Boat on trailer ?

[bassn429]

Does anyone tie down or ratchet strap down the bow of there boat when trailering? Because no matter how tight i get the winch strap I notice when going down the road the front of the boat bounces alittle. I just dont want to wear out the carpet on the stops or more importantly leave marks on the front of the boat where it rubs. And if u do what do u attach it to? Thanks to all in advance and yes my wife says im anal. BUT ITS A NEW BOAT

 

[Ben & Suzy]

I've had two Hoosier pontoon trailers now and the boat rides down the road very smoothly. The pontoon never bounces or moves so I've never felt the need to tie the front down. What type of trailer?

 

[Benney2075]

Looking forward to the replies, mine bounced so I winched it tight, now have a good size wear mark on the cover and carpet worn out.

But on the bright side the boat never bounced.

Waiting on the warm weather!!!

 

[BulldogsCadillac]

My old trailer (a Prestige) had another ratcheting strap on a diagonal on front of boat, hooked it to the same eye hook as the winch strap, worked great. I'll see if I have a pic.

Derrick

 

[bassn429]

I've had two Hoosier pontoon trailers now and the boat rides down the road very smoothly. The pontoon never bounces or moves so I've never felt the need to tie the front down. What type of trailer?

i Have a genesis trailer and i just dont want to pull down on the u bolt that is under there and is faceing forward.

 

[BulldogsCadillac]

If you click here and zoom in, follow down from the bunk stops and you will see the black strap angling up.

 

[bassn429]

My old trailer (a Prestige) had another ratcheting strap on a diagonal on front of boat, hooked it to the same eye hook as the winch strap, worked great. I'll see if I have a pic.

Derrick

That would be great Derrick . Thanks

 

[ranger45]

I went to Lowes and bought 2 plastic house gutter connectors to put over the rubrail. They stop carpet wear and stop the rubrail from getting marked up.They snap on the rubrail and stay put very well.

 

[lakebum]

I cross-strap mine front and back, just to be safe. This can keep it from sliding sideways off the trailer if something bad happens. To me it's woth the small amount of time it takes. Steve

 

[bassn429]

I went to Lowes and bought 2 plastic house gutter connectors to put over the rubrail. They stop carpet wear and stop the rubrail from getting marked up.They snap on the rubrail and stay put very well.

Thats a good 1 I think i'll try that. Thanks

 

[CcanDo]

I cross-strap mine front and back, just to be safe. This can keep it from sliding sideways off the trailer if something bad happens. To me it's woth the small amount of time it takes. Steve

Lakebum, You make a very valuable suggestion/contribution.

The point of tying back is foremost, subject to a hard stop, worse yet, an impact. The "BOW STOPS" are not strucural enough to handle an emergency, total load. Potentialy, the boat can end up in the tow vehicle. The vehicle/trailer makes an emergency stop and without rear tie downs, the boat continues. In fact, some use the cross-tie solution at both the bow and at the transom, both pulling back. Then, the winch holding forward and a vertical tension strap from the winch strap eye to the trailer tonque. The tonque, subject to material used and design may flex and create trailer porpoise. The vertical adjustable tension strap shortens the tonque length (lever arm) and somewhat reduces trailer porpoise.

 

[dmctruby]

I have a karavan 25ft trailer for my 2250 boat. When the trailer bow stop was positioned a bit to forward I did not have sufficient bow weight when the boat was loaded and the bow bounced. I originally was trying to get the stern toons to line up with the end of the bunk, but since the trailer is made to handle boats up 26ft long it meant I wasn't centered well. I never messed with moving the axles, I just moved the bow stop back, allowing the boat to come further down the bunks. My rear toon ends are a good foot or more up past the end of the bunk now, but I have the weight needed on the bow to stop bouncing. It did take an extra tight winch strap and two bow hold down straps to make it solid. A tip, tighten the bow tie downs first, if you crank down on the stern tie downs you can unweight the front a bit and cause bouncing.

 

[Ken H]

My bunks are positioned so the weight is distibuted evenly so I just crank the bow strap tight and then tighten the stern straps, No bouncing.

Check yer bunk position as you may have to slide them forward a little.

