Re: Worried about launching with my truck
If you worried about traction on the ramp, try backing down the ramp with no boat and see how if feels. Chances are the boat and trailer won't make much difference since it's only an aluminum boat. There's one ramp here that's so shallow that there's no way to get my 14' boat onto the trailer without backing my truck in to far the front tires are wet. I usually just load the boat by hand there. I disconnect the trailer, hook up the boat and pull the trailer under the boat with the winch, then pull the trailer up to the truck. The way I see it, if I can pull a 14' boat and trailer up the ramp myself, it's no real load on the truck. I don't figure my boat and trailer top out much over 800lbs. Keep in mind its a rolling load and other than it's weight, it's not pulling the truck rearward very hard. I would suppose a couple of big guys could exert far more force rearward on that truck than a rolling trailer could in that situation.
The buckets are a good idea for quick traction, you can dump them back out when your done. I have a 1994 Ranger which has a cap, the cap alone adds a lot of weight but if I need weight, I just toss in some extra weight. I've never yet needed to. The largest boat I've launched with this truck was a 19' V hull with a 110hp outboard. It did the job, better than expected. I find my Ranger had better traction than does my Dodge van, which tend to spin even on flat ground when its wet. Using the Dodge, I've more than once had to get a few buddies to stand on the trailer tongue for added traction when the ramp was wet or muddy. It's got highway tread tires on it since its a work van which don't help it's lack of rear end weight.
