A valuable lesson on trailers, winches and safety chains

[NelsonQ]

So in June I bought a new (to me) boat. Everything was in A1 running order and the guy I bought it from treated it well.

So, I took it the 20 mins from where I bought it up to my seasonal trailer site, dropped it in the slip for enjoyment the long July weekend.

Had it back in forth twice after that to install fishfinder and clean it over the summer at home (40 min drive each way)

Did the same routine. Trailered the boat. Winched it on, add the safety chain on the bow ring, installed transom straps, double check everything and homeward bound.

Took it out of its slip a week and a half ago to bring home to winterize (insert sounds of crying here). When I get it home in the driveway, I notice slack in the winch strap. It appears the spring and latch the 'locks' the winch in place doesn't stay in position and came loose. Good thing for the safety chain on the bow right? Wrong.

The chain was still slack. Best guess is that the boat was content in its position on the bunks and with the transom tied down, it didn't move. Good thing.

I went out and bought a new winch and strap for $30 and replaced it this weekend. Had to undo the bow chain to get it in place.

Guess what, the nut and bolt for the chain I removed with 2 fingers.

I'm guessing the boat gods gave me a free pass and luckily I didn't have to rely on that chain.

Moral of the story is from now on, as pretty and as in good repair as the trailer may seem, double check the hardware as well. The winch worked fine all summer but $30 vs a new boat, its swapped out, but I'll be double checking the bow and safety chains as well to be sure.

I got lucky.

 

[CATransplant]

Re: A valuable lesson on trailers, winches and safety chains

Bunk trailer, huh? Had it been a roller trailer, you might not have been so lucky.

 

[NelsonQ]

Re: A valuable lesson on trailers, winches and safety chains

Bunk trailer, huh? Had it been a roller trailer, you might not have been so lucky.

Yeah, now that I think about it, my older trailer was rollers. Like I said, I think the boat gods gave me a free pass this time. Luckily I learned the easy way.

 

[logsmith]

Re: A valuable lesson on trailers, winches and safety chains

Thanks NelsonQ, my new-to-me boat is on rollers and I'm heading to the garage right now to check it. Although I tow the boat for every trip out and use and see the winch etc. I will see it with new eyes now. I'm new here but learning lots. Thanks, Steve

 

[NelsonQ]

Re: A valuable lesson on trailers, winches and safety chains

Thanks NelsonQ, my new-to-me boat is on rollers and I'm heading to the garage right now to check it. Although I tow the boat for every trip out and use and see the winch etc. I will see it with new eyes now. I'm new here but learning lots. Thanks, Steve

My previous 'new to me' boat was without question a mess and I dropped the boat in the water and rebuilt the entire trailer. I didn't expect my 6 yr old trailer to have these issues, but I was fortunate. Hopefully others will avoid this. Its a simple check and can save a lot of headache in the future.

Glad you found this useful.

Oh, and welcome to these forums. There awesome, and anything you need to know, wonder about, etc, just ask. Lots of great minds here who've 'been there and done that'

 

[BaileysBoat]

Re: A valuable lesson on trailers, winches and safety chains

Nelson, you made your own luck. Good job with the safety chain. Lot of folks don't check anything.
I picked up a new trailer at 6 pm on a Friday, only had time to hook up, check the air pressure and lights, and drive 6 hours north in the dark . The next morning another 2 hours to the dealership, loaded up and 8 hours on the road home, no problem.
A few days later after launching the boat decided to check the trailer in the garage. New trailer, wont't find much wrong, but lets check the nuts and bolts and grease everything up right? To my surprise the left rear wheel bearing was so far out of adjustment it was wobbling on the hub. Barely any any grease. Must have been built on a Friday.
Lucky in Ottawa!

 

[Silvertip]

Re: A valuable lesson on trailers, winches and safety chains

Here is another brand new "trailer check" and the pictures that prove neither dealers nor the manufacturer care squat about quality. The dealers are only responsible for installing the wheels and tires and leave everything else up to the responsibility of the manufacturer. In this instance, had I had the suspension come undone guess who would have been at the top of my "sue" list. There is simply no excuse for this lack of responsibility. A five minute check of a trailer is not too much to ask -- especially when there is no boat on it.

 

[mthieme]

Re: A valuable lesson on trailers, winches and safety chains

I've had a lot of free passes over the years with trailers, and one that wasn't.
I double check each trailer (have 5) before each use. Walk away, come back, and check a third time before taking off.
Take your time, don't rush - this has bit me more often than anything else.

(I wonder if there is a trailer check list and/or maintenance thread?)

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: A valuable lesson on trailers, winches and safety chains

Trust nothing till you have checked it out and are satisfied with it. No matter what it is !!!!!

 

[Docknocker]

Re: A valuable lesson on trailers, winches and safety chains

As a past owner of a small trucking company, I can't stress enough what's being said in this post - check, check, and than check again. Dealing daily with the safety of 80,000 lb GVW units translates directly into safely towing a boat. It's ALWAYS safer (and cheaper) to find a problem in the yard pre-trip, than it is to discover it on the road.
Although I only trailer my boat twice a year - to the lake in the spring, and to storage in the fall, it's still an 8,000 lb load being towed by a 5,000 lb truck, and attention to every detail is critical - not only for my safety, but also for everyone else on the road I'm traveling. Check everything, than check it again!!

 

[reelfishin]

Re: A valuable lesson on trailers, winches and safety chains

I've found dozens of screw ups on new trailers over the years, everything from loose suspension to wrong springs or missing hardware. The most common is a misaligned axle on those with sliding axles. I don't think I've seen one yet that was adjusted perfect.

I've also had new winches fall apart on the road, loose nuts, shafts fall off and missing springs. I have one trailer that I bought a few months ago with an unknown winch on it which uses no spring to hold the ratchet dog on, its only got a large weighted cam. A good bump and it's off.

I've gotten in habit over the years of putting an additional ratchet strap on the bow eye just in case, especially on long trips. If the chain and winch fail I have a third fail safe. I carry a few extra straps with me when picking up a new boat as well, I never trust what comes on a used boat. Most people won't give away their best tie down equipment or winch with a used boat.
I've bought many boats that didn't even have a winch or bow stand on the trailer leaving no option but to configure some heavy ratchet straps to hold the boat in place.