Broken transom tie down straps

wrvond

Chief Petty Officer
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Mar 2, 2010
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597
Both my tie down straps broke today. Started shopping for new ones and discovered the old ones were grossly under rated and that most straps are.
My boat weighs 6100 pound dry, and I have no idea what the trailer weighs.
So what should transom tie down straps be rated at for this application? They aren't suspending 6100 lbs. in the air, but road imperfections can certainly make boat and trailer want to part company with great force.
Thoughts, and links, greatly appreciated.
 

alldodge

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IMO the strap needs to be strong enough to keep the trailer on the boat, not the boat on the trailer. Since its just holding one side and the rear, 1000 lb should be enough but maybe 1500 at most. The trailer only weights about 1500 and there are two other attaching points
 

gm280

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Jun 26, 2011
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Sure seems very odd that both would break at the same time. They either were very old and thread were rotting, or something else was going on. :noidea:

I do agree with AllDodge on the new tie downs though. All the are suppose to do is hold the trailer to the boat when going over bumps and dips.Gravity holds the boat down, the tie downs hold the trailer to the boat. JMHO
 

wrvond

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Mar 2, 2010
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597
Sure seems very odd that both would break at the same time. They either were very old and thread were rotting, or something else was going on. :noidea:
You are very perceptive! Here's what happened:
I failed to get the boat snugged up against the bow stop so attached the straps loosely to keep the boat centered over the bunks. Had my bride back down the ramp to take some weight off and finished cranking it up. When she pulled up the ramp I went to snug the tie downs but both were hanging there broken.
Because there were a lot of logs in the water around the ramp we didn't drive on the trailer as normal but decided to dead stick the boat on. Our whole routine went out the window and we had all kinds of problems. Many lessons were learned.
So anyway, shopping for new tiedowns it occurred to me that when driving over "bouncy" roads, in effect what you have is 7000 pounds trying to separate from 1500 pounds. 300 pound straps seem a bit inadequate.
 

Scott Danforth

Grumpy Vintage Moderator still playing with boats
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Jul 23, 2011
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your using transom straps
47788_0.jpg
and not

ratchet straps,
Blue-Ratchet-Strap8-w.png


correct?
 

Redfred1

Chief Petty Officer
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Sep 23, 2013
Messages
629
I use the ones like Scott shows in pix, (Same color) You might consider getting a 3" ratchet strap (Harbor Freight; Home Depot;etc. Throw the strap over the boat
and strap it to the trailer. Might be overkill; but it won't break.
 

wrvond

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Mar 2, 2010
Messages
597
Yes, transom tie down straps.
Etrailer has a set of ratcheting transom tie down straps that are self storing and rated for 1167 pounds SWL each that I'm finding attractive. Called the CargoBuckle G3.
I may go with those and a ratchet strap across the stern as well.
 
Last edited:

hemi rt

Petty Officer 1st Class
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Jul 1, 2010
Messages
321
Don't put a strap over the back of the hull unless you want rub marks on the hull deck. With the boat moving and yes it does, the strap over the deck doesn't but rubs into the coating on the deck, I've seen it where the strap actually rubs right through the finish down to raw fiberglass. The 2 transom straps, if strong enough, will hold the trailer to the boat without any problems. You straps probably broke for 2 reasons - too much strain on an under rated strap or water and sun/heat meaning just old age.
 

wrvond

Chief Petty Officer
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Mar 2, 2010
Messages
597
Yes, that was definitely a concern. The reality is the ramp is only two blocks from my house, though the roads are still quite rough - not least of which is my driveway. It's so steep I have to approach it at an oblique angle to avoid dragging the skeg. It's at this point some side to side motion occurs which concerns me. On the other hand, none of my wife's decorations in the cabin move when I come up the drive, so these self storing tie downs may work out well after all.
 

redneck joe

Supreme Mariner
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Mar 18, 2009
Messages
10,198
Yes, transom tie down straps.
Etrailer has a set of ratcheting transom tie down straps that are self storing and rated for 1167 pounds SWL each that I'm finding attractive. Called the CargoBuckle G3.
I may go with those and a ratchet strap across the stern as well.



I have those.
 

JASinIL2006

Vice Admiral
Joined
Feb 10, 2012
Messages
5,524
The ratcheting transom straps (mine are BoatBuckle brand*) really are nice and are quite strong. I trailer up to Ontario twice year, including several hours of driving on really bumpy back roads. The BoatBuckles have held up very well. I would not consider running a cargiostrap over the top of the boat, unless I really didn't like my gel coat. Those straps will rub right through.

*Boatbuckles available right here on iBoats!
 
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