SECURING YOUR BOAT TO THE TRAILER

[peterbo3]

Afternoon all,
There is always discussion about how to secure your boat when you are pulling a trailer & launching. Been plenty of pics posted & stories told about boats ending up in the bed of a pickup after a crash or emergency stop. IMHO it boils down to the design of the trailer.
"Off the Shelf" trailers are built to carry a certain weight & whilst bigger capacity trailers will carry longer boats, shorter boats generally have the trailer "modified" to suit them. The sole extent of this modification is often the relocation of the winch post & winch posts are simply bolted on to the frame to allow this to happen.
This is my setup. I use a ratchet strap at the rear of the boat to assist in keeping back end secure.

The bow is secured by a chain, which is only removed on the ramp. The chain is undone when the trailer wheels are in the water & I am ready to launch.
The winch rope is made of Dyeema which is UV stable & has a SWL of 7000LB. The winch rope is tightened before a trip & keeps the bow snug against the rubber buffer. The Air Force ratchet strap (SWL 5000LB) runs around a trailer cross member & pulls the bow of the boat down. It will also prevent the boat moving forward in an emergency stop situation.


This is not the only way to secure your rig, but it works for me & is quick to attach or undo.
As you may have guessed, it is windy today & the devil makes work for idle hands. :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

[goatram]

Looks good but the weak link in your boat trailer and everyone else's is the front roller mount brackets. Most of the newer trailers in the PNW, (Washington and Oregon) have the chain at the bow hook connecting boat to the trailer. Transom straps are used as well.

In an accident the force of of the boat going 50 or 60 Miles and hour will over power that bow roller stanchion and bracket. Your front strap rated at 5000 lbs might hold but I bet it will fail and the boat will move forward. How much? That I do not think any one has studied that yet. Is it better then what I have, properly

Forgot to latch my hitch last year and when I went the two miles down to the boat launch at the local park my hitch came undone and the safety chains and trailers brought the trailer to a stop. I was going 5 mph when I hit the bump and the hitch popped off and the trailer tongue hit the pavement ad the boat slid forward a few inches. those two metal brackets holding the front roller bent to the right side (starboard).

I did not have those two extra straps that you have on your rig. at that speed it would have held but faster like the speed mention above I don't think so.

Most video of frontal car wrecks show the back end of the vehicle bouncing up. for what it is worth, You wreck and something is going to hurt no matter what.

[peterbo3]

G'Day John,
My setup will NOT handle a catastrophic event. There is no system that will do that. I have taken into account the forces that will be encountered in a lower speed nose to tail crash or emergency brake situation or high speed swerve to avoid an impact. For the real bad Doo-doo, I carry lots of insurance.

[goatram]

G'Day John,
My setup will NOT handle a catastrophic event. There is no system that will do that. I have taken into account the forces that will be encountered in a lower speed nose to tail crash or emergency brake situation or high speed swerve to avoid an impact. For the real bad DoDo, I carry lots of insurance.

Insurance is a necessary evil. I spend my share on it. Four vehicles, boat, and house. Registration fees are another sore point throw in the 3 trailers and camper

Like the rocket launchers on the on the gunale. I have not seen any like that.

Here is pictures of my winch and chain along with the front roller. my trailer is a EZ Loader a two axle standard bunk.

[amfboats]

We use Voyager Trailers for most of our trailers, and we had them weld the post on solid, they use a yoke system for the rollers to help prevent The boat moving forward, and the safety chain has a turnbuckle at the bottom that puts tension in the chain so the boat can't move forward or backwards. The chain is a two point, and a tight both vertically and horizontily. We then have the tie points to the outside of the trailer and tie back to the engine so the boat is pulled into the center of the trailer. Touch wood we or our customers havent had accident to try the system.

I did have one customer end up with his 580 on the top of his Toyota Landcruiser years ago and he didnt even get a scratch on the hull, but the Toyota roof was stoved in. He didnt have the boat tied down properly.

[clambo]

Looks like a great setup to me. When I first started trailering a boat in 1972 I towed my boat for three years and one day it popped off imagine my surprise when I found out the ball was 1 7/8" and the trailer was 2". God must love a fool because no damage from the boo boo. Typical run at the time 1.5 hr to 3 hr at 70 mi per hr could have been a beaut of a wreck!

[ruggit]

I use the strap around the hull also. The front strap around is a good idea.

[JETTYWOLF]

Peter,

I've seen some of those "over the dunes and thru the forest photos" of yours.....I can understand why you have idle hands.
Or the "other drivers" must be playing "chicken with ya".

[pjay9]

Interesting reading this thread. I recall in 1975 i was moving from L.A. to Tacoma coming up I-5 in OR when the boat trailer hitch broke off...the safty chains were bolted thru and stayed with the hitch on the ball, therefore the trailer sat down on the nose and slid along the highway into the ditch The boat was filled with household goods and was heavy. Back then transom straps were not common and I had a gunnel strap across the boat and the winch strap of course and a front strap holding the bow down. Well the boat moved and punched a hole in the NON ALLOY as it slid past the bow post. The rest of the boat was fine and it stayed with the trailer. When we got her towed off the road and to a welding shop the gunnel strap had to be cut because it was sooooo tight the buckle system could not be worked even using a 18" channel lock to try to open it. So from that day forward the gunnel strap is always on my boats plus I use transom straps and a bow strap. I have yet to relocate the chains on the new trailer away from the hitch, but I need to evaluate the way it is done now compared to what happened in 1975. Have a safe trip! Capt PJ

[Shark Bait]

Petrobo: Sorry it has taken so long to gather up some pictures of how I tie down our boat. I really believe in tying the boat down to the trailer at the Bow and the Stern in addition to the winch strap and the safety chain.

Since I am a BIG fan of a Bow Tie Down I had a second Bow Eye added when the boat was built. I originally used a single strap across the stern but found that was a PITA so went to two straps anchored on the aft cleats. All of these tie down points are great IF you can find quality straps that fit and have the correct fittings, ratchets and hooks.

I have found a solution. Check out http://www.cargoequipmentcorp.com/ and then call Jeff Iden at 1-888-557-8727. He will build you anything you need and the cost is about the same as a quality, off the shelf strap. My winch strap is 3" wide, 18,00# yellow nylon webbing and the bow and stern straps are 2" wide 12,000# yellow nylon. They have a large selection of ratchets and hooks so you can build just about anything you need. I selected the ratchets, hooks and webbing I wanted and had my straps made to length. I even specified the position of the ratchet on the strap.

Jeff has been very helpful and seems to take pride in helping customers get exactly what they wants and needs.









SB

[peterbo3]

Sharkbait,

Good looking straps there. And you would need them.................that is a huge boat.

My straps come from an Airforce C17. SWL is 5000lb but they are rated to at least double that.