removing a pontoon off the trailer on land

[warddog]

I realize this is an old post but I have bought a 20' pontoon that I replaced the decking and carpeting on to put into our strip pit that has NO ramp. It is on a bunk trailer and I'm trying to figure out how to get it into the pit without tearing it up. The bottom seems to be about shin deep in muck with pretty shallow water of about foot or two. I just finished putting a dock in and had to wade out in it and was about grown deep 10 feet out from the bank with the much about shin deep all the way. I'm thinking I may have to remove the pontoon from the trailer to the ground and push it into the pit from there as I have never launched a pontoon much less in a pit without a ramp. I have no idea of how well my truck may be able to pull the trailer out of the muck even though it is a 4x4 with the 5.3 motor. Any experience here?

 

[Scott Danforth]

Please read the rules you agreed to. Do not post in threads older than 90 days

 

[warddog]

Please read the rules you agreed to. Do not post in threads older than 90 days

any way to remove and repost it as a new post?

 

[Jeff J]

You should not have any trouble pulling the trailer out if you can float or power the boat off the trailer. Is there a spot that may get deeper faster? A corner maybe?

Pulling the boat back out may be a bit trickier. Pontoons really are not designed to be dragged. Absolutely no good connection points for it. The boats are heavy and the tubes are thin.

Do you have a buddy with a decent sized tractor? Preferably with a loader to attach the trailer to?

 

[racerone]

Throw a good anchor in the water and winch it off the trailer at the water's edge ???----Any pictures to show what the challenge is ?

 

[Jeff J]

I almost buried my truck loading my 17’ aluminum boat bass boat at an unimproved ramp. Water was high and made the ground soft. There was no going forward with the boat on the trailer. Almost didn’t get out after backing the boat off because it had pushed trailer down so it was sitting on the axle.

Where would you hook a winch? Loops on the tubes are not designed for that load, cleats won’t hold and neither will a ski tow.

 

[DeepCMark58A]

Then one has to ask, how are you going to get the pontoon back out?

 

[warddog]

You should not have any trouble pulling the trailer out if you can float or power the boat off the trailer. Is there a spot that may get deeper faster? A corner maybe?

Pulling the boat back out may be a bit trickier. Pontoons really are not designed to be dragged. Absolutely no good connection points for it. The boats are heavy and the tubes are thin.

Do you have a buddy with a decent sized tractor? Preferably with a loader to attach the trailer to?

I have a 55HP tractor with a front-end loader (no trailer hotch on that) BUT do have clamp on forks and thought originally that I would lift the stern up and drive the trailer out from under that end, sit it down and lift the bow up enough to drive out from under it. After reading about it found out that the eye bolts were not for doing so and now rethinking the situation. The problem is that the pit is pretty shallow along the banks and really doesn't get to about 12 feet deep in one area that the bank doesn't provide access to. I do not know how deep it needs to be to even float the pontoon. This pontoon has NO motor and I removed all the furniture, console when I redecked/recarpeted it. It is now mainly the toons, decking and railing. My plan is to use a remote transom mount trolling motor to move it in the 5-acre pit. I do not intend to haul it anywhere but think I need to remove it from the water in the winter and thought I could just pull it up onto the bank.

 

[warddog]

Then one has to ask, how are you going to get the pontoon back out?

That is part of the delima.

 

[Jeff J]

The pontoons will likely need to be more than half underwater to float in the back. I haven’t messed with one that didn’t have a motor so half submerged may get it.

I would probably use that loader and dig out a boat ramp if I thought I wouldn’t bury it in the attempt.

 

[Jeff J]

I don’t know how strong the clamp on forks hold for pushing and/or pulling. A ball could be put on the end of a fork if it can handle the load. I have seen it done with the bucket but I never liked poking holes in the bucket.

 

[Scott Danforth]

I have a 55HP tractor with a front-end loader

build a ramp with your tractor

hundreds of boat houses use a roller ramp or track