Bow eye safety chain?

[hivoltg]

Is a bow eye safety chain required by law? (Im in Texas) I have never seen one on a trailer until recently. I don't remember ever having one on any of our boat trailers as a kid.

I cant find anything on the books about this.

I think its a great idea like transom straps (which I use) but they are not required in Texas.

 

[haulnazz15]

Re: Bow eye safety chain?

I don't know about being required by any state that I'm aware of, but they are a good idea. In my estimation, less than 1% of all boat trailers have them. Most people rely on the bow strap to hold it, mainly due to ignorance of the risk. To be honest, none of my boats/trailers have a safety chain on them and I don't intend to put one on them, but I always use tie downs on the rear. Risk I'm willing to take.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Bow eye safety chain?

.... none of my boats/trailers have a safety chain on them and I don't intend to put one on them, but I always use tie downs on the rear. Risk I'm willing to take.

but now you are putting me at risk. Thanks.

true, older trailers didn't have chains and older cars didn't have seat belts, but as man evolves he learns to do things better. And true, lighter, smaller boats require less.

tie downs can break. it's good to have several safety devices to secure the boat, plus some back-up. The bow strap is a very weak link b/c you are relying on the integrity of the winch, particularly that little cog in the gears and the little bolt holding it on. So if you don;t want to install a chain (how hard is that?) then at least tie your bow line to the winch stand as a back-up.

Also on the subject remember this--if the winch strap and chain are both hooked to the bow eye, neither is there for you if the bow eye fails. Happened to me once; bow eye pulled out due to a failed (rusted) nut inside; the belly strap saved the boat from rolling off the rollers (it still slid about a foot back)

 

[roscoe]

Re: Bow eye safety chain?

Of the 30 boat trailers I've owned, all but 3 or 4 had a safety chain.
Of the 250+/- boat trailers I've shuttled, all but about 50 had a safety chain.

Seems odd not to have one.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Bow eye safety chain?

My daughter recently saw an incident where a boat was launched into the bed of the pickup because of a panic stop. No bow tie down and rope for stern tie-downs. I have a picture of a similar incident that has been posted in this forum several times. Again, anything you can do to limit movement is beneficial.

 

[matt167]

Re: Bow eye safety chain?

One of the first things I found 'wrong' with my trailer when I dug the boat out is it did not have a safety chain for the bow eye. After the boat was home ( 4 miles ) I also found the bow eye was loose and that part of the trailer that was bolted at one time had no bolt and was tied up with rope..

Some fixes just shouldn't be

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: Bow eye safety chain?

having just had the winch pawl fail on my boat and having the boat held by the safety chain. I can say. SAFETY CHAINS ARE A GOOD IDEA.

 

[Fleetwin]

Re: Bow eye safety chain?

Just a GOOD idea. Cheap and easy.

I actually use a ratcheting strap. Even cheaper and easier.

 

[ssobol]

Re: Bow eye safety chain?

I had the winch strap break and a boat (inflatable rib) go flying over backwards off the trailer (the transom straps held the boat so it dragged down the road). Since then I've added safety chains/straps between the trailer and the bow eye.

Two things to consider.

One of the safety chain/straps should attach to the trailer frame itself not the winch post. If the post fails (more likely the attaching bolts) the front of the boat will be free.

Having a strap that is vertical between the bow eye and the trailer frame will restrain the boat's up/down movement against the bow roller due to uneveness in the road, preventing/reducing wear marks on the front of the boat.

 

[haulnazz15]

Re: Bow eye safety chain?

but now you are putting me at risk. Thanks.

Show me some significant factual data concerning injuries to other drivers after a boat came off of a trailer and I'll be happy to add the chain to the trailer. Again, it's not that they aren't a good idea, it's that I believe the risk to be extremely small. If I had a $10K boat, I'd probably have the chain on. It's the same reason I don't carry insurance on my boat . . . the chances of an accident are extremely remote for where/how much I use it.

Do you use safety chains on the tie downs at the rear? Why not? The ratchet mechanism is the weak link in the system and it could come off during an extreme maneuver . . . etc. We can all come up with what-if scenarios that will justify our position. I simply said that it wasn't likely that it would be legally required, and that mine didn't have one. It's not wrong not to use one, it is just the tiniest bit more risky than not using one, statistically speaking.

 

[jayhanig]

Re: Bow eye safety chain?

It must be a regional thing. Here in coastal North Carolina, the vast majority of trailers I see putting in at the local ramp have safety chains. Maybe 1/2 to 2/3 of the owners actually remember to use them. I'm one of those guys that things happen to, so I always use mine along with the winch strap and transom straps.

 

[roscoe]

Re: Bow eye safety chain?

Show me some significant factual data concerning injuries to other drivers after a boat came off of a trailer and I'll be happy to add the chain to the trailer. Again, it's not that they aren't a good idea, it's that I believe the risk to be extremely small. If I had a $10K boat, I'd probably have the chain on. It's the same reason I don't carry insurance on my boat . . . the chances of an accident are extremely remote for where/how much I use it.

