Trailer mods

secondopsman · 09 September 2012, 20:40

Hello again,
Following on from this thread http://www.rib.net/forum/f49/trailer...tml#post484805
I have decided to upgrade my trailer to braked instead of buying a new one.
There is one thing i would like to add to the trailer but i have no idea what its called so im struggling to search for it.
Basically this was a catch type design that enabled you to drive the boat on to the trailer up the rollers.When the front of the boat hit the catch an arm dropped down and latched over a plate on the bow,Thus locking the boat onto the trailer and making it a one man job,
Does anyone have this or seen it anywhere?
Or have i just confused everyone

Anchorhandler · 09 September 2012, 20:54

Something like this perhaps?

Boatcatch in action - YouTube

Can you not just lean over the bow and latch the winch strap onto the bow eye though?
I often recover single handledly and that's what i do.

Simon

secondopsman · 09 September 2012, 21:04

Something very similar but it didnt have a release cable it just relied on the boat pushing up to it and it just dropped over.
Im thinking it was more of a retreval device than launching.
Pete

jyasaki · 09 September 2012, 21:15

retrieving your boat with L & R boatlatch

Boat Buddy - from Kodiak - YouTube

Snapper Boat Latch Movie - YouTube

jky

Sorry; 3 separate links. The post didn't format the way the way I was expecting.

Peter_C · 10 September 2012, 16:20

"Boat Buddy" is a brand that I have seen multiple problems with. First of all you can not tow with them latched or they break. Often they fail to latch correctly. They can also latch and then be a complete pain to get released. On a Malibu (Can't remember the brand of trailer) we couldn't get it unlatched and spent 45 minutes trying to get it unlatched moving the boat around as much as possible to do so, and further damaging the Boat Buddy to the point the owner would have had to replace it again! He opted not too.

Cool as they are, I am not a fan of them. Plus the gel coat gets rubbed by them.

A roller trailer is great in so many ways, yet fails in the aspect of being harder to single hand. You can't leave the boat in gear to walk to the bow to clip the winch off. If you do let off the throttle the boat slides back into the water. Therefore it requires you to winch the boat all the way onto the trailer. A decent remote controlled electric winch might be the best solution.

jyasaki · 10 September 2012, 17:13

For the record, I wasn't advocating any of the devices; just posting links.

I use a bunk trailer and a hand winch (with a regular, manual hook on the strap.)

jky

Poly · 10 September 2012, 18:51

I saw someone using an improvised approach which seemed to work well. Lets see if I can describe it:

- From the winch post there was a piece of plastic pipe which curled over towards the rear of the trailer. I'd guess it was about 15 ft long and at roughly a 45 degree angle (although it was not perfectly straight - it formed an arc). It looked like a piece of blue water pipe as found 'lying around' at building sites.
- There was a rope tied to the trailer.
- The other end of the rope was dangling from the plastic tube. (Not sure exactly how it was supported at the end of the tube - but I guess there are various options. But it was 'temporary' so simply pulling on the rope brought it down to the ground. (The flexible tube was soft enough to pull down and 'arm' with the rope by hand.
- The blue tube was removable for towing - it was clipped to the frame of the trailer.

Drive on the trailer, reach above you and grab the dangling rope, tie it off on a suitable cleat near the console. Turn off the engine. Then secure bow eye etc - knowing the boat can't slide back off. Probably possible without all that - but the bow eye and winch were far enough below the stem (it was a hard boat) that it would be a bit of a dodgy stretch to reach from the boat. Probably a 9m boat that he recovered on his own with no hassle. His helm was quite far forward - but I think you could do the same with a post mounted near the read of the trailer and 'curling' in from one side.

Hightower · 11 September 2012, 10:57

I don't need any of those devices. When my motor's nice and warm I lean over the bow and unclip the trailer hook from the Bow eye. It then rolls off nicely and off I go. Recovering is in the reverse, bit of power up the trailer, leave the outboard in forward gear to provide a little thrust so it doesn't roll back down. Lean over the front to connect back up. Knock the throttle in to neutral and switch off, tilt up and off you go again.

Now I'll tell you guys this....If anyone can invent a device for parking and wheel clamping the car and trailer so you don't have to leave the boat. I'd buy one!

steco1958 · 11 September 2012, 14:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hightower

Now I'll tell you guys this....If anyone can invent a device for parking and wheel clamping the car and trailer so you don't have to leave the boat. I'd buy one!

Already done !!

Got married.

Looking back its a very expensive piece of kit just for parking the car

Hightower · 11 September 2012, 15:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by steco1958

Already done !!

Got married.

Looking back its a very expensive piece of kit just for parking the car

Mines unreliable, makes funny noises and keeps breaking down.

PeterM · 11 September 2012, 16:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by steco1958

Looking back its a very expensive piece of kit just for parking the car

And even more expensive when you divorce and have to sell a boat to pay for it all

...I'm not bitter ...much , really at all......