Cheers

Ken

 

[CcanDo]

Does anyone tie down or ratchet strap down the bow of there boat when trailering? Because no matter how tight i get the winch strap I notice when going down the road the front of the boat bounces alittle. I just dont want to wear out the carpet on the stops or more importantly leave marks on the front of the boat where it rubs. And if u do what do u attach it to? Thanks to all in advance and yes my wife says im anal. BUT ITS A NEW BOAT

You are not being either anal or self persecuting. IMHO, the bow should never touch the stops, even when loading. Practically speaking, the bow may bump the stops and subject to relative ramp to hull angle, maintain light contact until the trailer is up the ramp. At some point after starting up the ramp the hull will paralell the bunks. The angle trasistion will create a margin between the bow and bow stops. That margin can be maintained by one, two or both solutions. The easiest being, strapping down the stern. However, the HD stern strap angle will only provide adequate force if at an angle greater than verticle. In other words, pulling "Back", with 45 degrees being ideal. Most trailers are not designed to provide for pulling down over the tube end and obtaining that angle. However, one might consider going under the hull and installing a strap eye, for that purpose. Perhaps an additional eye on the trailer, will also be required.

The second solution, similar process, different location. One or two straps will go from the bow eye(s) at an angle, with 45 degrees being ideal, down to the trailer frame. Two straps simply create more force and safety.

Rubbing between the bow and carpet may traffic damage both the carpet and rub rail.

 

[Luv2BeCruisin]

You are not being either anal or self persecuting. IMHO, the bow should never touch the stops, even when loading. Practically speaking, the bow may bump the stops and subject to relative ramp to hull angle, maintain light contact until the trailer is up the ramp. At some point after starting up the ramp the hull will paralell the bunks. The angle trasistion will create a margin between the bow and bow stops. That margin can be maintained by one, two or both solutions. The easiest being, strapping down the stern. However, the HD stern strap angle will only provide adequate force if at an angle greater than verticle. In other words, pulling "Back", with 45 degrees being ideal. Most trailers are not designed to provide for pulling down over the tube end and obtaining that angle. However, one might consider going under the hull and installing a strap eye, for that purpose. Perhaps an additional eye on the trailer, will also be required.

The second solution, similar process, different location. One or two straps will go from the bow eye(s) at an angle, with 45 degrees being ideal, down to the trailer frame. Two straps simply create more force and safety.

Rubbing between the bow and carpet may traffic damage both the carpet and rub rail.

Thanks for the tips. I will be trying to figure that out next week when our new boat arrives.

 

[BulldogsCadillac]

You are not being either anal or self persecuting. IMHO, the bow should never touch the stops, even when loading. Practically speaking, the bow may bump the stops and subject to relative ramp to hull angle, maintain light contact until the trailer is up the ramp. At some point after starting up the ramp the hull will paralell the bunks. The angle trasistion will create a margin between the bow and bow stops. That margin can be maintained by one, two or both solutions. The easiest being, strapping down the stern. However, the HD stern strap angle will only provide adequate force if at an angle greater than verticle. In other words, pulling "Back", with 45 degrees being ideal. Most trailers are not designed to provide for pulling down over the tube end and obtaining that angle. However, one might consider going under the hull and installing a strap eye, for that purpose. Perhaps an additional eye on the trailer, will also be required.

The second solution, similar process, different location. One or two straps will go from the bow eye(s) at an angle, with 45 degrees being ideal, down to the trailer frame. Two straps simply create more force and safety.

Rubbing between the bow and carpet may traffic damage both the carpet and rub rail.

I had the issue of rubbing on the bunk stops, although mine was emphasized by the fact that my playpen cover snaps were directly lined up with the stops. So to put on my cover was near impossible because with the boat being that tight to the stops, the cover had to be arced up. So I came up with this idea



I had to mount them low enough that they weren't on top of the snaps, but they kept the boat that extra 1/4 of an inch away yet still being tight against the bunk stops. My 09 2075GLi didn't have a rub rail on it so this was my solution. It's a plumbing fernco, and I removed the two hose clamps at either end and screwed on with stainless screws and washers. Only wish I had thought of it BEFORE the carpet got all chewed up.

Derrick