lost boat off trailer

[wellsc1]

Re: lost boat off trailer

Guilty of no tie downs, but lucky of no lost boats. I had a 22' offshore and at least used a bow eye tie down. However, my 14' and 17.5' boats have nothing but the winch strap.

I see a real need now to get safety concious. Thanks for the post and series of replies.

At least I watch my rig in the rear view mirror while trailering it and have seen a need to tighten up the winch strap when I forget to cinch it up before departing from home. Yes, I loosen the winch strap when the boat is stored if that does anything to release stress off the bow eye while in storage.:redface:

 

[Silvertip]

Re: lost boat off trailer

A little off-topic but tie-down related regardless!! Stopped at a traffic light behind a pickup with a full load of 3/4 x 4 x 8 particle board. Anyone that has done any carpentry knows two sheets of this stuff is like having ball bearings between them. You guessed it! No tie-downs. Light changes, he jumps on the gas, dumps the entire load on the road in front of me. I made no attempt to move when the light changed as I could see this coming. Did I help him load it? You will never know the answer to that -- but you can guess.

 

[halfmoa]

Re: lost boat off trailer

He's management material where I work.

Amen to that...

 

[MrBigStuff]

Re: lost boat off trailer

I used to eat lunch across the street from a mall that was centered around a home improvement store. People leaving the store trying to hold things on the roof with their hands! Imagine trying to hold a matress at 30-40 mph. One dude had some sheets of styrofoam insulation tied to the roof with a single piece of twine across the middle. Didn't even make it out of the lot and they were cut in two laying all over the place. They walk among us...

 

[AK_Chappy]

Re: lost boat off trailer

I saw a Ford Escort Hatchback with a full load of 2X4's leaving our local Home Improvement store the other day. I was driving so I couldn't snap a picture :-( The front wheels were barely on the ground, but they did have ropes tying them together.

 

[lennyb]

Re: lost boat off trailer

Me and my family were at the ramps last weekend waiting our turn to put in when this real butt hole (yelling at his little kids and cussing out his girl) winched up his boat and took off like a bat out of hell. Needless to say he to did not set the anti-reverse arm..The boat made it about 6-7 feet and came off real hard..From what i could see it just about ripped the outdrive clean off the boat (didnt have it raised in trailering position) and then he started yelling, cussing, and throwing crap around..The dumb *** even threw his keys in the lake (the look on his face when he reliezed what he had just done was hilariuos)..Couldnt have happened to a nicer guy...lol..

 

[Fishing Dude too]

Re: lost boat off trailer

I have seen people do stupid thigs to haul stuff, best one was the guy who layed on top of a sheet of plywood to the top af a car. Just say he had another stop before he made it home to have a few exrays.

 

[nwcove]

Re: lost boat off trailer

off topic again, but two summers ago, around 1 am, i was half asleep and heard this ungodly noise on the gravel road i live on. i jump out of bed ...look out the window, and see taillights and what looked to be a boat in tow.....with no trailer!!! had a few beers earlier that evening, so passed it off as just "beer goggles"....and all the noise was the boat bouncing around on the trailer.
it wasnt! turns out, the boat/motor owner ....it was a 14ft aluminum, and a 15 rude, was poaching large amounts of lobster, and a couple of the local fisherman took the law into thier own hands, towed the boat 10 miles , no trailer, motor down!

 

[kemer1]

Re: lost boat off trailer

off topic again, but two summers ago, around 1 am, i was half asleep and heard this ungodly noise on the gravel road i live on. i jump out of bed ...look out the window, and see taillights and what looked to be a boat in tow.....with no trailer!!! had a few beers earlier that evening, so passed it off as just "beer goggles"....and all the noise was the boat bouncing around on the trailer.
it wasnt! turns out, the boat/motor owner ....it was a 14ft aluminum, and a 15 rude, was poaching large amounts of lobster, and a couple of the local fisherman took the law into thier own hands, towed the boat 10 miles , no trailer, motor down!

Oh that is just priceless. Gotta love a good ride on the karma-go-round...especially when it isn't you taking the ride.

 

[feklar]

Re: lost boat off trailer

There is something to be said about 1 more walk around before driving off or backing in.

There might be some wisdom to not drinking/driving and or boating?

 

[captainnate]

Re: lost boat off trailer

A lot of us like a drink from time to time, but don't tell me it doesn't sometimes lead to broken stuff and/or broken hearts.

 

[Chas0218]

Re: lost boat off trailer

I have a ~3500 lbs. boat and use transom straps religiously. I watched my boat bounce around on the trailer as my wife pulled it out once and that made my mind up for me. Its crazy that much weight could just bounce the way it did on the trailer. The boat launch we were using was a little sub par but it got me to where the fish are without having to drive 40 miles round trip in the boat.

 

[bassman284]

Re: lost boat off trailer

Favorite story at a construction company I worked for in the mid 70s was when the guy hauling equipment found out that a D8 Cat w dozer could bounce off a lowboy at 20 mph if it wasn't chained down.

 

[sschefer]

Re: lost boat off trailer

Favorite story at a construction company I worked for in the mid 70s was when the guy hauling equipment found out that a D8 Cat w dozer could bounce off a lowboy at 20 mph if it wasn't chained down.

LOL, seen it! The guy I saw do it was on a public road and lost a track when it slid off. Couldn't even drive it the rest of the way off. Don't think he had the nads to do it anyway, he was pretty young. It came off the back end with a wrecker and we jacked the track back on so all turned out o.k. in the end.