would you wash your trailer down if it was available.

[Captain Seaweed]

Hello Fellas,
I have often looked at private ramps and facilities available. I have also considered when most of the corrosion occurs on brakes and trailer. I believe when you launch your boat and leave trailer to dry covered in salt water, this is when most corrosion occurs. If it was available would you wash your boat trailer down every time you launched your boat to protect trailer and brakes while you are out?

yes
no
never thought about it

Cheers
Marty

[nigelr]

Yup, for sure. Excellent idea as long as the boat is moored securely. (I tend to fish solo.)
Cheers.

[Lucky 1]

Reality is that I wouldn't, because I am so keen to get out into the water. Also the fact that I am only going to dunk it in again when I get back. Its probably ironic that I spend a huge amount of time at home at the end of the trip washing it with tank water.

[Chimo]

Hi Marty

When I wet the brakes during launching I always sprayed them off with a large garden pressure sprayer. I also used the fresh water deck wash to give all brakes a good flush after the boat was on the trailer before dragging it home with the intention of getting things dry before parking it.

It looked like it was making a difference and reducing rust and maybe it helped to prolong brake / rotor etc life but in the end the rust won on the rotors and calipers and pads.

Then I stopped reversing in so far and lowered the boat in to the drink and used the winch to haul it out.

This takes a bit longer when I use the trailer but brake etc corrosion is now minimal.

Al trailers and stainless steel everything to do with brakes is probably the only way to go if the trailer is going to be dunked as IMHO all washing does is prolong the evil day and that is a good thing but probably only postpones the inevitable.

Cheers
Chimo

[grammel]

No prefer to wash at home with all the proper gear and nobody rushing me.I sometimes launch at runaway bay marina but never use the wash facilities for this reason.

[barney11]

lol, not a bad idea.

[Angla]

To be honest I am in too much of a rush to go out. I might do it on the return before leaving to go home.

Cheers
Chris

[Muddy Toes]

If the facilities were there and it wasn't crowded i would for sure.There are 12v wash down hoses on the market with their own water reservoirs to do this exact job that people have in their cars but most of the time i use a jerry can full of water with a bit of salt-away in it and pour it over my brakes, springs and hubs after i've parked the car and trailer.......i reakon every little bit helps.

[STUIE63]

I have washdown facilities at my local ramp I wash the trailer on retrieval but not on launching . never really thought about it but I probably still won't

[MyWay]

there was high pressure machine at Horizon marine at public ramp few years back and I use to wash boat there but most of the time u putt gold coin in ,and the thing will not work >:(

myway

[captain rednut]

i have a water tank on my truck and do it every time this definatly saves me time and money as my trailer sits for at least 40 days a year at the ramp. and i still do major maintainance on it twice a year to keep it in good nick. its worth it.
cheers cr

[AnthonyL]

I do it most times if the ramp is quiet... This is at a private ramp.

[PinHead]

nope..wash it when I get home.
Ever see how many people arrive at the ramp and put the trailer in the water immediately..ever wonder what happens to the bearings and seals when dunked in cold water after being hot..I prefer to let mine cool a bit before launching..keep the seals more intact.

[TREVELLY]

I use the oil filled bearings- so the bearings are cool and good for a dunk.

The brakes, just wash them off when i get home with fresh water then plenty of salt-away.

Will upgrade to rustproof brakes on trailer when they rust enough.

[trueblue]

I wouldn't be bothered - just wash it at home and spray the disc with rp7 or inox or similar every now and then

discs are 8 years old and still looking good

[BGG]

I always rinse off after launch at the boat club I belong to. I don't bother at retrieval, I just wait till I get home.

[TimiBoy]

I asked Bill Corten this question once, when I was launching at Redland Bay Boat Club. He was, shall I say, quite insistent that they be hit with fresh as soon as leaving the water, wherever possible.

I figure if anyone has the experience on this one it's Bill. So I always flush if the facilities are available after launching.

Cheers,

Tim

[lethal098]

This would beg another question, How quickly should you flush your outboard??
Ideally just after coming in would be the best way as the internals are still hot, Once the salt water drains out and you dry home is when most salt build up will occur. Where possible i try and flush my outboard as soon as it comes out of the water, this is not possible at some ramps but places such as Scarborough the coastguard have the outboard flush option available for a gold coin donation or $5 for boat and trailer wash down. Pretty cheap to prolong the boats life i think.

Cheers Lee

[scottishguy]

I would if the facilities were there and it was not too busy.

I'm suprised that not more enterprising kids are doing this kind of thing at the ramps for a bit of pocket money. Would be great to launch, park and get your trailer rinsed for a couple of bucks.

[Robbo76]

I used to bring my garden hose in the back of vehicle. The ramp i used had taps near the rigging bay, so a quick click on with the hose and rinse. Others started doing the same after this.

