You know it is a bad day when:

Pantharen · Sep 14, 2013

Grub54891 · Sep 14, 2013

Re: You know it is a bad day when:

Ahhh....the joy of a roller trailer! Brother in law did the same thing!

kfa4303 · Sep 14, 2013

Re: You know it is a bad day when:

Gotta keep that wench hook on a bit longer. That's why I don't have rollers either. Every time I gripe about having to use the bunks, I think about a pic like this. I hope he know a good glasser :/

Home Cookin' · Sep 15, 2013

Re: You know it is a bad day when:

the wench ain't got a hook but she gots the look!

Pantharen · Sep 15, 2013

Re: You know it is a bad day when:

Guy was an idiot, and disconnected the safety chain before the boat was at the water.. His Words "I have always used just the winch, and its always held the boat" I told him "the winch isn't designed to hold the weight of the boat, they're not designed for that purpose, they're designed to pull the boat onto the trailer.. Your safety chain is designed to carry the weight of the boat until you're at the water.. The first thing you connect & the last thing you remove is the safety chain"

He says to me "I've been boating for 20 years and have never done that" and I replied "and I can see the results on my launch ramp" "a lesson that will cost you about $2500 to repair"

rowlex · Sep 16, 2013

Re: You know it is a bad day when:

^^^ you sure?

My safety chain is never tight... my boat is always secured by the winch and it holds strong. I thought the safety chain was just that--safety if the winch fails.

oldjeep · Sep 17, 2013

Re: You know it is a bad day when:

Pantharen said:
The first thing you connect & the last thing you remove is the safety chain"

How could the chain be the first thing you connect? (Hint, that winch is there for a reason)

skydiveD30571 · Sep 17, 2013

Re: You know it is a bad day when:

My safety chain coils up and has a good 12-18" of loose length before it would be tight.

bassman284 · Sep 17, 2013

Re: You know it is a bad day when:

rowlex said:
^^^ you sure?

My safety chain is never tight... my boat is always secured by the winch and it holds strong. I thought the safety chain was just that--safety if the winch fails.

The winch always holds strong until it fails. Then your hopes ride with the safety chain. A few years ago a friend of mine was sitting in his boat while a friend backed it down the ramp when the winch strap broke. He said it felt like he went a long way before the safety chain tightened up. Actually only about 5 or 6 inches.

Home Cookin' · Sep 17, 2013

Re: You know it is a bad day when:

although I've seen people try to tighten safety chains once they're hooked on, I don"t see it as necessary (that Chinese puzzle hole under the winch where you feed one link at a time). I tried it once on the idea of then loosening the power winch so the bouncing wouldn't stress its clutch; gave up.

But you don't want your chain so loose that it will bounce off. And I'd think short is better both for that reason and so the jolt to stop a rolling boat isn't as hard and thus risk yanking out the bow eye.

I do not agree with the method of turn-buckling the bow eye tight to the trailer; too much stress while driving on the bow eye and bow.

The guy who argued with you is a lunk-head. He's saying the same as, "I've never worn a seatbelt in 20 years and never got in a wreck so therefore I don't need seatbelts." Although he is right that the risk of failure is remote, he fails to consider the extent of harm if there is a failure (great) and the cost to eliminate the risk (small). All three need to be considered in risk analysis.

captain zac · Sep 17, 2013

Re: You know it is a bad day when:

FYI
My trailer came with a 5000# strap (it broke after one year)
the boat weight is 6800#
I went to tractor supply and got a 10000# strap

Harry

rowlex · Sep 17, 2013

Re: You know it is a bad day when:

bassman284 said:
The winch always holds strong until it fails. Then your hopes ride with the safety chain..

I agree, and thats what I am getting at. I don't remove either strap or chain until my boat is near floating. The OP stated: "the winch isn't designed to hold the weight of the boat[...]" which in my experience is not correct.

canoemang · Sep 19, 2013

Re: You know it is a bad day when:

your winch better be overrated past the weight of the boat..

Pantharen · Sep 21, 2013

Re: You know it is a bad day when:

rowlex said:
^^^ you sure?

