Bassboy1 trailer tips article.

[rusty.hook]

When I am unloading my boat, I tie the rope to my winch and slowly back down in nuetral until I get to the water. I have more control over my truck that way, no surging. If your foot slips off the brake, that way your not automatically headed for the drink!! I Let the boat float off and then pull out real slow and get out and then tie the boat off. When backing down empty trailer, I again put it in nutreul and slowly back down till I am right with the water. Then drive on reach over hook the eye and hop out and drive out and take care of all things then. It makes it real nice, when you have 2" white pvc pipe about 4' sticking up on each side of your trailer to see where you are going, either in the dark and full daylite. In the dark, with the pvc pipe, there is some reflection off the brake or back up lights off the pipe for to see where your going.

 

[Hanr3]

I read the link posted in teh initial post to this thread and while I agree with most of it, there is more to teh story. Bunk trailers are designed to be float on trailers, while roller trailers are designed to be powered on trialers. Which trialer to use really depends on where you live, or rather the lakes you fish and the docks they have, and your prefered loading/unloading method.

Rather thatn tpye a long disertation, heres a link.

This guy did a great job going into numerous aspects of trailer design, boat ramp styles, and the proper way to set-up a trialer for each type of ramp. Granted its mostly about Boston Whaler boat, however the same basic information applies to Tin boats as well.
https://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/trailering/trailer.html

It's a long read, and the link to tongues is packed full of great information too.

 

[mephitic]

Great article, very informative. I've been looking into guide on's for my trailer. They would most certainly assist with the loading of the boat ... Not sure if I want the PVC style or what at this point. Been looking around for ideas. We'll see what happens.

 

[Hanr3]

I saw a guy get a warning from a Lake County Sheriff's Deputy for backing down a ramp in neutral. Coasting on a downgrade is illegal in Illinois. Officer said it didn't matter if he was on a highway or public boat ramp. Of course it is also illegal to leave your vehicle unattended while the engine is running here too, but I don't shut off my motor when I am walking my boat down the pier to tie it up out of the way for the next guy either.

First time I heard either of those laws.

 

[KevinC1980]

One tip I use for backing my boat trailer down the ramp is I put a tall piece of PVC pipe on each side at the back so I could see where the trailer was. When its empty I cant see the trailer in my mirrors I have a huge '07 Toyota Tundra 4 door long bed and I only have a 12 ft jon with a short narrow trailer. On the front of the pieces of PVC I attached an amber marker light and wired it into the running lights, again to help see the trailer and the light is perfect for night backing. It isnt the most high tech deal but it makes it much easier to back the trailer when you can see what the trailer is doing without seeing the trailer.

 

[Bugpac]

i got a 50' rope, I attach it to the front of the boat and take it to the drivers door, I back it the rest of the way in and hold the rope while the boat floats off, i get out and pull it off to the side around the trailer and i am launched.

 

[Spook]

That article just made me have a Well Duh ! moment to myself about a bunk placement issue I was having haha thanks for the good read

 

[flatboat]

bugpack i kinda do the same thing , i fish by my self a lot . i make a loop and drop it over my winch post . i spray my bunks with silicone and it slides real easy , just back up when its good just hit the brakes for a second to get it movin and it slides right off . had a fellow ' help' me one time. i got in the boat told him to back slow and not to hit the brakes till the motor was in the water , man he was movin kinda fast ... hit the brakes that thing slid off 10 ft from the water . kinda feel silly with the motor on the concrete and the bow 10 ft in the air . sure got some looks that day

 

[rusty.hook]

I added these guide ons with lights. Either with or without lights it would help a bunch. Mine has the lights, helps light up the ramp in the dark also when the brakes are applied.
Also when backing up, use the bottom of the steering wheel to back up, not the top. If you need to turn left then turn the wheel to the left, if you need to turn right then turn it to the right, that way works great for me.

 

[Trapper02]

Clicked the link to the article in the original post, bad link.

 

[russ010]

try this one...

https://www.tinboats.net/articles/10-trailer-tips

 

[Trapper02]

thank you sir!

 

[nlittle]

The tips article link seems to be broken, is there an update?

 

[THUMPER144]

Link is broken. Any idea how to get to it?

 

[Mark_Fisher]

Please fix the link to the tips pasg. Inquiring minds...

Sent from my GT-P3113 using Tapatalk

 

[clemmy]

Couldn’t get either link to work to article, so used the Wayback Machine:

https://web.archive.org/web/20120116053934/https://www.tinboats.net/index.php/Articles/trailer-tips.html

Hope it helps!

Craig

 

[Jim]

Here is the new link: https://www.tinboats.net/trailer-tips/

Thanks for the heads up with the broken links!