Driving boat on trailer

[troy]

Has anyone done any damage to there boat when doing this eg scratches or chips on hull.
Troy

[Chimo]

Unfortunately yes and together with the hassels with brakes from salt water drowning these are two of the reasons my boats do not get driven on.

Cheers
Chimo

[Roughasguts]

Yep Damaged me ego, lined me boat up from 40 foot out, drove up nice and steady, and a young woman in a white bikini jumped out her ski boat next to me.

Well I didn't notice the boat going off track but felt the bow rise up and over the trailer mud guard.

I winch my boat on now ! don't wan't to appear to be an old perve, let alone miss another bikini girl.

[Wahoo]

Yep Damaged me ego, lined me boat up from 40 foot out, drove up nice and steady, and a young woman in a white bikini jumped out her ski boat next to me.

Well I didn't notice the boat going off track but felt the bow rise up and over the trailer mud guard.

I winch my boat on now ! don't wan't to appear to be an old perve, let alone miss another bikini girl.


LOL thats a pisser http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v647/4xgold0/laughingofchair.gif

[Roughasguts]

Troy if you wan't to avoid damage to your hull, you need to put padding between the craddle rollers at the rear of the trailer. Just get some kids noodles from the pool shop and cut to size, split down the middle half way through the noodle and slip over the metal between the rollers, then tie off with Zip ties.

But honestly driving on doesn't save time at the ramp, I find if i push my boat out and pull it on to the trailer with the rope, and then hook the winch strap up wind the rest of the way up, safety chain on, and I'm off the ramp.

I can do that in quarter of the time it takes to drive on.
Mind you I don't have a big boat.

[BIG SUFF]

Gidday all, Troy, I have suffered the same, chunking out the hull but have worked out that I had the trailer too deep. the first contact to the bow must be the last center roller, when your trailers too deep you tend to float above it and loose control. Hope this helps.

[Ian1]

I agree with Big Suff. A lot of people make the mistake of backing the trailer to far in when driving the boat on. You have gotta hit that first keel roller. You can't do that if its 3 foot under water, thats how you end up hitting the mud guards. Once you have the bow on the keel rollers its easy. It also helps if you keep a bit of speed (within reason) and the engine in gear. That way you have better control over the boat. Have someone on the trailer to wave you of if it looks like your going to miss.
Thats not to say I don't have a bit of trailer rash on my boat but it weighs 2.5 tonnes and there's no way I'm going to winch that on.

Cheers

Ian

[Splashon]

Never tried it myself.

Watched it done once when the trailer left the towball and went straight through the tailgate of a new looking landcruiser.

So many things to watch out for.

Pete

[Spaniard_King]

I drive mine on most times, but I have found my 12 year old son does a better job than me. I have become quite good at fixing the gelcoate on the front end :P

Garry

[leezor]

I have never used my winch at the ramp, drive it on all the way. My missus gave it a try for the first time last trip and she made it look easy.

[kingtin]

Don't like hitting it hard, but unfortunately, where I launch, there is invariably a strong tidal flow or cross wind which calls for a bit of speed. Having once seen a boat jump over the trailer and into the back of the tow vehicle, it fair put the shits up me. Apparently, the guy had wide sleeves to his jacket and the throttle got caught in 'em.

The deckie drops the trailer in just deep enough to trap the nose which straightens the boat up. Once the nose is locked in, she reverses further and dunks the trailer below the muddies and manually winches on (2.2 ton) She comes on sweet and no need for a leccy winch but it doesn't do the brakes any good. Lesser of two evils I suppose :-/

kev

[troy]

Where i am you rarely see people drive there boats on and i have always wooried about the hull hitting the steel in between the rollers.
Troy

[kingtin]

Just spent an hour watching boats trailering at Scarborough boat ramp. They all made it look so easy...............nearly every one was a drive on and out of 20+ boats, only 1 mis-timed. There seems to be no flow there and shelter from the wind which may make it easier.

