SLIPPERY BOAT RAMP

[Al Wagner]

Looking for suggestions on how to deal with a slippery boat ramp. My tow vehicle is an 8 Cyl, 2wd, Auto trans Dodge Dakota, and my 1200 lb boat rests on a bunk trailer. The ramps I have been visiting as of late have become quite slippery due to the build up of Algae, etc. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Al

 

[Bob G.]

Not sure if I can be any help as I live up north and have 4WD w/locker rearend. How do you deal with winter? Living between Buffalo and Syracuse, you must get a crap load of snow.

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

Carry a bag of sand or kitty litter. That's what we do in the winter anyway, I assume it would work on slime. Toss it under your traction tires.



TOXIC

 

[Bob G.]

Good idea Tox! I was thinking inside the box!

 

[Jim B]

A locking differential would help a lot too.



My truck has a locker in the rear and i almost never have to use 4wd on a ramp, never on anything concrete even with slime. The only ones i do are dirt ramps that are really muddy. When i had my Dakota it had a limited slip rear and i needed 4wd on anything slimy at all or anything dirt.

 

[Al Wagner]

In the winter I throw 6 bags of tube sand in the cargo area. I have now put in four as far back as I can to see if that helps. I will also take along kitty liter and even heard that bird seed may work, so what the hey I'll give that a try also. To compound the problem, the water level is also low which means I have to go back further when launching.

Al

 

[JR F]

Yep Kitty Liter and get the cheap stuff It works great

 

[Marty Klein]

One thing to consider, slow gradual movement on the ramp; most folks try to accelerate quickly, causing a spin. Once you spin the tires, you might as well be all ice. Spun algae is really slippery. kitty litter is also good as long as you mix it liberally with cats.

 

[Bill McElroy]

once you put the kitty litter down, you better get your butt in the truck and get going FAST,......it's just granualized clay,....and once it get's wet....it's slipperier(sp?) than the damn algea!!!



I don't mean accelerate FAST,...i mean...."QUICK,..GET BACK in the truck and don't phart around putting the bag back all nice and tiddy, etc..etc!!!" :lol:

 

[Al Wagner]

Now Im starting to wonder if I should try this at all as the tires are already submerged.

 

[Mini]

Additional weight in the rear of the truck will help...one nice way to do it is to get a 1/4" thick plate steel (what ever fits) and put that in as opposed to sand. You will stiull retain the use of your bed and add weight evenly over the axle.

 

[Mike Clayton]

Back in the day my father in law had a ball mounted on the front of his truck and he backed out of the ramp, in was mainly a salt water/brackish ramp and always slippery, took a little more time but it seemed to work....

 

[TROY WAINRIGHT3]

This brings back memories.We ran across this problem all the time at low tide with a half ton 2 wd pulling a 27 foot dep sea boat.After putting all kinds of weight in the back we learned another way.Have someone in the vehicle and have some one power the boat for a lil extra ummmph.Just enough to get ya out of the algea.Hope this helps.

 

[ND Bass]

What about laying some tire chains in front of the drive tire(s) or some kind of tire width metal (or plastic) grating?

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

Problem with putting anything solid under the traction tires is that it usually becomes a projectile out the rear of the vehicle!! Chains/plastic/wood sheets or anything else solid flying back at the boat is not a good thing. That's exactly why I have a 4wd. That brackish slime is the slickest snot I have ever seen!! First time I launched my boat in the St Johns in Florida, I hit the water like I was on a skateboard or snow skis!!:lol: I was lucky I didn't pull a Fatrap and bust my arse!! Sorry Mike....:lol::lol:



TOXIC

 

[Al Wagner]

Toxic, you got me thinking about becoming a "lethal weapon" which is the last thing I wish to do. Thought I just had; how about putting a sheet of roofing shingles under each rear tire?

 

[Dan J.]

When I was a kid I remember on Kentucky Lake there was a ramp by my grandparents that was an old dirt road ending in the lake. (Running Bear Creek) Right by the water's edge was a trash barrel and a section of old chain link fencing. It was for just this situation and provided excellent traction. On our previous drought there were fellas keeping a piece of link fencing in their truck bed for the same reason. Good luck!

 

[Al Wagner]

Thanks to all for the great suggestions as usual.

Al

 

[Calamus]

I use to fish some lakes with dirt ramps and very shallow front tires would be half in the water to get the boat back on the trailer. I got stuck one weekday and waited 3 hours for the game warden to happen by and give me a pull out worried to have this happen again I started to carry a fence post a post driver and come a long and used it a few times glad that I had it. Now I have a 12volt winch that works great.

 

[fatrap]

Scott thanks for the kind words. Other than four wheel drive I don't have a answer. I know some of the ramps in South Dakota are polished so smooth it's like ice. I put the Powerstroke in 4Xgo. I'm banking on extra weight on the drive wheels. Empty the livewells so your not pulling so much water weight and sloooooowly step on the gas. I see these guys looking like drag racers burning the tires all the way up the ramp.

fatrap