nylon strap thru bow-eye or hook?

[Sportster-2001-951C-Stock]

Just thought that securing the craft to the trailer beds was be more likely to keep it from moving if the bow/stern lines failed than a bow chain/line if there was slack in them. I wonder if a microfiber pad under the strap would be sufficient to protect the seat under normal trailering situations. Any thoughts?

I still think you will regret strapping over the seat.

Using our forklift and gantry hoist I lift large and small boats by the bow and stern eyes all the time when moving them off the flatbed onto a trailer and have not had any problems.

I've seen the bow eye torn out before, in an accident. A large boat on trailer was t-boned and the trailer was broken in half, the straps and eyes didn't keep the boat attached to the trailer in that case.

I've seen towing rigs drop off one side into a ditch with proper straps, recover without incident. I've also seen unstrapped boats bounce off the trailer and busted to pieces.

Perhaps the right approach is to think of attaching the trailer to the boat so the trailer can't leave from under the boat. If you don't like the bow safety chain setup, I see nothing wrong with improving on that by maybe using the same type of strap as might be used on the stern. Most bow safety chains are fastened to the winch stand very close to the bow eye location, which I think gives the bow a fairly short leash in case the winch strap does loosen.

 

[Seadoobuddy]

can somebody post a picture of the safety chain you're talking about?

I have safety chains on all of my trailers. Usually I can get 2 hooks into the eye bolt but on the 99 GSX there isn't room. So I use the hook at the strap after I looped a plastic coated cable through the eye then locked it to itself. i don't think I have a pic but let me look. Now that I'm back in MI, I can't take a close up of it.
BTW, we arrived amid snow flurries in Detroit Metro airport.

the first show a cable under the winch (new strap from Overtons, the 2nd is the cable with the long strap around it. It was too long so I don't use it. Also the new fender and new trailer logo, in the 3rd you can see a little bit of the cable.
Sorry but these are best I have at the moment.

 

[Coastiejoe]

the first show a cable under the winch (new strap from Overtons, the 2nd is the cable with the long strap around it. It was too long so I don't use it. Also the new fender and new trailer logo, in the 3rd you can see a little bit of the cable.
Sorry but these are best I have at the moment.

The winch strap should be below the bow stop. If not, one of two things can happen. The winch strap is always trying to lift up on the bow. And, in the event of an accident, if it pops over the stop the strap will do no good until the ski travels the equivalent distance in the opposite direction.

Am I looking at it wrong or not seeing something right?

 

[Seadoobuddy]

The winch strap should be below the bow stop. If not, one of two things can happen. The winch strap is always trying to lift up on the bow. And, in the event of an accident, if it pops over the stop the strap will do no good until the ski travels the equivalent distance in the opposite direction.

Am I looking at it wrong or not seeing something right?

No you are seeing it correctly. I see what you mean but looking at the middle photo there is no other way for the strap to go to the eye hook. I have 2 U shape bumpers on either side of the strap. This is the way it came when i bought it.

But both my other trailers (1 ski, 1 boat) the strap can be place as you said. Do i need to place the winch on the bottom of the metal support instead?......

***EDIT***
OK I think the winch can be turned upside down. it's just bolted on. Then the strap is under the bumpers.

 

[Coastiejoe]

No you are seeing it correctly. I see what you mean but looking at the middle photo there is no other way for the strap to go to the eye hook. I have 2 U shape bumpers on either side of the strap. This is the way it came when i bought it.

But both my other trailers (1 ski, 1 boat) the strap can be place as you said. Do i need to place the winch on the bottom of the metal support instead?......

***EDIT***
OK I think the winch can be turned upside down. it's just bolted on. Then the strap is under the bumpers.

I just re-looked at the pics. It looks to me you can put the winch onto the underside of where it is mounted. Looks like there is enough room. If so, it will be much safer for you..

 

[bajaman123]

Picture of the bow eye on my '97 GTI. This thing is a full 3" higher on the hull (closer to the top deck) than what is on my 2000 RX. As you can see, the "natural thing" is for the winch strap to pull essentially straight and across the TOP of the roller...NOT a good thing as mentioned before.
I just got my new winch straps, the ones with the nylon loop on the end. The loop doesn't help that much as the problem is still in the angle of the 'pull' of the winch. I've played around with the bow stop position and just simply can't find what seems to be an acceptable position to achieve the best winching ability.

Lol...this shouldn't be THIS much trouble. IMHO, SeaDoo screwed the pooch with this early design.

The end rollers are 3.5" in diameter; I'm going to buy some 5" and see if that helps get me what I want. Or...I wonder how hard it would be to simply add another bow eye LOWER down...bed it in real good and have a backing plate...? If one could find one that had a V-shaped mount that would conform to the surface of the hull, maybe? See 2nd picture.

 

[racerxxx]

Move the bow stop up higher, make it touch the underside of the bumper. That's the exact same as my HX. When loading I put the ski on almost all the way, hook the hook to the bow eye and draw it up tight. The hook on the strap is tight to the bow stop. If I remember to take a pic tomorrow I'll do so. But I have a 95 XP on it now since my HX is still up on the rack.

I just remembered this....

Here's my 96's back in the day. Look at the bow stop way under. That is the way they were and when I would ratchet down the from that this was TIGHT. I was from Maine to Virginia and everywhere in between. Never slid an millimeter. Of course they were strapped in the back too.

 

[bajaman123]

Thanks again, racerxxx.
I was wondering if having the bow stop up that high would interfere with the ski's nose bumper?

 

[racerxxx]

My HX bumper gets a little pushed up but bounces back in the hot sun.