I think a day practicing mid week, may be the go for me............if I can get over that recalled image of the boat that jumped the trailer.

I also spoke to 7 of the returning tandem trailer owners regarding seized brakes, and 6 admitted that they also suffer similar problems from dunking but all agreed that it was akin to an "occupational hazard" and something that they had to contend with if they wanted big glass boats. ::)

kev

[Kerry]

Must be one of those mono things :) All those rolling thingies, complete pain in the ar$e, they're the problem, get yourself a trailer without rollers and problem solved :)

Brake problems ???? what brake problems ?

[Vitamin Sea]

Hi Troy

I always dive off / drive on, only missed once with plenty of spectators:-[
Little bit of damage, but nothing that couldn't be easily fixed.

I generally get in and out of the water in a couple of minutes, quicker than most who do it the convetional way, easy if you take a bit of care and watch what you are doing.

Trailer / bearings aren't a problem if you keep up the maintenance

Damm sight easier than winching up 1 tonne or more

Cheers

[kingtin]

Must be one of those mono things :) All those rolling thingies, complete pain in the ar$e, they're the problem, get yourself a trailer without rollers and problem solved :)

Brake problems ???? what brake problems ?

LOL Kerry:D

How's the stainless brakes goin'? No problems to date?

kev

[Kerry]

LOL Kerry:D

How's the stainless brakes goin'? No problems to date?

kev

No problems? No not since about 1994 :)

[Kerry]

Gee might have to start a real boat trailer thread called "Spot the Roller" :) Why do people like boat trailers with rollers :)

[Cloud_9]

I find it easier to drive on when the conditions are crap or there is a swell at the ramp drive on hook up and out .
I have a full multy roller NO KEEL rollers.
piece of pisssss to drive on but the boat tends to want to get off quick too at launch time.
Cloud 9

[seatime]

I prefer the drive on/off method, especially if windy and choppy, find it easier than manhandling against the wind, also much faster when solo. Not all ramps are drive on/off friendly tho, hate the shallow angle ramps. Raby Bay, Manly Nth, Whyte Is, Weinam Ck, Dunwich, Clontarf are good. Colmslie, Grand, Manly Sth, not so good.
Got to have the trailer set-up spot on, and not too far in the water when driving on, but all the way in when driving off. the 5082 construction grade plate alloy doesn't scratch or chip too easily, thankfully. practice, practice, practice, eyes on the trailer not on the bikinis.

[Luke G]

I drove our haines on and off all everytime, peice of cake! Our Macay trailer came fully set up with teflon inbetween the rollers so no metel was exposed. Old man put the trailer in the water so the back of the guards were just out of water on up she went.

Cheers

[seatime]

fully rollered trailers as set up for glass boats are easier drive-on than a keel rollered & skidded trailer as set up for alloy boats.

[onerabbit]

We modified the boat trailer 12 mnths or so ago,

now, instead of "wobbly" rollers, the trailer has skids,

still need my mate to get me on the last roller, but once it's there it's a piece of cake to adjust to wind or current, just put it in gear & drive the boat back to straight-on, then drive on. We are on the trailer & gone from the ramp in less than half the time it took to winch it out.

Muzz

[andrew&lucy]

troy just note for you l have a 680sf and l get lucy to drive it.....

[Gilligan]

Troy

Only way to launch/retrieve is drive on/off

LAUNCH

get in the boat

deckie reverses down ramp

start motor unhook and drive off (note skipper doesnt get wet feet)

RETRIEVE

(very important) SLOWLY AND GENTLY nose boat onto first roller which should be 25-50mm above water (1-2 inches for the ol boys)

Now SPRAY son and give it some, the boat should hop up on the trailer like a horny rabbit mounting the neighbours pet dog.(note skipper still has dry feet)

this works for me in wind up to 30kts and yes occasionailly you score a hamster instead of a rabbit, but in all it is so much quicker than winching and i am usually at the bottleshop by the time the winchers have even thought about clipping off.

