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Boat launch and feasible solution.. wadday think of my idea?

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guitarsjm

guitarsjm

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ok... so you all know we got a 97 sportster with trailer.. so far so good. our towing vehicle is a 2005 honda civic with a trailer/tow hitch that does just fine and can honestly handle 5000lbs, though i would never put that poor car under such stress... ok, back to the issue at hand... when we road tested the boat, we hitched it up, went to sellers nearby lake and backed it DOWWWWWWWWWWN the launch till most of civics tires were submerged..front wheel drive but a bit scary nonetheless and this wasnt a steep or slimey one.... so... in thinking about possible resolutions to what could turn into sliding back into a lake with our only vehicle was making me sick... not to mention the trauma it would give my wife as to WTF do we do now... sooooooo, being the mechanical nut i am... this is what, after staring at the boat trailer hitched to the car, i a BULB went off in my little mind... follow me here.... why not mount a WINCH in our trunk????? go to any launch... back up to launch but keep the car on safe ground, chock the wheels, disconnect the trailer from the car....(it may be a bit of extra work, not much, but well worth the security of not losing the car), connect winch cable/hook to trailer, let out winch, push boat trailer back down launch, with winch remote, let it GO as far as need to get it as far in as needed so boat is IN water and we wouldnt have to race it to rip it free off the trailer... boat in water... now use winch remote and reel up and in the trailer back to the car!! when its time to get the boat back, same thing, but only in reverse. seems a no brainer and would save the boat from possible stress, and mostly the car from getting submerged! so waddaya all think!
 
5000 lbs, what are you smoking???? If i recall correctly, the Honda civic specifically states in the owners manual that it is not designed for towing. It sure as heck cant handle 5000 lbs. There are a lot of small SUV's and minivans that cant tow 5000 lbs, I have found a few places on the internet that state it can tow 1000 lbs. I think that even goes against what the manufacturer recommends. Sure some people will say it "can" tow. But it wasnt designed for it. Like i have stated to many people, if you tow with it, not only is that a bad idea but it is also negligent and illegal.

Aside from all that, i think your idea is a bad one and dangerous. How you gonna "disconnect" the trailer from the car on a boat ramp? What in your trunk is designed to pull 2000 lbs?

Do the smart thing, buy a beater truck.
 
FIRST of all... they MAKE A HITCH FOR THIS CAR! i'm NOT an IDIOT or anything like that! i said the hitch is rated for 5000lbs NOT that i woud TOW 5000 pounds! we have used our cars hitch many times for moving stuff to our kids,etc. SECONDLY.. i dont know what the fuss is about.. what is so hard about disconnectic a trailer on a boat ramp... its a 14.5ft sportster! not a yacht! then just let the winch out slowly and trailer goes DOWN the ramp! it isnt rocket science... i can very easily lift the front of the trailer to connect or disconnect it.. thanks for your thoughts but i think you cant SEE how i could do this.. there is someone else who made a nasty reply that i have to go deal with cause what that person said was uncalled for least of all to a new person on this board who has been very thankful and gracious to all who have helped... i thank you all.... now, onto the other one.
 
griz400 said:
get real man, does it look like this ????

http://www.synthstuff.com/mt/archives/individual/2009/05/redneck_trailer_hitch.html

what ur doin isnt feasable, but u live in polk county, bet ur the pride of your trailer park -- check ceiling in your trailer, cause i think u must have a low hangin pipe or somethin, sorta think u bumped your head
Click to expand...

HEY!! are you serious?? what you said is NOT called for! for your frickn info.. we live in one of the BEST subdivisions in north lakeland! we own one of the NICEST and BIGGEST HOMES here!! NOT a trailor park (and what does that mean?? thats where people live for one reason or another and that does NOT make them lesser than ANYONE ELSE!). i dont know who u are GRIZ, but that polk county crap that came out of your mouth is WRONG! you wanna match homes.. LETS GO! ours cost 270,000 and we OWN IT OUTRIGHT! i didnt think there would be idiots, let alone those that would put someone down for where they live without even knowing them! guess i was wrong. you may be big stuff on this board.... but not to me. 'FEASIBLE', you havent a clue then. i really take issue with your comment and that shit is wrong!
 
who is "they" when you say they make a hitch. I am gonna guess it isnt honda. You can get a hitch for just about anything. I can put one on my motorcycle. That doesnt make it legal or approved by the manufacturer. Just because the hitch is rated for 5000 lbs doesnt mean the car is. I suggest you do more homework. You are going to kill your civic big time and could possibly injure or kill someone. I havent once attacked you or said anything uncalled for. I am telling you the facts. I work in public safety and have seen the results of people towing with cars that it wasnt recommended to tow with.
 