My safety chain is never tight... my boat is always secured by the winch and it holds strong. I thought the safety chain was just that--safety if the winch fails.

WHEN your winch cable / strap snaps and you dont have the safety chain attached, then I'm sure there will be someone photographing your OOPS on the launch ramp when you're boat slides off the trailer too..

oldjeep said:
How could the chain be the first thing you connect? (Hint, that winch is there for a reason)

yeah yeah yeah, you know what I ment..

skydiveD30571 said:
My safety chain coils up and has a good 12-18" of loose length before it would be tight.

I've never seen a safety that long, usually they're under 12". But hey what ever works for you

canoemang said:
your winch better be overrated past the weight of the boat..

my winch is 4000lb rated, my strap is 10,000lb rated, My boat is a 1965 Aroliner Debonair, (total dry weight without motor 200lbs)

H20Rat · Sep 24, 2013

Re: You know it is a bad day when:

canoemang said:
your winch better be overrated past the weight of the boat..

VERY few boats meet the requirement. Very few, if any, of the boats that I've owned have come with a winch that large. Winches are for pulling the boat up, which doesn't require anything close to the weight of the boat.

DBreskin · Sep 24, 2013

Re: You know it is a bad day when:

Pantharen said:
My boat is a 1965 Aroliner Debonair, (total dry weight without motor 200lbs)

That's a really light boat. If it were mine I'd just carry it on my roof rack.

Or did you mean 2000lbs?

Home Cookin' · Sep 25, 2013

Re: You know it is a bad day when:

smokingcrater said:
VERY few boats meet the requirement. Very few, if any, of the boats that I've owned have come with a winch that large. Winches are for pulling the boat up, which doesn't require anything close to the weight of the boat.

agreed--you don't lift the boat up in the air!

But some winches are "rated" for the size boat they are designed for--power winch does this, so if it's recommended for a boat that weighs X000 pounds it doesn't mean it can lift X000 pounds.

While I agree it's usually better to buy something that is "rated" for more than is required, with winches it is not always so. A winch made for big loads will have a slower retrieve, and thus a grossly overrated winch can be a nuisance at the ramp.

Another factor people often disregard is that a winch rating is at the spool "axle" so if you have inches of strap wrapped around it, your rating changes (in that it is harder to crank up when at the full spool than at the bare axle). So those who power loan on and just crank a few feet may do better with a short strap/cable.

jerryjerry05 · Sep 26, 2013

Re: You know it is a bad day when:

Straps are fabric, they ROT!!!
Switch to the cable a bigger one than you think you need.
Most only use 2 maybe 4 feet of it anyway.
The roller trailers do exactly what their supposed to, they let the boat roll off onto the ground

Safety chain always.
My bunk trailer won't let it slip off.
I can drive down the road with no straps or chains(don't do it but I could) not with a roller trailer.
Be courteous and get your boat ready in the boat prep area(most ramps have one) I get ready at home, then all I have to do is unhook the cable and safety chain and back it in.

NHGuy · Sep 29, 2013

Re: You know it is a bad day when:

Jerry, I am glad you like your bunks. I love my rollers, they make it easy to bring my boat on and off in differing ramp angles and trailer depths. They center the boat nicely on the trailer too. The rollers allow me to reach more of my hull to clean it.
Bunks are nice to your hull though, they put a nice even load right below the stringers.
We all have our benefits.

izoomie · Nov 14, 2013

Re: You know it is a bad day when:

Home Cookin' said:
the wench ain't got a hook but she gots the look!

Heh, heh heh.....the look.

You know it is a bad day when:

Seaman Apprentice

Vice Admiral

Banned

Fleet Admiral

Seaman Apprentice

Petty Officer 2nd Class

Admiral

Lieutenant Junior Grade

Commander

Fleet Admiral

Petty Officer 1st Class

Petty Officer 2nd Class

Petty Officer 1st Class

Seaman Apprentice

Vice Admiral

Senior Chief Petty Officer

Fleet Admiral

Supreme Mariner

Captain

Petty Officer 1st Class