Auto bow eye catch, is there such a thing?

G

Guest

Guest
Does anyone know if there is an auto bow eye catch that locks on the eye as you drive the boat on the trailer and into it? This way one person can load his boat and not have to put the wrinch on it untill the boat is in the parking lot.
 

NYBo

Admiral
Joined
Oct 23, 2008
Messages
7,107
Re: Auto bow eye catch, is there such a thing?

Sure, right here. However, from what I've read in threads here, they don't always work that well.
 

ufm82

Master Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jul 29, 2003
Messages
827
Re: Auto bow eye catch, is there such a thing?

Oh- you beat me to it. lOL
 

Splat

Lieutenant
Joined
Jul 20, 2008
Messages
1,366
Re: Auto bow eye catch, is there such a thing?

Someone is gonna say it, so it might as well be me. Call me a purist, but you could not tear up the ramp and just load correctly.

Just saying.

Bill
 

DuckHunterJon

Lieutenant Junior Grade
Joined
Apr 19, 2010
Messages
1,082
Re: Auto bow eye catch, is there such a thing?

Cabelas also sells them - but as Splat eluded to - if you go this route, be prepared to catch alot of flack from some launches, and possibly be kicked out of other ones. This would definitely fall under the heading of power loading.
 

ctjstr

Recruit
Joined
Dec 22, 2010
Messages
3
Re: Auto bow eye catch, is there such a thing?

I made my own. I'll try my best to explain how I did it. I started by making a steel plate. Mine is about 16" long. The bottom has a piece of 5/16 tubing (ID) welded to it. I used a 5/16" piece of round stock and fastened it to the trailer in such a way that the plate could swing back and forth, forward and backward. The plate is about 2" wide and is made from 1/4" Steel as I recall. I cut a slot in the plate so that it could slide over the eye as the boat comes up on the trailer. I then mounted a small hydraulic arm, the kind that holds up trunk lids. The bottom end mounts to the trailer several inches forward of where the plate pivots. The top end is attached to the plate. When the hydraulic arm is extended, it forces the arm almost upright. I have a small chain mounted so it limits the travel. As you drive the boat up on the trailer, the bow eye comes in contact with the plate. As the trailer moves forward, it comes to the point where the slot in the plate slips over the bow eye. At that point the hydraulic arm pressure has forced the plate up against the boat with the eye in the slot. Boat is then locked in place. When its time to put the boat back in the water, I pull the plate down away from they eye and again have a small piece of chain that clips on it and holds it away from the eye, so the boat will float off the trailer.

I'm really making this sound way more complicated then it is. The thing works perfectly and I've been dumping my ski centurian in the water for about 15 years with zero problems. Its pretty fool proof. I don't have any sort of winch. I can probably figure out how to post a picture if someone is interested.
 

Reel Kahuna

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Apr 3, 2010
Messages
271
Re: Auto bow eye catch, is there such a thing?

I made my own. I'll try my best to explain how I did it...
... I can probably figure out how to post a picture if someone is interested.

Yep, a pic is worth a thousand words LOL
 

jzellers

Cadet
Joined
Dec 19, 2005
Messages
15
Re: Auto bow eye catch, is there such a thing?

There's also this one: http://www.snapperboatlatch.com/

I bought this one a couple years ago and tried it on my '98 Four Winns 278 Vista, which weighs in at 9,600lbs (not including trailer) and it didn't work very well. The servo is not strong enough to release the latch if the bow eye happens to be tight against the latch mechanism. However for smaller boats, used as in their demo video, it would work pretty well.

I'm in the process of developing one to handle my boat's weight and it's similar to ctjstr's, but uses a remote controlled electric winch to draw the bow tight against the bow roller to eliminate the excess movement that I had with the other latch. All the other one did was tear up the bow eye from moving up and down (trailer flexing) while pulling up the ramp. My latch mechanism is also easily removable with one pin so that on "No Powerloading" ramps, the winch could be used by itself.
 

jtmarten

Master Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Aug 2, 2004
Messages
825
Re: Auto bow eye catch, is there such a thing?

I used a 'boat buddy' with my 23' jetboat and loved it. We generally loaded non-powered and it still helped quite a bit.
 

veritas honus

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Jun 13, 2010
Messages
1,876
Re: Auto bow eye catch, is there such a thing?

