because it puts undo stress on the whole rig. If we are going a short distance, I use a large strap to stop the bounce, but if we are going any real distance, I move the winch stand back (after I move it forward before loading) to the boat and secure everything down. The bottom line is, find what works for you and the ramp you use the most, and just practice. Just my two cents.

Tim
 
Thanks for all the great input but am still trying to find out the rating of manual trailer winches that come with R25s or R27s ( I believe they are Dutton Lainson but am not sure of the ratings)
 
Lil Toot:

The winch on our EZ Loader trailer that hauls our R27 around has a Fulton T3205 winch. On the label affixed to the winch it states "Max. line pull 3,200 lbs. 1st layer, 1,450 lbs full drum" I don't have any idea what this stands for but hope it helps with what you're looking for.
 
Thanks so much, exactly the info I was looking for!
 
trailertrawlerkismet":39e3cb6i said:
Lil Toot:

The winch on our EZ Loader trailer that hauls our R27 around has a Fulton T3205 winch. On the label affixed to the winch it states "Max. line pull 3,200 lbs. 1st layer, 1,450 lbs full drum" I don't have any idea what this stands for but hope it helps with what you're looking for.
Click to expand...
According to factory specs your R27 weighs 6200 lbs dry. Is that a concern :?:
 
From my research this weekend the rating of the winch is pulling force and is different from the weight of the boat it is suitable for.
There are charts for this that show the weight of the boat it will handle based on the slope of the ramp. Seems that a 2:1 rating or higher is normal
 
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