additional tie downs required ?

[truth stretcher]

I have a 6m plate boat on a tandem trailer and it runs two ratchet tie down straps at the transom and relies on the winch hook at the front to hold it down.
This is how the boat and trailer are from new and I have had no problems but will be doing extended trips with some rougher roads , do these 3 points seem adequate ? I would assue the trailer manufacturer would have done enough research into this.

[Mr__Bean]

What size straps do you have at the back?

Darren

[marto78]

One thing I have learnt is not to assume anything about your boat or trailer unless you have checked it for yourself, that includes manufacturers, especially sales people and your mates putting in the bungs or putting on the safety chain.

It wouldn't be a bad idea to place a tie down from the winch point on your boat down to the trailer for extra support and added peace of mind.

[Spaniard_King]

If the boat gets away from the traileryour in trouble, so anything loose is a waiste of time.

I have a boat which weighs 2.7 tonne incl trailer. I use 2 x 1250kg straps at the rear , 2 chains on the front tensioned between the 2 with a turnbuckle along with the standard wich chain(useless) and the boat winch itself.

The biggest issue is if you hit something and the vehicle comes to a dead stop... your boat is gunna want to keep going and aquaint itself with your car.

This is more prevelant to alluminium trailer as rated fastening points are an afterthought

[EdBerg]

I also believe in more is better when tying down a boat to a trailer, on my setup which has a 2.4t boat weight, I have on each side a 2.5t ratchet strap holding down the back straight down to the trailer, another one from a deck cleat about 2 mt from the front of the boat on an angle down to the trailer just in front of the front wheels, a 19mm turnbuckle connecting a chain to the bow hook down to the trailer and it is on a angle to the back of the trailer and lastly the bow hook is shackled to the winch post by chain and shackle. The winch cable is not connected at all as they are renowned for failing.

I don't tension down the ratchets down too much, just enough to hold it in place. In a case of a serious accident such as running up the back of a slowing down truck at highway speeds, depending on what the speed difference was, I doubt that even all that may be enough to stop the boat from becoming airborne and either going through the 4WD cabin or over it but it might be enough to remove a big chuck of the boats momentum as the cleats tear out of the deck and the ratchet straps snap, but better than just having a few ropes holding it down or such.

I also wouldn't rely on a manufacturers judgment as being the right way to do this, as most only do the minimum due to trying to keep cost down and selling it at the cheapest price possible.

Just my 2 cents worth.

[tunaticer]

Just be careful the amount of weight you place on the straps. Gunnels are not designed to be pulled down vertically and will often bow outwards at an exagerated point on the curve or inwards with a strap over the whole boat. Whatever stresses you place on those top edges will multiply its forces down near the chines simply through leverage factors.
You need to hold it in place, not force it to stay put.

All trailers flex an awful lot whilst under tow, if you lock your boat too tightly to that flexing trailer you will push that flex through your hull as well.

[truth stretcher]

Thanks tunaticer , didn't really think about that, so am I better maybe runnung a front tiedown from the safety chain anchor point to the trailer say at the base of the winch post maybe?

[WalrusLike]

A slight rearward angle for the safety chain and a turnbuckle to hold it firm will help resist the boats urge to join you in the front seats in the event of an accident.

Only needs to be slight because you don't want the boat able to roll back too far if the winch rope breaks. That's why the stern tie downs should be placed to stop rearward movement as well as bounce upwards movement.

I tend to over tighten everything so I must always consciously resist the urge to force the boat further down into the rollers. :)

[Muddy Toes]

Not the best photo but this is how I hold my 24ft glass boat down.

A strap on each stern quarter and on the bow I've got the winch strap and safety chain like normal and then I've got a chain going from the winch post to the bow and another chain and turnbuckle going from the bow to down to the rear most part of the draw bar.

This holds the front half down very well and also provides a good margin of safety in the event of a heavy braking situation where the boat has a lot of forward inertia acting upon it.

As for the bum end of the boat I just use straps (can't recall what they're rated to) and the boat never moves, it is quite heavy but even on an aluminium trailer that flexes and twists a bit on the road it never moves.....it usually takes a fair amount of force to move a modest size trailer boat sideways on a trailer but it has been known to happen.

Once again sorry about the photo...it doesn't show it too well with the fence there.

[Matthew Thompson]

Happened to me on Sunday a mate forgot to put the safety chain on the winch post, lucky I ckecked. Always pays off in the long run.