Safe to tow with bow not resting on front roller?

[ahicks]

That chain is supposed to help keep the boat from shooting right up and over the winch stand in an accident scenario. Have you seen the pictures of the boats sitting on top of the tow vehicle, or possibly even in front of it? Without something like that chain in place, that's often what happens if your tow vehicle rear ends somebody for whatever reason. The U-bolts holding the winch stand to the trailer will very likely fail under those conditions.

With that trailer design, all you are left with is some pretty crummy choices for options on where best to fasten it to help in that scenario. I would move it down to the cross member below where it's fastened now. Get it off the winch stand at least.

As far as the uprights in that pic, those are intended to help center/guide the boat on to the trailer while loading. They way they are in the picture, they are going to scratch the hell out of the side of the boat if they touch it.

My best guess is there is supposed to be a padded board (bunk) that runs horizontally between those posts, fastened to the inside of them. If that is something that's going to be impossible to come up with before your trip, a simple cheap temporary fix might be to get some pipe insulation at a hardware/builders supply and slide that down over them. Just make sure they're fastened securely, so they can't just float off when the trailer enters the water. Whatever you do, do NOT try loading the boat back on the trailer without protecting it from those uprights.....

Have a good trip!

 

[Nashville]

That chain is supposed to help keep the boat from shooting right up and over the winch stand in an accident scenario. Have you seen the pictures of the boats sitting on top of the tow vehicle, or possibly even in front of it? Without something like that chain in place, that's often what happens if your tow vehicle rear ends somebody for whatever reason. The U-bolts holding the winch stand to the trailer will very likely fail under those conditions.

With that trailer design, all you are left with is some pretty crummy choices for options on where best to fasten it to help in that scenario. I would move it down to the cross member below where it's fastened now. Get it off the winch stand at least.

As far as the uprights in that pic, those are intended to help center/guide the boat on to the trailer while loading. They way they are in the picture, they are going to scratch the hell out of the side of the boat if they touch it.

My best guess is there is supposed to be a padded board (bunk) that runs horizontally between those posts, fastened to the inside of them. If that is something that's going to be impossible to come up with before your trip, a simple cheap temporary fix might be to get some pipe insulation at a hardware/builders supply and slide that down over them. Just make sure they're fastened securely, so they can't just float off when the trailer enters the water. Whatever you do, do NOT try loading the boat back on the trailer without protecting it from those uprights.....

Have a good trip!

Morning. This is what’s meant by ratchet strap between the bow eye and cross member. Some heavy carpet and extra large wire ties are an easy and effective way to pad the cross member. That chain on my trailer will maybe hold a dishwasher in place. Regards.

 

[racerone]

In a high speed collision situation stuff will break.-----On my project the bow eye was anchored with a small block of wood.----That wood was rotten and come out as powder.------Replaced with solid glass with a second bow eye to boot.

 

[Nashville]

In a high speed collision situation stuff will break.-----On my project the bow eye was anchored with a small block of wood.----That wood was rotten and come out as powder.------Replaced with solid glass with a second bow eye to boot.

Very good idea. The hull on mine is about 3.0-inches thick at the eye, perhaps a bit more. There’s a backing plate, but real thin gauge. I’ll look and see if I can fit thicker plate and increase length and width to spread the load so it’s not concentrated. My biggest worry is the emergency in front of me. While electric over hydraulic and discs on all six are real effective, in an e-stop I’m not so sure. Thank you for the suggestion.

 

[JimS123]

Your winch is fine the way it is now. The last person to load the boat simply did not pull the boat up far enough. Any winch that has the strap coming off the bottom was a rube goldberg modification to cure some perceived problem.

A chain with an S-hook is intended to catch the boat as it comes flying off the trailer. A ratchet strap will keep the boat from flying in the first place. But if you are going to fix it anyway, why not use steel and a turnbuckle, like some trailer manufacturers use as an option.

The rear guide-ons aren't necessary to transport the boat, but don't launch it until they are fixed. A simple twobafore covered with a piece of carpet is all that's needed.

Years ago I was standing at a signal and got rear ended by a drunk at high noon on a sunny Sunday. Winch post design and configuration is all to dear to me....LOL.

is all t

 

[demarko210]

To answer the question, you can pull it like that, but there's a good chance the front of the trailer is going to feel "bouncy" going down the road.

I can confirm this. Did the exact same thing last weekend and was slightly bouncing back on the way home (bunk trailer). I simply took the slack out of my safety chain to give myself a piece of mine riding home.
I did back down to far in the water but it allows me to get the boat on the trailer without having to use the winch much to pull on that bow hook. If you are in saltwater and your truck wheels/brakes hit that water, make sure you wash that stuff off before going down the highway or they will rust!

 

[tblshur]

Nashville I just want to say thank you for wanting to be safe and following through on doing that so many just jump in the vehicle and go my self included I will do better after your example hope you have no issues