Just be prepared for some wierd loks when they see you make mummy wind the last two feet of winch cable on.

Absolutley no damage this way

zig

[Deiter]

Hey Kerry, any pics of your trailer/brake setup?? sounds worth looking into. Hate rollers myself.

Damo

[mahimahi683]

Gidday everyone, I`ve got a Ruhle multiroller trailer, it hasen`t got any keel rollers on it.I`m just wondering if i fit some on it, will it be easier to retrieve. At the moment it`s hard to get the boat to line up with the wobble rollers prperly. cheers, scott.

[Deiter]

G'day Scott,

From my understanding, only tinnies need keel rollers - glass boats can do without them. In theory, without keel rollers it should be dead simple to get on the trailer,....... unless the rollers are not positioned right and end up crossing the planing stakes on the bottom of the hull at some point during the retrieve.

Have a gander next time you are loading her up and see if this is the case. Might not be, be if it is, a quick repositioning of the rollers relative to the planing strakes should fix it.

Good luck!

Damo

[skippa]

I think once you get used to it, drive on is easier, takes a bit of practise tho, which is best done in quiet times.

My last 2 boats have been 17+ footers and I have driven both on in all but extreme weather. The best trailer I had was a Tinka full mutiroller 'driveon' they called it, on my last haines. (wish I still had that trailer now) It just had a 'cradle' of rollers, no keel rollers, that hugged the hull.

To retrieve the depth you needed was to have the last set of 2 rollers, one in the water one above the water. These rollers naturally sat at a 45 deg angle. It was then just a matter of nosing the boat between the first set of rollers and then slowly driving the boat up onto the trailer. Piece of wee wee, even the missus had a few goes.

Pic attached not the best, but shows most of the roller setup, only problem really is when you launch you have to be ready as she rolls off quite freely; certainly no pushing or huffing and puffing.


Cheers,
Tony 8-)

[Kerry]

Hey Kerry, any pics of your trailer/brake setup?? sounds worth looking into. Hate rollers myself.

Damo

Me too! Pics, yes .... But have you got one hull or two ;)

[Deiter]

Well, I have two hulls at the moment, though they are sitting on different trailers at different ends of the house. They are both going soon, to be replaced by a cat, so i'm keen to see what a good, no hassle setup looks like. Brake setup should be worth a look regardless of hull.

Damo

[troy]

Deiter are you losing it why would you want a cat for.
Troy;)

[Deiter]

Deiter are you losing it why would you want a cat for.
Troy;)

LOL, carefull Troy, I have done a few searches on here for cat threads, and if i remember correctly, your name came up quite a bit!!:D Different horses for different courses, if ya know what i mean.

How's that Crash Craft of yours going anyway??;)

Damo

[flatstrap]

Just noted that ALL the offshore unlimited racers are CAT hulls including Riviera which doesn't build cats for their range. Does that say something about which hulls are the most 'sea kindly'? This might put a pause on the cat vs mono 'discussion'. The offshore unlimited crowd do not put millions into a hull shape that has no advantage over others. Actions and results are worth more than a billion words.
This post is not meant to offend anyone; just presenting the facts.
flatstrap

[kingtin]

Now I'm really confused:-/

The guys who have no keel rollers.................how big are your rigs..........glass or tinny?

I've always been led to believe that the keel is the strongest part of the boat, and as such, should bear the weight when trailered. The side rollers are there purely to help when trailering and to keep the boat upright/stable. I was told, by someone a long time in the boating business, that the side rollers should not hold the weight of the boat as that could make the hull flex.

My Mackay trailer has fixed, non adjustable, keel rollers and strangely enough, it's only recently that I noticed that the side rollers were taking the weight and the rig didn't sit completely on the keel rollers. This wasn't the case when I had a test run/launch in it and only became apparent after delivery. I took it back to the yard and they adjusted the trailer so that the keel was taking the weight, although it is also now sitting on all side rollers also, without any rocking. My previous 6m tinny sat on the keel but had some "slack" in the side rollers ie it could be rocked and therefore I assume that the whole rig was supported by the keel and the side rollers were simply acting as "guides".