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[/ATTACH]:agree: I don't think it's a good idea, aside from the safety concerns I think you would get a lot of ridicule at the launch ramp. I doubt that your boat and trailer weigh more than 1500lbs so I doubt you're towing 5000lbs, still you're right at the limit a Honda Civic can tow, you are going to have transmission, brake trouble etc. with your car. You really need a larger vehicle.

If you are concerned about the vehicle being too close to the water get a longer trailer or have a section welded just back of the hitch. I just bought a new to me ski last fall, it came with a Yacht Club trailer, I wondered why the trailer was so long now I know. The ski sits back probably 3' or so from the Jeep, I don't have this problem but I guess if the ramp is shallow you can back the ski or boat further in the water with a longer trailer.

I would take the boat and trailer to a drive on scale and find out how much it weighs, you could also look up the weight in the manual and add about 500lbs. for the trailer.

Lou
 

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like i said, i appreciate the back and forth and didnt say YOU attacked or said anything against me, that was someone else. your reply i understand. we have the hitch on our car for over a year and it IS a hitch designed FOR this car... we would never tow anytihng larger than this due to exactly what you have stated. you can go to any hitch manufacturers hithch ref guide and there IS one, but oNLY ONE, specific to our car. and, when we do use it, we never go over 50... thanks and no offense taken. thanks
 
look, all jokin aside , this website is all about PROPER way of doin things, not stupid bullcrap like that, aint nobody here is gonna tell u that its a good idea, u, yourself dont think its a good idea, or u wouldnt want to mount a friggen winch in the trunk and disconnect trailer, etc, etc....
lol, if u post bullshit stupid stuff like this, dont expect a serious answer, i just hope i see u at the ramp with 5-10 people cussin you and blowin the horn at u
 
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SeaDooLou said:
:agree: I don't think it's a good idea, aside from the safety concerns I think you would get a lot of ridicule at the launch ramp. I doubt that your boat and trailer weigh more than 1500lbs so I doubt you're towing 5000lbs, still you're right at the limit a Honda Civic can tow, you are going to have transmission, brake trouble etc. with your car. You really need a larger vehicle.

If you are concerned about the vehicle being too close to the water get a longer trailer or have a section welded just back of the hitch. I just bought a new to me ski last fall, it came with a Yacht Club trailer, I wondered why the trailer was so long now I know. The ski sits back probably 3' or so from the Jeep, I don't have this problem but I guess if the ramp is shallow you can back the ski or boat further in the water with a longer trailer.

I would take the boat and trailer to a drive on scale and find out how much it weighs, you could also look up the weight in the manual and add about 500lbs. for the trailer. i do appreciate your reply.... have already lauched boat from car, was just coming up with another way which will surely work... and i will surely post a vid of it when it does.

Lou
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thanks Lou.. thats a better reply than the nasty ignorant one from someone else. to clear it up... we have a trailer hitch that is specificially designed for our year, make and model of car. it wasnt just anyone picked up frrom like auto zone or walmart. it was bought and installed at a dealer ONLY because it WAS desigend for our car. we would never think of towing anything heavier, we know what it would do, we arent dumb nor ignorant to not put a great load on our car. the boat and trailer isnt even 1500 lbs which is fine for our car and tranny. thanks lou.
 
That boat weighs 1170 dry. With the trailer, fluids and other stuff, it is easily 1800 lbs. There is no way that can be towed by a civic. I just confirmed with a guy i work with who owns a new civic. It states right in the owners manual "This vehicle is not designed for towing".

Like i said...it doesnt matter that you have a hitch designed for your car....It WASNT designed by honda. It is not approved to tow. That car can not legally tow anything.
 
Pull out your owners manual and see what it says about the towing capacity of your car. As RFoster said, the rating of the hitch has nothing to do with the capabilities of your vehicle. Yeah you can pull the boat BUT are you going to burn up your transmission, or what does the extra weight do to the breaking capacity of the vehicle. Go down a steep hill and overheat your breaks and see if you even have any breaks when you get to the bottom. I have a 4WD SUV that does not have the rated capacity to pull my boat so I highly doubt if your little Honda Civic does. I bought a used pickup specifically to tow the water toys, suggest you do the same.

Now suppose you ignore all this and mount the winch in your trunk :rolleyes:, just how pissed off do you think the other people at the ramp waiting to launch are going to be when you start f'n around with your winch??? And besides, the winch would have to be mounted to the frame of your vehicle.

Trust us, it is NOT a good idea that you have.

270 huh, gee my lake house cost more than that. Not that anyone cares.
 