Wouldn't trust it. Winch strap and safety chain.:)
 

Cadwelder

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Aug 30, 2010
Messages
1,780
Re: Auto bow eye catch, is there such a thing?

Someone is gonna say it, so it might as well be me. Call me a purist, but you could not tear up the ramp and just load correctly.

Just saying.

Bill

Gotta agree here....I load and unload by myself all the time. Never needed an autolatch.
 

Silver Eagle

Master Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Mar 16, 2010
Messages
852
Re: Auto bow eye catch, is there such a thing?

when I pull up to a loading dock I have my wife throw me a line that is hooked to an eye bolt that is mounted on the very front center of my pontoon boat. so after I get the trailer into the water I just pull the boat by hand to my trailer strap.This way I don't get so wet. I have boat guides on the rear and two in the center in the middle of the trailer.Once I fit between the two rear guides it's easy loading .
 
G

Guest

Guest
Re: Auto bow eye catch, is there such a thing?

I have slight problem when I have to do it by myself. 1) I have a bad back(6 surgeries) 2) the trailer has rollers 3) boat is a 24 footer and very heavy (approx 4000lbs) to handle. If you have ever tried to load a big boat onto a roller trailer you will very quickly learn that what goes up ALWAYS rolls back down. So with the auto lock I figure at least I will have a fighting chance of the boat staying on trailer long enough for me to get everything into the lot to fasten it down safely for the road trip.

Does that make any sence to anyone but me?
 

Rellik546

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Feb 5, 2011
Messages
270
Re: Auto bow eye catch, is there such a thing?

just a thought, but put ur trailer in the water deeper, then pull ur winch strap down to the eye bolt and winch away. if ur deep enough it should be that bad. i guess it depends on the pitch of the ramp tho. ours is fairly mellow. bow is probably 2 feet away from bow roller on the trailer.
 

roscoe

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Oct 30, 2002
Messages
21,657
Re: Auto bow eye catch, is there such a thing?

I made my own. I'll try my best to explain how I did it. I started by making a steel plate. Mine is about 16" long. The bottom has a piece of 5/16 tubing (ID) welded to it. I used a 5/16" piece of round stock and fastened it to the trailer in such a way that the plate could swing back and forth, forward and backward. The plate is about 2" wide and is made from 1/4" Steel as I recall. I cut a slot in the plate so that it could slide over the eye as the boat comes up on the trailer. I then mounted a small hydraulic arm, the kind that holds up trunk lids. The bottom end mounts to the trailer several inches forward of where the plate pivots. The top end is attached to the plate. When the hydraulic arm is extended, it forces the arm almost upright. I have a small chain mounted so it limits the travel. As you drive the boat up on the trailer, the bow eye comes in contact with the plate. As the trailer moves forward, it comes to the point where the slot in the plate slips over the bow eye. At that point the hydraulic arm pressure has forced the plate up against the boat with the eye in the slot. Boat is then locked in place. When its time to put the boat back in the water, I pull the plate down away from they eye and again have a small piece of chain that clips on it and holds it away from the eye, so the boat will float off the trailer.

I'm really making this sound way more complicated then it is. The thing works perfectly and I've been dumping my ski centurian in the water for about 15 years with zero problems. Its pretty fool proof. I don't have any sort of winch. I can probably figure out how to post a picture if someone is interested.


Yes we need photos. !!!!!

You can email them to me ( roscoe33 at mac dot com )and I will post them if you are having trouble.
 
G

Guest

Guest
Re: Auto bow eye catch, is there such a thing?

Thanks guys I think the one from Cabelas will work just fine for me it is exactly what I was looking for.
It is so nice to have great bunch of fellow boaters you can count on to help you out when you are new and looking for that lil something special to make your boating a lil more enjoyable and of cource safer..
 

jtmarten

Master Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Aug 2, 2004
Messages
825
Re: Auto bow eye catch, is there such a thing?

Wouldn't trust it. Winch strap and safety chain.:)

They're not meant to secure the boat during trailering. Very nice to float on, pull out of the water then hook the winch strap and safety chain, especially if you have a roller trailer.
 
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