Do you use safety chains on the tie downs at the rear? Why not? The ratchet mechanism is the weak link in the system and it could come off during an extreme maneuver . . . etc. We can all come up with what-if scenarios that will justify our position. I simply said that it wasn't likely that it would be legally required, and that mine didn't have one. It's not wrong not to use one, it is just the tiniest bit more risky than not using one, statistically speaking.

36. FLORIDA TODAY (Melbourne, FL) - December 10, 2003

1 killed after boat falls off trailer, lands on car
By Jennifer Ellis Florida Today COCOA -- A local man was killed in a traffic crash late Monday night when a boat fell off a trailer and landed on his car.Gregory Alvin Vanstone, 48, of Cocoa died about 11:19 p.m. at State Road 528 near the bridge over the Indian River.


My cousin's bass boat did a flip off the trailer at highway speed when the winch failed, the boat careened into the car one lane over and sent it into the median.


Here's a video, showing truck and trailer 150' in front of the boat.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWuVqZoltSw




This one looks like fun.

This one smashed a parked car, luckily it was un-occupied.

This one hit other vehicles on the road, but no "serious" injuries according to the article.

September 7th, 2009 @ 4:22
pm
BOUNTIFUL -- A boat fell off its trailer, causing a big mess on Interstate 15 and injuring three people in a subsequent crash Monday afternoon.


There are thousands of news articles covering boats coming off trailers, being involved in accidents.





THe real question is, could you live with yourself if your boat came loose and injured or killed someone, knowing that you could have prevented it for about $20 ?

 

[Pony]

Re: Bow eye safety chain?

The odds are very slim that someone will break into my house, break into my floor safe, get my gun safe key, and then get my gun and shoot someone......BUT I still keep the gun unloaded and the ammo somewhere else.

 

[dccordell]

Re: Bow eye safety chain?

IF the boat does somehow fly off the trailer and hurt somebody, at least you know you did your part to prevent it from happening.

$20 seems about right, or spend another $10 and add the turnbuckle.

 

[haulnazz15]

Re: Bow eye safety chain?

Again, I didn't ask for news stories (I can pull up news stories of plane crashes all day long, but the statistics say it's a rare event). I said data; raw numbers. The fact is, boats coming off of trailers and causing serious injury or death is infinitesimally small compared to the number of times boats are trailered every year. I'm sure it's extremely difficult to obtain the data for "every boat trailer injury which occurred due to not having a safety chain on the bow eye", so I understand the fact that no one can provide that info.

This argument is akin to the "don't use a portable genny on a boat" issue. Some people are willing to accept the risk, others aren't.

 

[oldjeep]

Re: Bow eye safety chain?

I guess I haven't seen a trailer yet that didn't have the chain on it. Both of my Bayliners, the mariah and all 3 Malibus have had them from the factory.

Now transom straps, those I never see on ski boats

 

[roscoe]

Re: Bow eye safety chain?

OK, point taken, decision made. Don't drive in OK. The drivers there don't act responsibly, put others on the road at unreasonable risk, and don't carry insurance to cover the damages they do to others.

 

[mrmamiller]

Re: Bow eye safety chain?

I was involved in a boat/trailer wreck....mine. Boat stayed on trailer and would have been in an intersection by itself had it not been for a chain. Insurance replaced the trailer and repaired the boat where the boat impacted the winch stand.

I use a chain, all the time. When on long high speed trips (600 miles each way at 65+ mph), I use a turnbuckle to minimize any play in the chain. I also use a spring connecting several chain links to insure that the hook is pulling down on the bow eye, so as not to jump off.

Call me overly cautious. Been in trouble, know what it's like.

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: Bow eye safety chain?

Law or not it only makes sense to have and use one.

 

[sublauxation]

Re: Bow eye safety chain?

These events may be rare but they do happen. 20 years ago when I was a younger, dumber kid I had a winch split and fall off. That could have been bad. My uncle's boat trailer blew over while he was towing in a straight line wind gust. He had good chains and straps so everything stayed in one piece. I just watched a news story on a trailer that went through a car impaling a dad and his young kid. I have more examples.

As a result I upgraded everything attaching my boat to my trailer and my trailer to my truck. Total investment was about $55.

These are the exact numbers for my new safety chain.

4" grade 8 bolt-w- washers...$3.75.
2' chain (the good stuff).......$1.75
1/2" 4000lb D-ring................$3.95 (Stainless steel)
total investment..................$9.45

Piece of mind......................$Priceless

The dad and his kid are dead, by the way.

I fully realize that one can't prepare for everything but this is a pretty cheap investment so I can now say I've done what I can. After reading this I will add a 2nd bow eye because I see where that makes sense. Total investment on that will probably be about $8.00. That's sounds like a worthy investment to me.

My promise is this. If I die because of somebody's negligence I will come back and haunt them. If one of my family members dies due to somebody's negligence I will haunt them even more. Not having a $9.45 safety chain sounds negligent to me.