one man trailer launching/recover

[eupa]

I would like to launch and recover my rib single handed from a trailer.
Situation - good ramps( 20 meters wide and 60 long - slight gradient)
30'ft RIb 2500 kgs 2x20O hp yams- OB's -vehicle audi A6 FWD only.
any ideas??- I have an idea in mind- but would appreciate if somebody has
a list of WHAT NOT TO DO.

thanks for any suggestions jonathan

[Nick Hearne]

How do you do it with 2 or more people?
My Rib is a lot smaller but I can quite easily launch & recover it buy my self!
Having a pontoon to moor up to wile you move the car & trailer makes life a lot easier!
Nick

[Scary Des]

Launch and recover at high tide that way you avoid slipper slips and cross tides.
Unless you have a really good trailer, with a boat this big, winch the boat onto the trailer don’t drive it on, too many things can go wrong.
Get some chest high waders and before recovering the boat put the hook of the winch on the trailers rear wheel arch, then motor the boat until you just touch the first roller. Stop the engine quick, over the side with the painter in you hand and hook the boat on.

I always launch and recover on my own (yes, got no mates ) and the only time I have problems is when it is really windy . Des

[eupa]

Thnaks Nick and Des. My idea was to extend the drawbar by about 4 meters
with a solid tube - so that the car is as far out of the water as possible ( i,e the car is practically horizontal.) -The thoery is that using this rod the trailer can be pushed back into deeper water - while the boat is still attached to the trailer, the same with recoveing - the boat can be liteally motored onto the trailer, then strapped down so avoiding cross winds .??

[TQBoater]

Our boat is smaller and lighter but the couple of times I have launched on my own I've done nothing different then with two only thing is it takes twice as long !!

Worst thing is if there is a que for the slip people start moaning how long it is taking but never offer to help

If it's very busy with two we always power unload and load much quicker.

Here is how I do it alone

1. Arrive at slip
2. Remove all road gear, straps, trailerboard, propbag.
3. Reverse down slip into water
4. Remove winch strap and boat floats off with a good shove (Bunked trailer )
5. Pull boat back to side of slip and tie up
6. Put winch handle in boot of car before pulling off (Lost a few that way)
7. Find parking for car & trailer up back streets
8. Run back to slip and claim boat produce key as evidence
9. Fire up engine and get out of the way

I'm suppriesd your car will pull out such a lump with only front drive. Now if it was a Quattro

[mstacey]

Not as big a boat as yours but I frequently launch and recover solo.

Find a friend , then practise launch and recovering by yourself with friend nearby just in case.


When recovering , before getting the car spend a few moments drifting in the boat in front of the slipway to see what the tide and wind are going to do to the boat. Always a pain is if the current or wind is pushing the boat hard sideways swinging it out of line with the trailer, in these cases you may need to park the trailer at an angle rather than at 90 degrees to the bottom of the slip.

Chock the wheels before trying to recover boat otherwise you may find the boat pulling the car and trailer into the water.

I prefer to dip the rear most set of rollers into the water and then 'drive' the boat on but this may not be possilble on a shallow gradient slip. Mind you dont ground the engines on the slip as the front of the boat rises onto the rollers of your trailer.

If I am going to winch it on by myself then again rear most rollers into or as near as I can get them to the water line.

If you put to much of the trailer under the water you run the risk of the boat hitting the side of the trailer and not lining up properly on the rollers. Each trailer / boat combination is different.

Winch strap paid out and lying at rear most point of trailer.

Bow line in hand , Drive boat slowly towards trailer and when bow touches rollers jump out holding the bow line and hook the winch strap onto the bow eye. Start winding that winch and don't forget to tilt the outboard or legs up.

[Scary Des]

Originally Posted by eupa

Thnaks Nick and Des. My idea was to extend the drawbar by about 4 meters
with a solid tube - so that the car is as far out of the water as possible ( i,e the car is practically horizontal.) -The thoery is that using this rod the trailer can be pushed back into deeper water - while the boat is still attached to the trailer, the same with recoveing - the boat can be liteally motored onto the trailer, then strapped down so avoiding cross winds .??

Reading your post again I see you said slight gradient, the slip I use is steep which I think helps.

Yes, I have seen extending draw bars and they do work. They need to be strong because they can bend (4 m is long way for an unsupported section).

The problem you have driving the boat on is that unless you get the hook on quick the boat will just roll off again, additionally you have to go deeper to get the trailer low enough to get under the boat. If you winch it on you can, in- effect, lift the boat onto the trailer. It is more controlled and less likely to damage your boat although I must say winching 2tons 22 feet makes the shoulders warm .

Des

[mstacey]

Originally Posted by Scary Des

The problem you have driving the boat on is that unless you get the hook on quick the boat will just roll off again, additionally you have to go deeper to get the trailer low enough to get under the boat.
Des

Hi Des take a look at

http://www.wavelengthtraining.co.uk/up-up-and_away.htm

and you will see that it is possible to drive a boat onto the trailer without any of the trailer being in the water.

Personally I prefer to have just the rearmost set of trailer rollers in the water and drive the boat on. Winching 22ft of boat on is no fun.

[TQBoater]

Originally Posted by mstacey

Hi Des take a look at

http://www.wavelengthtraining.co.uk/up-up-and_away.htm

I would have thought that with any bigger boat this method could break the trailer must put one hell of a load on the end rollers.

