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Our First Trip

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1Tiredlady

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Seven Points, Tx
We took our new 2375 out this weekend and would like to share the good and the bad. First, we went to a new campground that we've never been too, big mistake. We drove our 38' diesel pusher towing a large pontoon on a high trailer. I'm not sure how the trailers are picked, ours is awesome but the boat rides really high. First, we realized there was no way we could launch due do the accessability here. There happened to be a good natured camper willing to take on the challange. After needing to back REALLY far into the water to get the boat to float off the trailer, we realize this will always be a problem when we are using our RV. Then the good natured camper managed to hit a yellow pole, our trailer will never be the same. While, on the boat, our new anchor fell into the water before we even had rope on it! HA HA, spent the next hour doing a grid search (the water too murky to see it) until, woo hoo, we found it! The rest of the time, we loved it!! The boat is awesome and we are hoping we got all our bugs out of our system. We also managed to get the good natured camper to load us up again, nice. Now, we need to address how we need to launch with our RV. Any ideas? Maybe rollers on the trailer to allow it to slide off as soon as the back end hits water?
 
What happened to the Pole ?
 
Pole is fine, trailer, broke a board, bent the supports, dented the step in front of the fender. We are going to replace the board, straighten the supports and live with the step, (too hard to repair) This is our third boat but first pontoon so we know stuff happens. We were upset at first and the guy was willing to put in on his insurance but thats just not right. He shouldn't pay for being nice.
 
Welcome to pontoons, they do sit high !!!! You can install nylon slide boards on bunks and it will slide off like its greased. Rollers may dent toons if you hit hard bumps n it bounces around. The nylon boards are fairly economical and you could install yourself. Welcome to the family ......... Oh yeah, PICS or it ain't true !!!
 
We had looked into this also, there is one dock at our lake that is hardly ever used, it is also the closest to our home, problem is it is SUPER shallow! We tried launching our first pontoon there, it only had 2x25 toons, which doesn't help. We had a 2003 Tahoe Z71, we had it backed in so far the water was over the rear bumper , toon didn't budge. Anyway, we had found a product,

http://www.xtend-a-hitchnorthwest.com/

We never ordered it, nor saw it in person, but might be worth looking into. I don't even remember all the details of it.
 
Good find Derrick. Sounds like the nice gut at the camp ground had two glass eyes and one to many beers!
 
Only other thing to do is swap the 13" or 14" tires for the low profile 10" tires designed for pontoon boats. They will substantially lower the frame of the trailer, and are still gutsy enough to handle the weight of a pontoon.
 
BulldogsCadillac said:
We had looked into this also, there is one dock at our lake that is hardly ever used, it is also the closest to our home, problem is it is SUPER shallow! We tried launching our first pontoon there, it only had 2x25 toons, which doesn't help. We had a 2003 Tahoe Z71, we had it backed in so far the water was over the rear bumper , toon didn't budge. Anyway, we had found a product,

http://www.xtend-a-hitchnorthwest.com/

We never ordered it, nor saw it in person, but might be worth looking into. I don't even remember all the details of it.
Click to expand...
This looks like it may be just the thing we need. We can't keep relying on others. Thanks
 
My pleasure! Of course it does mean you're going to make that rig even LONGER to launch, but I think it's more get it in position, take it off the hitch, extend the next hitch, hook back on, drop her in the lake!! Might mean a fairly long time frame too. Depends on the ramp setup I suppose.
 
When you are not travelling you could alway leave it at a marina .

I had ordered a trailer ,then found out neither one of our vehicles is capable of towing the boat .Even though I have a factory hitch on my Equinox its maximum load is 1500 lbs with trailer brakes .Thats 680.389 Kilograms for Derrick
 
Awesome find Derrick, will definitely keep that link in case we have the same issues after we pick the boat up on Friday.
 
jsfb6pts said:
When you are not travelling you could alway leave it at a marina .

I had ordered a trailer ,then found out neither one of our vehicles is capable of towing the boat .Even though I have a factory hitch on my Equinox its maximum load is 1500 lbs with trailer brakes .Thats 680.389 Kilograms for Derrick
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1500 lbs ??? What hitch is on it ?? My JeepWrangler JK 2 door is rated at 2500 lbs and 4 door at 3500.

That seems low for that vehicle. Is it a bumper hitch?

Looked at specs, must be size of motor ..... 4 cyl ??
 
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I have also seen some folks attach a trailer ball/hitch to the front of their RV so as to not have to try backing such a long rig down an unforgiving ramp.

Jack
 
SEMPERFI8387 said:
1500 lbs ??? What hitch is on it ?? My JeepWrangler JK 2 door is rated at 2500 lbs and 4 door at 3500.

That seems low for that vehicle.. Is it a bumper hitch?

Looked at specs, must be size of motor ..... 4 cyl ??
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It is a factory frame hitch ,but yes it is a 4 . I had no clue we would be buying a boat when we bought the car .

I almost bought a new truck about a week after we had ordered the boat ,But we had already put a deposit on the slip .

If we like it at the marina ,I don't need a truck .If we don't,I will get a truck next year .
 
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jsfb6pts said:
It is a factory frame hitch ,but yes it is a 4 . I had no clue we would be buying a boat when we bought the car .

I almost bought a new truck about a week after we had ordered the boat ,But we had already put a deposit on the slip .

If we like it at the marina ,I don't need a truck .If we don't,I will get a truck next year .
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Yeah same here. Bought jeep as we don't haul, or even have a trailer. Pay the dealer to haul in/out. If I have to, I'll buy a beater truck when time comes, or if I ever see a raise, may buy something newer ...... Like a 4 door JK !!!!!
 
jsfb6pts said:
When you are not travelling you could alway leave it at a marina .

I had ordered a trailer ,then found out neither one of our vehicles is capable of towing the boat .Even though I have a factory hitch on my Equinox its maximum load is 1500 lbs with trailer brakes .Thats 680.389 Kilograms for Derrick
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Don't tell me kilograms, then I have to convert it to pounds!! Haha I weigh myself in lbs, guesstimate stuff in lbs, but dammed if I have a clue about Fahrenheit!! And why do you guys need a special gallon! Haha
 
BulldogsCadillac said:
Don't tell me kilograms, then I have to convert it to pounds!! Haha I weigh myself in lbs, guesstimate stuff in lbs, but dammed if I have a clue about Fahrenheit!! And why do you guys need a special gallon! Haha
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Our gallons are not special , 128 oz .

What is the measurement for the beer you buy ? :D
 
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jsfb6pts said:
Our gallons are not special , 128 oz .

What is the measurement for the beer you buy ? :D
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I don't drink beer. I've never liked it. Still hate the taste. Now Whiskey, THAT'S a man's drink!! I do enjoy spiced rum these days too! Oh and they are measured in 40 oz, 26 oz when buying Gibson's Finest, with the cork in it. That's a good one.
 
BulldogsCadillac said:
I don't drink beer. I've never liked it. Still hate the taste. Now Whiskey, THAT'S a man's drink!! I do enjoy spiced rum these days too! Oh and they are measured in 40 oz, 26 oz when buying Gibson's Finest, with the cork in it. That's a good one.
Click to expand...
Is this the one ? It takes a cork .

FrankGibsonsRyeWhiskeyNew.jpg
Gibsons%2Brun.jpg
 
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