What are your thoughts on this? Am I misinformed and do the side rollers have a more important roll to play? Obviously they do if you have no keel rollers ::)

cheers

kev

[Kerry]

Well, I have two hulls at the moment, though they are sitting on different trailers at different ends of the house. They are both going soon, to be replaced by a cat, so i'm keen to see what a good, no hassle setup looks like. Brake setup should be worth a look regardless of hull.

Damo

Not a lot to see with the brakes, but are standard Alco hydraulic calipers, they have SS pistons (homemade) and brass slide pins. Dual vaccum (tank and cylinder) over hydraulic with SS hydraulic lines.


http://www.cqnet.com.au/~user/aitken/gen/trailer_w1.jpg

http://www.cqnet.com.au/~user/aitken/gen/trailer_w3.jpg
http://www.cqnet.com.au/~user/aitken/gen/101_9647_w.jpg

[Kerry]

Just noted that ALL the offshore unlimited racers are CAT hulls including Riviera which doesn't build cats for their range. Does that say something about which hulls are the most 'sea kindly'? This might put a pause on the cat vs mono 'discussion'. The offshore unlimited crowd do not put millions into a hull shape that has no advantage over others. Actions and results are worth more than a billion words.
This post is not meant to offend anyone; just presenting the facts.
flatstrap

Didn't you know some don't like facts :o there will always be the non believers ::) might be the result of having their teeth constantly being rattled :D


Brief quotes from Great moments in Cat history


1984 Don Aronow splits a 28 Cigarette lengthwise joins the halves with a tunnel and makes the second worst cat of all time. (Later he split a 39 footer and makes the worst.)

1985 Cat's become the undisputed champs of Offshore racing. Vee manufacturers put out various drivel "Cats can't turn", "Cat's can't take rough water", Etc.........and people believed them. Various attempts began to separate classes between cats and vees. Bottom line...size for power Cat's represented approximately 30% more speed than a comparable Vee...... This was Cat-a-strophic to Vee builders.

The rest is histroy ;D

[Deiter]

Cheers Kerry, not a lot to see apart from the teflon skids, is there!! Simple = less maintenance = happy boatie. Also, where did those little snippets of info come from?

Kev, as stated, from my understanding glass rigs don't require keel rollers, but, the distance that the rollers sit from the keel should be worked out according to the boat. You are right in a sense that the rollers should be as close to lining up with the stringers as possible to prevent possible flexing. In big glass rigs that are built properly, there should be enough glass to prevent flex anyway. Not that i think it will be gone altogether, but reduced so as to become negligable.

I am only going on what i have learnt and been told, so i am sure someone will be able to confirm or deny the points i have made. If i am wrong, i would like to know too!!

Damo

[finding_time]

Giday Troy


I'm sure in your last threads about your winch i sujested driving your CC onto the trailer, good to see your starting to listen;D ;D ;D ;D :P


It's the only way to go! start from well back line it up and bob's your uncle. You still need to put your trailer in quite deep but not to deep as to render your rear rollers redundant. you can get some moulded pads for your inbetween ( could not think of the right term )sections of rollers.

Once proficient at this technique it will save you time and dammage as you wont hit the trailer with the boat as your trying to move it around to winch it on. Ps aren't the croc's up your way!!!! Might save your life as well, when you drive on you don't touch the water:D


Ian

Ps. incase you missed the thread i've gotten rid of my Mono hull and am now the owner of a 5.2 Kevlacat , so you can pick on me now8-)

[kingtin]

Kev, as stated, from my understanding glass rigs don't require keel rollers,

Damo

I thought there was a bit of deja vu here Damo;D


http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/archive/index.php/t-70977.html

kev

[Deiter]

Ps. incase you missed the thread i've gotten rid of my Mono hull and am now the owner of a 5.2 Kevlacat , so you can pick on me now8-)

Yes Luke, come to the Dark Side...(heavy breathing)....I'll be there soon.

