Re: Need advice on taking boat out of the water with trailer- first timer
Here are some tips I have picked up on at the Bass Tournaments I fish in.<br /><br />1. When backing down the ramp, leave the transmission in (1). This does two things. It helps brake the load of the boat on a steep ramp, and in case of emergency you just hit the gas. If you leave it in (R) your chances for having a submerged vehicle is about 200% higher.<br />2. After getting the trailer into the water and you are removing the boat from the trailer by yourself, leave it in (1) and set the parking brake firmly. Too many times I have seen pickups get stalled on the ramp because the transmission won't come out of (Park).<br />3. When pulling the boat out of the water, use (1) gear again. (1) is different than (D-1). The autotransmission will lock in the first gear banding clutch when in (1) but does not in (D). This gives you more torque to the wheels.<br /><br />Other than that just practice a lot until you get down a pattern. Then never get out of that pattern or you will forget something.<br /><br />If you are unloading your boat by yourself, tie a 30' rope to one of the side cleats on your boat on the dock side. Tie the other end to the brackets on the dock. Experiment with this to find the best way to attach the rope to your boat. I use a rope I especially made for this job. It goes over the front side cleat then back to the rear-side cleat. It has a loop in the middle where I attach a connector rope and then tie the connector rope off to the dock. After the boat comes off, just put the truck in (1) and set the brake. Don't move the truck!!! In case the motor won't start you can pull the boat back onto the trailer and then winch it up. Been there.<br />I have a bass boat so I drive the boat onto the trailer and leave the motor running in gear so that it keeps tension on the bow roller. Then I reach over and attach the winch hook and reel it up tight. Then turn off motor, raise motor and pull out. If you have a short neck trailer and it is always over the water in front, so that you get your feet wet to get out of boat. Then either carry rubber boots, jump into the back of truck (if you have one), or park the trailer within 2' of dock when loading, and jump out onto the dock.<br />Just some trial and error methods I have used over the last 20 years of so.<br />Good luck
