Steep bank launching techniques

[Toddy_again]

Gday all.After spending a week out in western NSW last week I am just wondering if anybody has any thoughts on launching a 4.3 meter boat down some of the steep banks out there.Stub axle on draw bar??...Pneumatic jockey wheel???

Looking foward to hearing how other people have done it.

Toddy

[Knotpretty]

From my old ski boat days, 1)back the boat just over the slope chock the wheels 2) fix a recovery strap to the boat and tow vehicle 3) take the weight and remove the chocks 4) Reverse vehicle and launch the boat. This method worked for me. Knotp

[Chimo]

Toddy

I used to run my spare on a stub axle with the spare wheel on it on a 5.6m boat. The whole set up was on a slide so it could be raised and lowered and locked into the chosen location. Then as for Knotpretty.

Also used the set up for beach launching with a rope attached to haul the empty trailer out. For retrieve in rough conditions used to send the trailer in winch forward and load with bow into the waves and haul out with the rope by driving along the beach. Worked a treat esp if the boat was loaded about 1 meter short of the winch so it was easy to lift onto the ball then winch the rest of the way on.

Cheers
Chimo

PS I just had a look at the Mackay website as I thought they might list the spare wheel carrier with the slide height adjuster that I got from them but maybe it was a special build. Worked a treat and just had a lock knut to hold it up for travel or down if you wanted to roll the trailer on it. Also had the standard tilting jockey wheel on the other side. Damn good trailer and a helpful ex dairy farmer to boot.:P

[Toddy_again]

Thanks fellas.thats pretty much what I had sort of pictured.

Hey Knotpretty...What sort of jockey wheel did you have?Standard?What sort of dramas did you have retrieving the boat?Did the jockey wheel dig in?
I am thinking of a combination of both.Pneumatic jockey wheel for launching and stub axle assembly for retrieval when all the weight is going foward.
Hows that sound?

Toddy

[Chimo]

Why not just use the stub axle mounted on a slide with a lock nut or pin thru the slide to do both and the jockey wheel for normal use and jacking the front up? I found that there can be too much strain on the jockey wheel strut if you pull the trailer across anything other than totally smooth surfaces. Too much of a risk IMHO where-as a full size wheel on a stub axle was fool proof for the 9 yrs I used it.

C
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[Toddy_again]

Did you have any problem steering it Chimo?

[Chimo]

Straight up a bank was pretty easy and not a problem particularly if you keep the tow vehicle in first gear!

From the beach, bow out to sea, in rough conditions, steering was again not an issue as long as you have long enough beach to drive along towing the trailer with a long rope so eventually the boat on the trailer eventually ended up on the dry so you could back up to it and hitch up.

So, no steering was not an issue and the stub axle was robust enough cf to the jockey wheel which we probably could have snapped off frequently.

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[Toddy_again]

Yeah I can picture the jockey wheel going to poo.
I just worry that when launching the boat all the weight is towards the back(which will make it want to snake) and when retrieving the opposite.
I found this.http://goldcoasttrailers.com.au/products-page/trailer-parts/axles/stub-axles-and-parts/bolt-on-150-mm-stub-axle/
If I get that as close to the hitch as I can it will probably do the trick.

Toddy

[Chimo]

Toddy

And if you bolt it to a plate welded onto a length of thick walled box tube (a) that passes up through another short section of also thick walled box tube (b) that is welded to a plate that is secured to the winch post by "u" bolts with a length of flat your in business.

All the above bits being galvanized before you assemble it. The wheel obviously needs to be in the same alignment as the the other trailer wheels.

The one I had also had a nut welded on to box section (b) so you could insert a bolt and lock nut to lock (a) into travel or work position. I found a mid point so it missed the road but rolled when needed and just it left it in that position.

Hope the above helps and you can understand it.

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[Knotpretty]

Toddy
I used a wide wheel off a mini. It was a while ago. Just set up with a wide tyre so it spreads the load over soft ground. KP

[MikeyS]

You're right. Don't use the jockey wheel for recovering. Especially if you have a dozey assistant who doesn't lookout for holes as he's supposed to, like i did pulling a 12ft tinnie up the bank of the Murray. Doesn't take much to bend them.

[PADDLES]

hey toddy, i've launched my old 4.2 tinny on steep banks by using the same method as knotpretty. to retreive it we just use a short strap (so it pulls it more upwards) and skull drag it up and over the bank with the 4wd and then winch the trailer under it on the flat ground. your 4.3 might be light enough to allow you to do this but if it's fibreglass you might be in trouble.

[Jarrah Jack]

The leverage effect would work well if you're pulling the boat into the bank more than up. By leverage I mean a trick that was shown to me when I got my 4wd bogged and a guy in an old chev pulled it out much to my amazement. If you put a ,say 3 ft long log, under the rope at the bank and poke the log out a bit you would be pulling the boat out from there which is in effect out and up. It works well on flat ground where you're not trying to drag a bogged vehicle out of the mud but lifting and dragging.

Hope that makes sense. Its a trick that's saved me a number of times.

[Triple]

If it is a really steep drop off then just do it like this :o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiIHS5EMvRY&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiIHS5EMvRY

[Toddy_again]

Thanks lads.I now know what i am up for.Appreciate it.

Toddy