Transom straps

Bamaman1

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
May 15, 2011
Messages
1,895
Re: Transom straps

I just got home from Harbor Freight--75 miles away. I bought a pair of 2" nylon tie downs--but not the ratcheting kind--to tie down my 4 wheelers and zero turn mower. I would tie down my boat to the trailer, but I'm seldom going but a few miles and on very smooth roads. If trailering my boat very far, I'd surely be strapping it down.

I prefer to use the tie downs diagonally on boats. In other words, the left ring on the boat would be strapped to the right side of the trailer, and the right ring would be strapped to the left side of the trailer. That way if the trailer happened to bounce out of its' v-shaped bunks, it'll not go sideways.

I am very fond of the self contained ratcheting tie downs as follows on boats:

http://www.********.com/modperl/pro...Tie-Down-System&i=80594&aID=603J&merchID=4006 The edited * is the name of the big mail order firm out of Fayetteville, NC that starts with an O.

My neighbor uses them on his well traveled Triton bass boat, and is a believer in them.
 

Nightfisher-

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Apr 13, 2010
Messages
129
Re: Transom straps

I don't use transom straps on my pontoon. I instead go around each pontoon and the trailer bunks on each side towards the rear with a heavy duty ratchet strap. I feel it's even more secure than transom straps as it secures against any side to side movement as well as forward/backward movement. The only thing you have to be careful of is to not tighten the straps down too much. You can actually dent the logs by doing so.
 

MH Hawker

Vice Admiral
Joined
Jul 13, 2011
Messages
5,516
Re: Question About Straps On The Front ?

Re: Question About Straps On The Front ?

Their in very common use, and most trailers have a hook eye, and if not you can add one.
 

BobGinCO

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
May 22, 2012
Messages
539
Re: Question About Straps On The Front ?

Re: Question About Straps On The Front ?

Now, This is something the dealer never told me about, And I've never seen anyone with a pontoon put straps on the front!
Where would you hook them on the ''trailer'' ??
How many members on here put straps on the front ??

I take them from the eye (where you winch it onto the trailer), and down around the frame. Without them the boat bounces so much it'll tear up the carpeting on the bow stop.
 

WaterDR

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
May 8, 2012
Messages
730
Re: Question About Straps On The Front ?

Re: Question About Straps On The Front ?

I always tie down the front. But, I have a scissor trailer, so there is no winch strap hooked to the boat. On my current rig, I have not come up with a good way to strap down the rear. My trailer is two feet two short, so it is difficult to wrap a strap around the trailer. I don;t have a good way to prevent the boat from going forward. Technically, as it is, the boat could potentially slip forward, but the straps in the front would prevent it from going more than about 18 inches.
 

jessp

Cadet
Joined
Feb 8, 2009
Messages
26
Re: Question About Straps On The Front ?

Re: Question About Straps On The Front ?

Front and back for me. I use the 2" wide ratchet straps. Good insurance!! My straps go under trailer and latch into the channel iron.
 

Chip Chester

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Apr 17, 2012
Messages
109
Re: Transom straps

In addition to the laws, physics, and basic driver responsibility for the ballistics of your stuff as it goes down the road, there's this wear-and-tear issue: If the load is not secured to the trailer, each hard impact actually becomes two hard impacts. Once on "launch," and once when the boat comes back down and hits the trailer... possibly just as the trailer is coming back up to hit the boat.

Plus, I can't believe a dealer said straps aren't needed. It is very unlike any dealer I know of to dissuade additional accessory sales. Virtually unheard-of, even!

Chip
 
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