[skippa]

Now I'm really confused:-/

The guys who have no keel rollers.................how big are your rigs..........glass or tinny?

I've always been led to believe that the keel is the strongest part of the boat, and as such, should bear the weight when trailered. The side rollers are there purely to help when trailering and to keep the boat upright/stable. I was told, by someone a long time in the boating business, that the side rollers should not hold the weight of the boat as that could make the hull flex.

My Mackay trailer has fixed, non adjustable, keel rollers and strangely enough, it's only recently that I noticed that the side rollers were taking the weight and the rig didn't sit completely on the keel rollers. This wasn't the case when I had a test run/launch in it and only became apparent after delivery. I took it back to the yard and they adjusted the trailer so that the keel was taking the weight, although it is also now sitting on all side rollers also, without any rocking. My previous 6m tinny sat on the keel but had some "slack" in the side rollers ie it could be rocked and therefore I assume that the whole rig was supported by the keel and the side rollers were simply acting as "guides".

What are your thoughts on this? Am I misinformed and do the side rollers have a more important roll to play? Obviously they do if you have no keel rollers ::)

cheers

kev


Kev,

I thought the same, glass boats needed keel rollers to support the hull. When I bought my Haines it came with the Tinka trailer in the pic and as I figured this wasn't the original trailer, I rang the boys from Signature. (who where the builders of my original Haines). They 'highly recommended' this model Tinka trailer for my V17R and said it suited her fine.

I've never had any problems with either and the setup was great IMO. My current Southwind sits on a multi roll trailer which has keel rollers. but I tell ya I'd rather the Tinka style anyday.


Cheers,
Tony 8-)

[troy]

Giday Troy


I'm sure in your last threads about your winch i sujested driving your CC onto the trailer, good to see your starting to listen;D ;D ;D ;D :P


It's the only way to go! start from well back line it up and bob's your uncle. You still need to put your trailer in quite deep but not to deep as to render your rear rollers redundant. you can get some moulded pads for your inbetween ( could not think of the right term )sections of rollers.

Once proficient at this technique it will save you time and dammage as you wont hit the trailer with the boat as your trying to move it around to winch it on. Ps aren't the croc's up your way!!!! Might save your life as well, when you drive on you don't touch the water:D

Ian

Ps. incase you missed the thread i've gotten rid of my Mono hull and am now the owner of a 5.2 Kevlacat , so you can pick on me now8-)
FindingTime how are you going not mad i hope by buying a cat.
Just joking mate and i hope you are happy with her.
Troy

[wheelerdog]

i drive on all the time, never had an issue. strong wind makes life a bit tricky, just allow for the drift and you have to be quick on the wheel some times.

[bastard]

Troy if you wan't to avoid damage to your hull, you need to put padding between the craddle rollers at the rear of the trailer. Just get some kids noodles from the pool shop and cut to size, split down the middle half way through the noodle and slip over the metal between the rollers, then tie off with Zip ties.

But honestly driving on doesn't save time at the ramp, I find if i push my boat out and pull it on to the trailer with the rope, and then hook the winch strap up wind the rest of the way up, safety chain on, and I'm off the ramp.

I can do that in quarter of the time it takes to drive on.
Mind you I don't have a big boat.I find this almost imposible to beleive.

[kingtin]

I find this almost imposible to beleive.

I don't. I have a 6.5 metre glass and no electric winch. Once the deckie has the trailer in the water it takes only a couple of minutes to manually manouver the boat into position, manually winch it on, and get it off the ramp. By comparison, the last time I tried to drive on with a cross wind and tide ebbing in same direction, it took 4 attempts, 15 minutes and lots of scratches to the hull.

I'll get there eventually though;D

kev

[23-sharkcat]

I winch my cat up by hand and it is 3 tonnes. Only had to have 1 mishap when driving it on for me to start to use the winch

[Kerry]

Then sounds like you need to re-design something, maybe the trailer!