Rob

[Muddy Toes]

I asked Bill Corten this question once, when I was launching at Redland Bay Boat Club. He was, shall I say, quite insistent that they be hit with fresh as soon as leaving the water, wherever possible.

I figure if anyone has the experience on this one it's Bill. So I always flush if the facilities are available after launching.

Cheers,

Tim


same, same....thats why i do it.I saw his set up one day and thats why i do it.

[Noelm]

I guess the big problem is how crowded the ramp is, now if you are one to hop in the boat and drive off, and someone else parks the car, then maybe you would have time to wash the trailer, but at a busy ramp with people holding boats at a jetty, I reckon you would get ramp raged if you stuffed around washing your trailer before coming back to move you boat! My local ramp has a dedicted wash down bay, which is great, but you get people there that remove everything from the boat, get out the bucket and sponge, wash the boat, car and all the gear, then chamois it off, they take about 20-30mins and the ones waiting are about ready to get out the gaff and hook them! a wash down bay is for a "quick" hose off and a motor flush, not a full on detail! so in my case, the answer would be probably not!

[stue2]

Same as you Noel but at one ramp I use there is three wash down bays so a quick squirt is done.

At the other there isnt enough presure to spray the windscreen so I wait untill home.

And at another ramp the presure is brilliant but the wait is annoyingly long. So I go home and do it there.

The chap I bought my current boat off was like Chimo and never backed in. The boat is imaculate however the breaks were still quite worn and rusty so i might try the innox thing and see what happens.

Cheers, Stu

[Relaxedcamper]

so i might try the innox thing and see what happens.

Cheers, Stu

Just wondering. Does spraying something like innox or RP7 or WD40 around the brakes make them less effective?. Just thnking about the lubricating effect of the spray and if it would be absorbed into the pads.

[tropicrows]

I have washdown facilities at the boat club ramp, I wash the trailer on launching every time and then give it a quick hit with the hose on retrieval, if there is not a line up.

[peterbo3]

Hi Marty

When I wet the brakes during launching I always sprayed them off with a large garden pressure sprayer. I also used the fresh water deck wash to give all brakes a good flush after the boat was on the trailer before dragging it home with the intention of getting things dry before parking it.

It looked like it was making a difference and reducing rust and maybe it helped to prolong brake / rotor etc life but in the end the rust won on the rotors and calipers and pads.

Then I stopped reversing in so far and lowered the boat in to the drink and used the winch to haul it out.

This takes a bit longer when I use the trailer but brake etc corrosion is now minimal.

Al trailers and stainless steel everything to do with brakes is probably the only way to go if the trailer is going to be dunked as IMHO all washing does is prolong the evil day and that is a good thing but probably only postpones the inevitable.

Cheers
Chimo
Chimo is on the money.
I have been using the garden sprayer with some truck wash added for over two years & brakes/rotors are still good. That is after EVERY launch & recovery. Plus the brakes are hit with el cheapo WD40 which quickly disappears once the brakes are applied. Takes a few minutes extra.;D;D

[stue2]

Just wondering. Does spraying something like innox or RP7 or WD40 around the brakes make them less effective?. Just thnking about the lubricating effect of the spray and if it would be absorbed into the pads.

'm pretty sure that it will burn off very quickly and there seems to be alot doing it with out side effects or at least minimal effects.

Cheers, Stu

[Reef Cruiser]

i would be happy with a good ramp let alone a boat wash area ???our new 3 lane boat ramp with 50 m rock wall floating pontoon ... cec group says 6 months to buil 5 years later still waiting company was cec group went broke last week this project was gov funded ...... how long do we have to wait now ???? but hay we have the rocks for the ramp down

[Captain Seaweed]

Reason I asked...
I went to Weipa last year and there was this great big hose at top of ramp and everyone that used ramp used hose. It made me think why we dont have them and ways I can protect my trailer and brakes.
I have experimented with irrigation hose and garden sprayers installed on my trailer and am still yet to let you guys know my best/cheapest set up.
I believe it is important to wash immediately after soak.
I had an idea to build a small tank say 20L and a deckwash set up, mounted on drawbar. Theory is as boat is launched who ever is driving car hoses off trailer before getting picked up. Unit gets power from either anderson plug or boat brakes battery. Only takes a minute or so and does the job.
I spoke to council about having this at busy ramps and they said they will bring it up in a meeting but I dont see it going anywhere.
Anyways

Cheers
Marty

[tropicrows]

I had an idea to build a small tank say 20L and a deckwash set up, mounted on drawbar. Theory is as boat is launched who ever is driving car hoses off trailer before getting picked up. Unit gets power from either anderson plug or boat brakes battery. Only takes a minute or so and does the job.
Marty

Marty,

Don't quote me on this but I'm pretty sure that's the setup Bill Corten has. A 20 liter contain in the back of his cruiser.

[Relaxedcamper]

Wouldn't it be cool if rather than supplying a hose at a ramp, that rather a spray boom was installed in a channel in the road that you drove over on your way to parking the boat. The boat trailer would get a wash where required, and there would be a quick turn around.

