Things I Wish I Knew Then--Boat Ramp Edition

[rme hunter]

If you are having trouble with your boat drifting when loading try leaving the trailer out of the water a little farther and give her a little more juice and run the boat up on there. It will help with the drifting. I had the same problem.

[pitchinandgrinnin]

if dark, when you back the trailer down the ramp, turn off headlights or you will blind anybody else who trys to back down.

amen to that brother.that is one thing that kills me. I keep only my parking lights on from waiting to loading . That stuff like somebody said is common sense.

[jamesdenson]

i think that is about 99 percent of most peoples problems everyone wants to back the trailer in to far. my first time to the lake. a friend of mine showed me how to do it 15 years ago and since then i have had several boats big and small. never had a problem loading any of them.

[bigboyjon]

A lot of trucks have auto headlights. Mine you can keep emergancy brake on before starting, and keep it on, to keep lights off. Kinda hard to do with out restarting truck a few times. Just never like to turn truck off on that steep of a hill with only one way to go.

[bmck25]

I actually had a friend who had a ski boat, he would not unstrap his boat until he was right at the edge of the water. Once I asked him about it and he thought I was crazy. He actually thought that his boat may slide off the trailer while backing in. This was a 24foot with an inboard V8. You couldn't have drug that thing off with a truck.

That is why people do that dumb stuff they just don't know.

That ski boat may not slide off, I don't know. I have seen 2 bass boats end up on the ramp though. Both were being backed in and the person driving hit the brakes a little too hard. Both boat slid right off. This was at the same ramp, different times. The ramp is kind of steep. I always leave my bow hook on until I get into the water.

[TRACKER MAN]

amen to that brother.that is one thing that kills me. I keep only my parking lights on from waiting to loading . That stuff like somebody said is common sense.

I cannot turn off my headlights at night.. I have a 02 Suburban and the lights have a sensor.

[Wichita]

If you are having trouble with your boat drifting when loading try leaving the trailer out of the water a little farther and give her a little more juice and run the boat up on there. It will help with the drifting. I had the same problem.

I tend to scoot more towards the center of the boat so that mine goes on the bunks straighter!

[FiletAndRelease]

has anyone ever used their CoPilot Remote to launch their boat. Ive been wanting to try it next time I'm by myself. I was thinking I could tie a rope to the boat and use the remote to pull off from trailer then troll to the dock to tie up. Sounds simple enough, but do you think it might work?

[mhall]

I tend to scoot more towards the center of the boat so that mine goes on the bunks straighter!

I do this it does help a little. Mine loads easy though. I commonly beat two people by myself, the only thing that hold me up is walking up the hill to get the truck or park it and walk down.

Another thing is I'll never understand why anybody would take their winch strap off and back down, way to risky for me. Takes about two seconds to take it off. Man the sound of fiberglass hitting pavement is not good and transoms busting under the motors weight crashing to the ground, Oh the horror.

[PRO V LE]

It seems some of you need to read the owners manual about the light switch. You can turn off the auto function and go to manual mode. The parking brake will turn off the DRL when in park also.

[Duayne]

That ski boat may not slide off, I don't know. I have seen 2 bass boats end up on the ramp though. Both were being backed in and the person driving hit the brakes a little too hard. Both boat slid right off. This was at the same ramp, different times. The ramp is kind of steep. I always leave my bow hook on until I get into the water.

I saw this happen once, almost. But the guy had only loosened his bow tie up some and he had rollers instead of carpet. Luckily, it didn't roll down too far and he was able to crank it back up some.

I also unplug my lights just in case there is a leak, which will happen sooner or later to most housings.

[Duayne]

has anyone ever used their CoPilot Remote to launch their boat. Ive been wanting to try it next time I'm by myself. I was thinking I could tie a rope to the boat and use the remote to pull off from trailer then troll to the dock to tie up. Sounds simple enough, but do you think it might work?

It would depend on the cross braces on your trailer. Many have cross members that the TM would hit. Had to load a friends "dead" boat using the copilot, while I was in the boat and had to pull the TM up well before I got close to a point it could be grabbed from shore. Even at a shallow setting, I would have hit the cross brace.