Boat Loading Question

[Mike Wagner]

When loading my boat (Nitro Z7), depending on the steepness of the ramp I have to leave different amounts of bunk out of water. At one ramp, 3" of bunk exposed might work perfectly, but 3" at another ramp might have me going under the ball, meaning the trailer was in too deep.



I did some searching on here and found a great suggestion about marking the fenders at the point where the boat just begins to float when launching. My question is, is that level on the fenders going to be the same for all ramps, or is that going to change as well based on water depth, steepness of the ramp, etc.? There might be different amounts of bunk exposed based on the steepness, but if it is the same point on the fenders, that would take a lot of the guess work out of loading the boat when going to different lakes.



Any advice would be appreciated.



Mike

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

Loading is not an exact science. No 2 boats load the same way an there are no 2 ramps that are the same. You will always be making adjustments for wind, current, ramp angle, depth of water and length of ramp. Find the depth that you boat "usually" loads well at and adjust from there.

 

[THOMMO59]

I'm with Tox, basically my deal is I leave just the tops of the fenders exposed as guides, works for me on every ramp so far as the angle of the trailer never seems to be too steep, I slowly glide in, let the boat centre then ease the power up until it gently seats against the winch post. With my motor at full til, it also tends to lift the bow a little as you are almost on the trailer under power and this guides it over the roller when it's a bit close.



Of course make sure you install a "Keelshield" as a safeguard for scratches eh Tox?



good luck

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

You betcha!! Even though it won't help loading.:lol:

 

[Mike Wagner]

Thanks for the advice. And yes, I do have a keel guard!

 

[THOMMO59]

Oooh, careful Mike, "Keelsheild" and that other one are 2 different animals, to Tox it's like a large mouth and a crappie!! :lol:

 

[Jimmy Easterling]

With mine, the top of the fender out of the water works on almost every ramp.

 

[James R.]

And I thought I had a defective trailer! My last boat was a big fiberglass hull, I had to back the trailer deep! My little tracker has been giving me hell getting the nose up over the roller, probably because I'm just backing up too far. Going to cypremort point tomorrow to see what the storm pushed in, will try stopping at the top of the fenders like Jimmy say.
James

 

[Larry Williams]

I've found that it helps a lot to pay particular attention to your good UNLOAD position at a particular ramp. Then all you have to do is place the trailer in the same water lever on the ramp to reload the trailer. The angle of the ramp greatly affects how far back you need to be. I've generally found it better to error on the side of the trailer being too shallow rather than too deep in the ramp.

 

[James R.]

I usually back in just till the the back starts floating and then hit the brakes and the boat slides off, with my wife holding the dock line. I've started leaving a few inches of the fenders showing to load it back up and it works great! I feel like an idiot that I didn't figure this out before. My last, and only boat I had ever owned was different. All good now!
James