Towing 14ft Lowe Jon Boat With Compact Car

[TheOriginalOldGuy]

Re: Towing 14ft Lowe Jon Boat With Compact Car

by "dry feet" I mean that the ramp under the winch stand is dry. Your car never should get wet, not even the tires (for a 14'). If it were me, the axle of the trailer would stay dry.

I sure hope the 3' of water wasn't at the trunk of the car!

You have a trailer, not a dry dock. the whole thing doesn't go under water.

Thanks, I am gonna keep that in mind. Honestly, I was just doing it the way my buddy always does. No wonder his trailer lights are always out. :facepalm:

No, the trunk didn't get wet. Neither did the bumper. That was something I wanted to make sure of. I have a lot of practicing I need to do today, and I'm trying to get an early start. But first, I gotta replace the dry rotted rope the seller gave me that BROKE when I tied it to the dock. I was fortunate the boat didn't float away, because there was no one else around.

 

[fishrdan]

Re: Towing 14ft Lowe Jon Boat With Compact Car

TOOG (TheOrigionalOldGuy), is your trailer a bunk or roller trailer?

by "dry feet" I mean that the ramp under the winch stand is dry. Your car never should get wet, not even the tires (for a 14'). If it were me, the axle of the trailer would stay dry.

You have a trailer, not a dry dock. the whole thing doesn't go under water.

I can't tell for sure from the pics, but it looks like a bunk trailer. How is he going to launch/load on a bunk trailer with out getting the trailer axle wet, the bunks would be high and "dry".

When I launch my 14'er I'll either back it in close to the dock and then easily pull the boat off with the dock line,,, or tie 20' of rope to the trailer's winch post and bow cleat (coiled on bow deck) then back in stabbing the brakes at the last second to launch the boat with some authority, to get it to float off and out. For loading I back in far enough to completely wet the bunks, then pull forward until the ends of the bunks are 2-3" below the water's surface, power the boat on, then crank it up the rest of the way.

I have shore launched my bunk trailer and could only do so as HC was saying, with trailer bunk's high and dry,,, and it was a total pain.....

Oh yeah, my jon boat's dock line is about 18' (or so) of 5/16" braided nylon, looped at each end. I keep it attached while boating so it's easy to deploy, one end to a bow cleat and the other end on a stern cleat. It's easier than tying a bow, and stern line to the dock, then untying them, then tying them, etc, etc.. We have T posts on the docks out here, so I can drop the line over the post without worry.

 

[TheOriginalOldGuy]

Re: Towing 14ft Lowe Jon Boat With Compact Car

TOOG (TheOrigionalOldGuy), is your trailer a bunk or roller trailer?



I can't tell for sure from the pics, but it looks like a bunk trailer. How is he going to launch/load on a bunk trailer with out getting the trailer axle wet, the bunks would be high and "dry".

When I launch my 14'er I'll either back it in close to the dock and then easily pull the boat off with the dock line,,, or tie 20' of rope to the trailer's winch post and bow cleat (coiled on bow deck) then back in stabbing the brakes at the last second to launch the boat with some authority, to get it to float off and out. For loading I back in far enough to completely wet the bunks, then pull forward until the ends of the bunks are 2-3" below the water's surface, power the boat on, then crank it up the rest of the way.

I have shore launched my bunk trailer and could only do so as HC was saying, with trailer bunk's high and dry,,, and it was a total pain.....

Oh yeah, my jon boat's dock line is about 18' (or so) of 5/16" braided nylon, looped at each end. I keep it attached while boating so it's easy to deploy, one end to a bow cleat and the other end on a stern cleat. It's easier than tying a bow, and stern line to the dock, then untying them, then tying them, etc, etc.. We have T posts on the docks out here, so I can drop the line over the post without worry.

Yes, I do have a bunk trailer. I tried launching from a bigger lake with a slightly steeper ramp than the last one I used, and backed in before the tail lights on the trailer were wet. Wasn't able to push the boat off because of the bunks. So, I tried something I read in another thread here, and this time I DISCONNECTED my trailer wiring, then backed the trailer in far enough so that I could float the boat off. That worked like a dream. When retrieving, and reconnecting the lights, I was pleased to see I didn't burn out a light this time. So, today was a lot better than my first time out. As far as boating, it felt a lot more natural today, as if I had been doing this for years. I was on a bigger lake with bigger boats (mainly Tahoe and Bayliner size), and the boat handled the wakes very well. I also didn't make any bonehead mistakes today.
This lake was about 25 miles away, mostly interstate, and towing was very smooth. I was pretty nervous at first, but luckily I live about a mile from the interstate, so I had a chance to turn around if something happened.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Towing 14ft Lowe Jon Boat With Compact Car

good idea to unhook lights before dunking. some people don't but most agree it's the better practice.

OK if you want to float theboat on/off I think you will find that the whole boat doesn't have to be floating, just the stern a bit to take the main weight off. experiment. same with retrieving; that's what the winch is for.

However, a 14' jon is not hard to push off even if dry.

better, put those teflon skids on there and it's no problem at all; used to launch a 19' fiberglass skiff dry on bunks made of outdoor carpet (the green astro turf looking stuff) and better with slicks. Or soap the bunks.

 

[TheOriginalOldGuy]

Re: Towing 14ft Lowe Jon Boat With Compact Car

Yesterday marked a couple of FIRSTS for me:

-1st Day I towed the boat 20+ miles each way at 65+ mph on the interstate.
-1st Day of serious fishing on a decent sized lake in this boat
-1st Day of both a clean launch and retrieval
-1st Day I was able to launch and retrieve WITHOUT getting my feet wet.

Sure things will get much better...

 

[TheOriginalOldGuy]

UPDATE: Still going! Not one single problem in regards to towing. Still using the same tires, too. LOL. I have been towing the boat all over GA, and I've had some great fishing!