[Grand_Marlin]

Driving on is certainly an aquired skill, but all it takes is a bit of instruction and a bit of practice.

Personally, I like keel rollers on trailers for multi hulls, as the keel is the strongest part of the boat.

The experts say there should be 60% weight on the keel rollers and 40% weight on the side rollers.

I personally prefer it to be about 80% on the keel.

The problem with multi roller trailers with no keel rollers, is lack or rollers in most cases.

A true drive on multi should have a rear cradle set up with 4 sets of quad multis, and then quads and doubles on the way up the trailer.

A lot just have twin multis all the way up the trailer and no keel rollers, which is in no way adequate for properly supporting the weight of the boat.
This in turn puts point loading on the hull which causes distortion and cracking.

I find keel rollers set up on stainless pins, combined with teflon V's makes the easiest to use trailer in ALL conditions.

Check out this trailer I put under my Yalta.

Cheers

Pete

[shonky1]

You need a trailer like this. Any size swell, wind conditions. You can approach from any angle and it goes on straight - it has to, there is noway else to go. Also every bit of steel is covered - no damage!


http://shonky1.com/boat uploads/Boat-trailer-005.jpg
http://shonky1.com/boat uploads/Boat-trailer-001.jpg

[Noelm]

there is a couple of really simple 'tricks" to driving a cat on a trailer (been doing it for over 25 years) first off you need the trailer just the right depth in the water(obvious) and then you need to roughly line up boat and trailer and have the steering straight ahead, from then on ONLY gears/throttle is used to align as needed, the motors operated in forward and reverse will adjust the boat almost in a sideways motion and is much easier to line up, and then when you have 'touched" the trailer, give it a bit of throttle (the steering is still straight ahead) and up the trailer you go, never been a drama in almost any conditions.

[Dirtysanchez]

I watched a guy try it once at Hervey Bay, he was too busy trying to look good to not think about the depth of water / trim of motor, and once he got the nose on, he gunned the motor, and we were all horrified to see this beautiful 4 stroke Suzi outboard jumping up and down on the spot.
He trimmed it up, they pulled the boat out and man oh man, that prop was good for one thing, the garbage bin.

How embarrasment !!

[Noelm]

one thing that a lot of new comers do is have the trim set way too high, so, when you give the motor some revs, all it does is drive the boat to the bottom, with the result as mentioned in the last post! the trim should be just a tad more than normal operating position.

[STUIE63]

I drive mine on all the time (no wet feetin croc country).i have a dunbier trailer with the back two sets of wobble rollers that can pivot. it makes it so easy all i have to do is get the nose in a gap of about 18 inches and leave engine in forward at idle. turn motor to get me lined up, centre steering and blip the throttle up she comes my 12year old boy does up safety chain within three minutes i am driving home
Stuie

[mahimahi683]

Hi everyone, I usually just winch my boat on. It has 20 wobble rollers but had no keel rollers.I always had trouble getting the wobble rollers to line up properly. I`ve since fitted 2,. 6``self centreing keel rollers,now it lines up no worries.without the keel rollers i found it use to move off centre to easily. regards, Scott.

[webster]

hi to all.
i have a webster 4.6. i have come off a couple of times ,no damage.
to start but now a pro.
the trick is to not back your trailer in too far.( just not all the way any way)
this way you will track a lot better unless you have some side supports that will guide you on as seen in the webster website.even then the easier way is to have trailer a little out of water.(your wheels should be nowwhere near the waters edge.
i have a post and roller each side of hull on trailer but not used in guiding boat on.

line her up get the boat straight ((((((most important))))))
get the motor tilt/trim just at the point of tilt and give her some as she goes up tilt the motor up and she should ge on good,keep the motor going and watch behind as the other boats get blown away in the propeller wash.
as well as the guy there next to you thats been trying to load his boat for the past 5 odd mins watching you take off out of the water.
best advise i can give.
cheers