[cormorant]

In the UK and Europe they have a spraybar to wash the salt and grit off the underside of their cars to help stop corrosion before going into home carage and soem employers have it in their carparks as the salt was doing damage.

[albey]

Havent launched at many places that have wash down facilities,but from experience I know that I dont wash down after launch but if the facilities are available I definately wash down after retrieval

[byron_moses]

one thing in northern nsw that the liscencing program has provided is that most out boatramps have tap facilities to wash your boat down etc its a great idea but i guess the money has to be there

[marto78]

The only way I would do it would be if there was a wash bar at the top of the ramp that automatically sprayed the bottom of the trailer as you drove over it.

The way I see it, if your motor can go unwashed for two or 3 days on an extended trip out at sea then the trailer is not going to be rusted away when you get back either.

You may get a couple of extra years out of your trailer and its running gear but in that 7 or 8 years you have probably wasted at least a weeks worth of 24hrs a day fishing time washing the bloody thing.

I know what I would rather be doing...

[johncar]

You would think that with all the money that is collected, a quick washdown bay, drive over bar even better at all major ramps would be reasonable.

I would use it but yes I also generally head out solo so parking the boat without being in someones way, so it needs to be a quick system.

Because we don't have facilities where I launch at Bribie Is. I just wash down at home and finish off with salt-x and about every 3rd dunking, I will spray everything with Inox just when I have a little spare time after an outing.

The Inox seems to do the best job as you will see the water just bead off the trailer and brakes springs axles etc I just about fully submerge mine with no ill effect. It doesn't seem to affect the brakes to any degree while driving.

[Lachie1]

I don't have much time to write a decent post here but fully immersing a trailer in salt water and then giving it a quick hose down are two completely different things. To do it properly you need a pressure washer and/or hot water. A complete immersion in fresh water straight after would probably be the next best thing but that is not going to be possible.

Just my thoughts anyway...

Regards,

Lachie

[NAGG]

nope..wash it when I get home.
Ever see how many people arrive at the ramp and put the trailer in the water immediately..ever wonder what happens to the bearings and seals when dunked in cold water after being hot..I prefer to let mine cool a bit before launching..keep the seals more intact.

The way I see it

If they are hot - there is something wrong with their bearings (too tight) or their brakes are partially on ..........:( I always test the temps of my wheels by placing the back of my hand on the wheels near the hub & regardless of travelling distance they should only be at ambient temperature

But even the few mins taken to set the boat up will allow any cooling to take place .

Chris

[cormorant]

Like everything else - How do you stop the vandals stuffing it up.

[TREVELLY]

At the more popular ramps security cameras same as train station parking seems to get the vandals sorted.

The best tip I got for boat trailer from the boat catch people was when you drive to a ramp or to home after a fish to feel the temperature of hubs near bearings and secondly to feel the temperature of the tyres - heat in either spot is a sign of coming disaster - so fix it first. A good tip I recon.

I like the idea of the inox spray and will do that now.

I also recon it is not so critical to act immediately if you use a salt-away type product on the clean back at home - it disolves the salt, and puts a protective coating on the surface. Water alone will not remove the salt.

[Camo]

I've often thought that a boat ramp, like the one at Raby Bay for example, would be an excellent place for an enterprising mobile mechanic to set up a business, that would service your trailer while your out on the water enjoying the day. The brakes bearings rollers winch etc, could all be serviced while the boat is in the water. When you come back in the trailer is all serviced and ready to go. If it was done for a minimal fee once ever few times you go out, then you would see very little trailer problems. Even a simple trailer washing service would probably be successful.

[gleeeza]

North NSW we have the facilities so I use them before and after fishing, it only takes 3mins after launch with a quick hose hook up and no boat in the way, no mucking around with brakes since the first rebuild at 12 months( no lube from new at all) which was a major. Never crossed my mind till I read about insurance issues in a club marine mag, made sense and I dont think I have missed too many fish in that 3-5min extra but it sure as shit makes redgo a lot easier.

Gleeeza

[nigelr]

That's a great idea camo!
Might be hampared by rules, regulations, red tape and ramp rage unfortunately...
Sure would make the process easier and more attractive though, if it could be worked!

[Chimo]

Any mobile mechanic would probably be able to do it. They work on the side of roads now, whats the difference? No fuss, no mess, no waste oils.

Cheers
Chimo

[Dignity]

On the Sunshine Coast the new Water Board or possibly the Council has gone to great lengths to either remove taps or severly reduce the pressure on them so that we can't wash our trailers/boats down. Does a lot for the tourist trade.

[Muddy Toes]

On the Sunshine Coast the new Water Board or possibly the Council has gone to great lengths to either remove taps or severly reduce the pressure on them so that we can't wash our trailers/boats down. Does a lot for the tourist trade.



It must be due to the recent drought we've had in the area.