What the hell

[wet wet]

I cant seem to get my damn boat back on the trailer after an outing. It takes damn near like 10-15 minutes. It dosent matter how deep or shallow the trailer is the bow stop always goes on top of the boat and theres no way to adjust it up and down.

 

[Sikiguya]

Are you winching it on? If it is going under the bow..you have the trailer too far in. It is going to be a case of trail and error. Even in our lake, depending on the level, I have to adjust a little bit.

 

[06challenger]

i might be able to help you if ya were to tell us what kind of boat you have and maybe some pics of the boat on the trailor. mine is a little trickey, but i jsut make sure my skids are just sticking out of the water a little. and then i dont pull all of the way up. i kill the boat once it hits the skids and then i ratchet it up the rest of the way! post some pics!

 

[Craigmri]

Jim and 06 are 100% correct!! If the bow of the boat is going under the bow stop you have the trailer in the water too deep. What you want is about 18" to 24" of carpeted bunk expopsed out of the water. This will serve two purposes.....First once the keel splits the bunks it will immedietely begin to align the boat and second, once you connect the winch hook to the bow eye and begin winching it up the boat will start climbing the bunks and get the boat in the correct angle relationship to the trailer.

Trust me, when I first started boating I was focusing on the fenders and not the bunks........I was fortunate to have some experienced boaters at the ramp explain to me what I was doing wrong.....Now it takes us 2 to 3 minutes to get the boat winched up and up the ramp.

Craig

 

[wet wet]

Its a 1995 Sportster. First I tried to have just the top of the fenders out the water and the bow still went under then I tried to drive it up on to the bunks and I will never do that again. I will try to post pics tomorrow of me trying to load the boat back up.

 

[slide00]

Keel roller

I'm on the mississippi river so the water level is allways changing so I use a self centering keel roller. The keel rollers nice because the front botom of your boat dosent rub on that black guard on your trailer and it centers the front of your boat perfectlly.

 

[screwball]

Couple of things you can do. My 08 Speedster does the same thing. On every other trailer I've had the bow stop was adjustable...up or down. These aren't You can raise the front of the bunks so the boat is up a couple of inches, move the front of the bunks closer to the center if you can't raise them up, does the same thing.

You can also put the winch strap over the bow stop. When you winch the boat up, the strap will help lift the bow of the boat above the stop. I use a chain with an "S" hook to hold the bow down after it is winched on. I don't tow very far, it is only 3 miles from my garage to launch ramp

Good Luck

 

[Aqua-Holic]

Something else not yet mentioned is the angle of your ramp. Most ramps do not give me a problem at all ...... except for the one I use at Lake Erie SUPER STEEP.

When launching my brothers boat (30') the trailer drags due to the steep angle. When launching my Sea-Doo and other 15 - 25ish foot boat(s) I usually have to put the trailer in very deep, hook the cable up, then pull the trailer out while someone aligns the boat(s).....major pain in the butt