Trailering Questions & Best Practices

[jdag]

Hello. I just bought a 20? boat and trailer. While this is my 4th boat overall, I haven't trailered in ~20 years. I have a few questions on best/safe practices while towing. My boat is ~3,500# dry.

1) Transom tie downs ? What is the recommended width, breaking strength, and working load for the straps (2 straps total)?

2) "Forward movement" tie down ? Do you recommend any sort of strap from the trailer frame to the bow hook to secure the boat from forward movement?

3) Securing/positioning of outdrive ? I have raised the outdrive all the way up for trailering. Do you recommend positioning it to 1 side or another? Should it be secured so that it doesn?t change sides?

4) Any other recommendations to help me along?

Thank you in advance. John

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: Trailering Questions & Best Practices

1 transom straps come in a 2" wide width - only seen them in one size for smallish pleasure boats

2. you should have a safety chain from the bow eye to the trailer winch stand.

3. position the outdrive any way you want, right, left, straight - its your boat and does not affect trailering. you could position it to the left on north/south trips, and to the right on east/west trips

4. dont forget to disconnect the lights when backing in, reconnect after retrieving. make sure you regularly maintain the brakes, hubs, etc. on your trailer. remember to undo the transom straps before backing the boat in the water. do not disconnect bow winch and safety until the boat is backed into the water. make sure you have a spare tire. practice backing up, and going around obstacles if its been 20 years. make sure your side mirrors provide you adequate view, or get the clamp on towing mirrors. remember to put the plug in before you back down the ramp, and take it out before you leave the ramp on retrieval. remember to raise the outdrive when you retrieve the boat.

 

[jayhanig]

Re: Trailering Questions & Best Practices

1) Commercially available transom straps ought to be OK. Gravity also assists in keeping your boat in position on the trailer so all the straps really do is keep it from moving when you go over bumps. The straps can have a fraction of the boat's weight in capacity and they will still perform adequately.

2) Normally the trailer winch performs this function. You should also have an additional safety chain or cable between your trailer and the bow eye. Your trailer should have one already installed. The tension is held by the winch, the additional chain or cable has some slack in it and is for emergency use if the winch strap or cable breaks.

3) I normally center my outdrive and raise it all of the way up. I've never needed to tie the steering wheel to keep it from truning one way or the other. Of course, when you get home, lower your outdrive to keep your bellows from taking a set.

4) I love those little magnetic aerials with the dayglo yellow tennis balls on top for lining up my truck to my trailer. Even though I have a backup camera, the tennis balls work better. Much better. You can raise them up a good 3 feet in the air if you need the height. Lowes sells them too, though for more money.

I also love the boat guide poles; the taller the better. Not only does it help you load your boat accurately onto your trailer, it is quite an assistance when it comes to backing your trailer down a ramp. The higher they stick up above your deck level, the longer you can see them in your rear view mirrors.

 

[jkust]

Re: Trailering Questions & Best Practices

Have learned a lot over the years. A few nuggets are:
Cross your safety chains a couple times required in some states and not others.
The trailer wheel lugs will likely be larger than the truck lugs so requires a different sized lug wrench...I learned that the hard way and bring a breaker bar/impact socket specific.
I bring a piece of 2x6 to go under the jack should I need to use it in a less than optimal spot.
Using a truck jack to lift the boat will take you a long time...make sure you loosen the trailer lugs before lifting off the ground.
If it is a nice boat, and you care, long tows will result in tiny chips out of your gel coat from rocks and debris flinging up from the truck tires regardless of the mud flaps you have. A Rock Tamer system helps out.
Turning 90 degrees into a ramp parking spot where you don't have any room to swing out is difficult with a long trailer...practice a few times and avoid the situation I've seen many times where your trailer hits the trailer next to you.
Spare tire theft is common. I have a cable lock and a pad lock on my spare tire set up. I can only hope they move on to the next trailer since a sawzall would make short work of most locks. I also have a lock on the joint of the swing toung trailer and on the hitch plus one on the tounge.
Pay attention to the bearings on the trailer. A perfectly good trailer can have a failure leaving you on the side of the road again, have seen it many times over the years.
Lots of states have gone invasive species myopic and amongst the many government full employment requirements one is you can not trailer your boat with the plug in. Do your part and keep as many gov ee's employed as is possible.
Outdrives are light as compared to outboard engines and it matters not how high you raise it to tow aside from the bellows concerns and the obvious need to clear the ground.
Trailer tires, depending on what they are, can be notoriously difficult to locate locally. There are websites nowdays but that's not convenient in a pinch.
Open your liftgate in an suv when backing down the ramp.
Make sure your tow vehicle can handle the wet weight of the trailer and boat. Any v6, unibody/inappropriated vehicle can tow probably anything you could hitch to it since it takes very little to get moving but stopping and emergency maneuvers are not easy with an overloaded vehicle.

 

[robert graham]

Re: Trailering Questions & Best Practices

Make sure your tires are reasonably fresh, say 3 or 4 years old at max...might find a date code on sidewall, or check with previous owner. I replace my tires every 3 years, because tread separations/blow-outs on the interstate really suck! A couple of new trailer tires mounted and balanced gonna run you about $200...Inspect/grease those trailer hub bearings! Good Luck!

 

[jdag]

Re: Trailering Questions & Best Practices

Thanks for all of the suggestions!