RFoster130 said:
That boat weighs 1170 dry. With the trailer, fluids and other stuff, it is easily 1800 lbs. There is no way that can be towed by a civic. I just confirmed with a guy i work with who owns a new civic. It states right in the owners manual "This vehicle is not designed for towing".

Like i said...it doesnt matter that you have a hitch designed for your car....It WASNT designed by honda. It is not approved to tow. That car can not legally tow anything.
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Rich,

I've been known to tow my ski's with my 16HP Craftsman tractor, of course only from the front yard to the back yard, wadduthink.

Lou
 
for all those in the know... look here and you will see that i am NOT NUTS:

http://www.etrailer.com/hitch-2005_Honda_Civic.htm

put that in your pipe (or seadoo) and smooke it!

just a bit more... 'It is not illegal to pull a trailer with your Civic. If it was illegal, you wouldn't be able to rent a trailer from U-Haul. Go to their web site and enter your car make, model and year, and a list of the maximum trailer sizes you can pull will come up.' this we have done numerous times.. so it isnt illegal and they had to get the hitch and install it and they warrant and insure it as well as long as i do NOT go over their hitches limit which is 2000 lbs, and we never have. yes, it does put a strain on car, but we have never, when towing a trailer, or now the boat, look to fly off the line or climb up or down anyting steep.... and we take it easy as we can and stay in right lane all the way. we will upgrade vehicle sometime soon.... thanks for all the fun comments guys!
 
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funny you say the Lou, because I have towed my jetskis around with my lawn tractor too, lol

guitarsjm, I still don't think you're getting the idea here. So let me add this. My SUV has a factory installed hitch, so like you say, the hitch was designed for my vehicle by the vehicle maker, BUT my boat still weighs more than my SUV is designed to tow without burning up the transmission.
 
guitarsjm said:
for all those in the know... look here and you will see that i am NOT NUTS:

http://www.etrailer.com/hitch-2005_Honda_Civic.htm

put that in your pipe (or seadoo) and smooke it!
Click to expand...


Like i said...anyone can make a hitch for your car. That is on etrailer. Show me those same facts on the honda site. Let me save you the trouble.....you wont. They say it is not designed to tow and will void the warranty. Go read your owners manual.
 
RFoster130 said:
A lake house huh...sounds awesome. Meet and greet at your place next summer. :cheers:
Click to expand...

Sounds cool, we'll have to coordinate with Sis's calendar and that whole space time continium thing we got to contend with to get cousin Criss there from Oz land. Only problem is, it is a private lake and visitors cannot put their boats/skis in the water. I have to pay $80 a year per water vehicle to get a sticker from the POA to be on the water. that kinda sucks.
 
ok ok oooooooooooooook! lol i got it! changed design... have different mount idea.. matters not.. for one thing, would research boat ramp angles before attempting anything... of course, you all are correct, a pickup would be better.... and i agree and i guess we will upgrade in the future. but for now, taking it easy, no steep ramps, there are many that arent, this will have to do. i was only looking at options for NOW. have already used a ramp and had no problem. if one takes things slow, and easy, it all works with little stress on vehicle. but i do understand your comments and all is appreciated,,,,, no venom to anyone all who are just doing their best to help. thanks and all is taken into consideration...oh.. the winch could be mounted to the trailer. lake house cost MORE because it IS on a lake! geez... some people get all nuts.... thanks guys! lets all play nice
 
Guys I think we are wasting our time here. He obviously knows more than us. I think we just congratulate him on coming up with such a great idear. I bet he can even market that there trunk winch and become a multi millionare and maybe be able to move to a better community. Come to think of it, I think I paid more than 270K for my tool shed....
 
I'll be there, I guess Jake will have to get us stickers or we'll just ride the piss outa his ski's, how about July 4th.? I'll be the one pulling a 96XP with a Craftsman tractor, figure it'll take 10 days to 2 weeks to get there. Gonna have to make a lot of stops for gas. I'll just put the ol'lady on the ski along with the luggage.

Lou
 
If you are stuck on making it work, i would do as Lou suggests. Look at making the tongue longer to keep you out of the water. With a front wheel drive civic, i cant imagine your tires ever being in the water though. Keep them on dry pavement. The algea covered ramps would be the biggest problem. I have been to a few where i had to use 4wd on my truck just because of them being too slippery.
 
SeaDooLou said:
I'll be there, I guess Jake will have to get us stickers or we'll just ride the piss outa his ski's, how about July 4th.? I'll be the one pulling a 96XP with a Craftsman tractor, figure it'll take 10 days to 2 weeks to get there. Gonna have to make a lot of stops for gas. I'll just put the ol'lady on the ski along with the luggage.

Lou
Click to expand...

Sounds good Lou, just look for the house with the yellow hummer with the Vandelay Industries logo
 
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