I bent the back of my last trailer with a much smaller boat when all the weight was loaded onto the end of the beams behind the wheels

[Scary Des]

Originally Posted by mstacey

Hi Des take a look at

http://www.wavelengthtraining.co.uk/up-up-and_away.htm

and you will see that it is possible to drive a boat onto the trailer without any of the trailer being in the water.

Personally I prefer to have just the rearmost set of trailer rollers in the water and drive the boat on. Winching 22ft of boat on is no fun.

Wow like that , not sure it would work on all slips, look how low the back of the boat goes . I used to drive my previous boat (Tornado 580 700kgs) on to the trailer without any problems. But when I got the Pacific (2000kgs) everything became much more difficult and after chipping the gel coat a couple of time I found winching was the only way. Des

[Hightower]

Same as above........But have you ever launched/recovered using your Audi?

I ask because I used to have problems with my Peugeot 405 with a boat 5.5m long. If never done before have a scond car with a tow rope as back-up.

Andy

[codprawn]

Buy yourself an old 4x4 - something like an early Range Rover as long as you don't have too far to travel - much easier and avoids wrecking the car!

In the UK you can pick up something for about £1500 or even less - but I do mean something old and tatty!

[eupa]

Originally Posted by Hightower

Same as above........But have you ever launched/recovered using your Audi?

I ask because I used to have problems with my Peugeot 405 with a boat 5.5m long. If never done before have a scond car with a tow rope as back-up.

Andy

Thnaks for reply. As such have never used the audi for boat launching- as a bit concerned about grip -before ruining the A6 wanted to listen to all
you people.Thought about a tatty Range Rover( use to have one)- but I am going to try it anyway with an extended drawbar- and do it first in ideal conditions with a mate to see all the pitfulls.The A6 is pretty heavy at 2000 kgs and has 180 HP v6 diesel. Barely legal towing- but it does the job, and the local police very sympathetic to Brits. I was followed from Brussels to Nieupoort for about 50 ks and pulling at 130 , only to be stopped and told that my trailer number plate was faling off!!!!!!!!!

Jonathan

[eupa]

Originally Posted by codprawn

Buy yourself an old 4x4 - something like an early Range Rover as long as you don't have too far to travel - much easier and avoids wrecking the car!

In the UK you can pick up something for about £1500 or even less - but I do mean something old and tatty!

[eupa]

Originally Posted by codprawn

Buy yourself an old 4x4 - something like an early Range Rover as long as you don't have too far to travel - much easier and avoids wrecking the car!

In the UK you can pick up something for about £1500 or even less - but I do mean something old and tatty!

Thanks anyway- but if the tatty range rover is going lose to half its gerabox in the attempt. the tatty range rover AND boat disappear into the flot-its going to cost a bit more than 1500 quid plus the saftey question. I remember from my ranger rover days, the bug was the transfer box emtying itself of oil and bingo nogo.

jonathan

[codprawn]

I meant tatty body etc NOT mechanicals - you can pick up a really sound one for that price - as to the transfer box I have never heard of one dumping it's oil in one go - how???? Yes they weep a bit and need checking from time to time but other than that they are pretty tough!

I currently have a defender and a Range Rover and neither of them leak any oil!

My mate has just had his Pajero autobox recond which cost him £900 and there were 4 others in having the same work done - his brothers is also on it's way out - at about 60,000 miles - and people always slag of Land Rovers!

The clutch plates were totally worn and the gearbox people said they all do it.

[eupa]

Originally Posted by codprawn

I meant tatty body etc NOT mechanicals - you can pick up a really sound one for that price - as to the transfer box I have never heard of one dumping it's oil in one go - how???? Yes they weep a bit and need checking from time to time but other than that they are pretty tough!

I currently have a defender and a Range Rover and neither of them leak any oil!

My mate has just had his Pajero autobox recond which cost him £900 and there were 4 others in having the same work done - his brothers is also on it's way out - at about 60,000 miles - and people always slag of Land Rovers!

The clutch plates were totally worn and the gearbox people said they all do it.

Dont get me wrong - I am certainly not slagging Ranges . Owned 4 in my lifetime. The transfer box front seals use to leak like a sieve (last one model yr, 1994). Even though i was use to checking the level every two weeks still lost tranfer boxes ( bearing cages were nylon and when gets hot bearings decided to lead their own lives) - the problem at that time , they did not have a good diesel ( DONT ANYBODY MENTION VM ...please). I would like the new Range Rover with the 3.2 BMW motor - but the price ,, wow.

Jonathan

[DGR]

The slipway we use to put our RIB into the marina is quite flat - you can't get the trailer in anywhere near far/deep enough with a vehicle still attached.

As a result, the 'standard' way of launching is to get your trailer to the bottom end of the slip just before the marina gates open. Tie a long bit of rope from the trailer to your car (we use 10m) - move the car up the slip a fair way, and wait for the flood tide to float the RIB off. Once you've got the RIB off, pull the trailer out with the rope.

The worry with our RIB is that whilst it's on the trailer, if you trim the leg down it will hit the road surface - so when launching I don't want the RIB to 'drop' any lower than it is on the trailer - hence the 'float off' technique. With the trailer getting so wet (practically submersed), I guess that keeping the trailer going will be a big job. I'm hoping that it will be easier on a steeper slip.

Dylan...