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Go Back   WakeWorld > >> Boats, Accessories & Tow Vehicles Archive > Archive through November 04, 2009

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Old     (mike3500)      Join Date: Jun 2008       09-08-2009, 10:18 AM Reply   
WTF, I have nicked my trailer, with my prop, 3 times now in the last 4 years. It happens when we're trailering (not launching). The first time, the boat was new to us, and I think we had the trailer in too deep. Now, I think we have it down, but this weekend, I'm pulling the plug, and notice a new nick on the trailer, and the prop has a few small dings/ waves to it (on all four blades)!!!!!

I back the trailer down straight as possible, and leave the front end of the fenders (curved part) out of the water. My wife drives the boat onto the trailer.

1. DAMN IT!!
2. Am I the only mormon this happens to (more than once)?
3. What am I doing wrong?
4. Like I said before, the prop has small waves in each blade. Is it terrible to ride on it while I get my spare prop machined? Yes, my spare prop has not been repaired since the last time this happened.

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuudge!
Old     (chaser)      Join Date: Sep 2006       09-08-2009, 10:25 AM Reply   
If your prop hit your trailer while loading I would think you and everyone in the boat landing area would hear that? My buddy dinged his on his lift and everyone in the area heard it! Are you sure you dinged it on your trailer?
Old     (alans)      Join Date: Aug 2005       09-08-2009, 10:30 AM Reply   
If your prop hit your trailer, it is a design flaw, plain and simple.
Old     (jame04)      Join Date: Nov 2007       09-08-2009, 10:32 AM Reply   
could be worse....your trailer could have nicked your boat! Asked me how I know this is worse
Old    pdxWAKE.com            09-08-2009, 10:32 AM Reply   
Can you take a pic of where it hit?

1. My first guess is you actually have your trailer too deep, but we could probably tell by pics on where you actually hit it. If your boat is riding up on your bunks it is near impossible to hit it. Don't be scared to drive your boat on the bunks.

2. It is a long shot, but I do know a guy that had a boatmate trailer and he kept hitting his trailer too. Come to find out Boatmate put the wrong guide poles his trailer. They stuck out further and left too much play.

Good luck
Old     (cocheese)      Join Date: Jul 2004       09-08-2009, 10:36 AM Reply   
Happened to us last season twice. We ended up spending an entire morning putting the boat on and off with the trailer at different levels. We used the dinged prop just in case. We found that it was a combination of things. Our previous boat would center itself no matter what. This boat, if you came on crooked, it stayed crooked. The second was we had the trailer too shallow and when powering the boat up the trailer the back would swing from side to side hitting the trailer. Just and expensive learning curve for us!!
Old     (seth)      Join Date: Sep 2002       09-08-2009, 10:48 AM Reply   
"2. Am I the only mormon this happens to (more than once)? "

I am willing to bet that the fact that you are mormon had nothing to do with it!! haha
Old     (trace)      Join Date: Feb 2002       09-08-2009, 11:07 AM Reply   
If your ramp isn't notably flat or steep, and you're stopping with about an inch of the fenders showing - I agree with Alan, it's a design flaw in the trailers.
Old     (denverd1)      Join Date: May 2004 Location: Tyler       09-08-2009, 11:11 AM Reply   
Could be a design flaw, but an easy fix would be to stack two 2x4s(or 6's) to make your bunks a tad taller. Doesn't sound like you're off by much
Old     (bill_airjunky)      Join Date: Apr 2002       09-08-2009, 11:23 AM Reply   
Or just don't power load the boat. Drive up to the point that the boat is on the bunks, then winch it up the rest of the way.

We launch on a sandy beach a lot of times. And if we power load everytime, then we get a giant sand hump about 20' out from the water's edge, which will fold your prop over just as well .

Power loading is not allowed on many launches anyway, because of the effect it causes where it moves mud & sand out from under the concrete slab.
Old     (cocheese)      Join Date: Jul 2004       09-08-2009, 11:49 AM Reply   
If you have the trailer at the proper depth, you don't have to use much power to load the boat on the trailer. Just find the right trailer depth for your ramp and you shouldn't have any problems. If you are using a lot of throttle, you might be too shallow. At our ramp, the majority of the fender well is under water with about a couple inches out of the water. You can just see the tips of the front bunks.
Old     (jarrod)      Join Date: May 2003       09-08-2009, 12:07 PM Reply   
Must be a f-up on the trailer construction. I've launched and loaded a wide variety of boats, on a wide variety of trailers, on a wide variety of steep and flat ramps. Crooked, straight, shallow, deep, I've never had this happen. Also, our boats has alway had a ton of extra weight in them.
Old     (jpuckett)      Join Date: Apr 2005       09-08-2009, 12:14 PM Reply   
Did you buy the boat and trailer new? Is the trailer designed for the boat or is it a universal one? I've had two Centurion boats and boatmate trailers. I've never had a prop to hit the trailer.
Old     (mike3500)      Join Date: Jun 2008       09-08-2009, 12:24 PM Reply   
Ironically, the prop hits the prop guard. It has always hit on the left diagonal. This time it hit about 4-5" above the bottom bar. The first time, when we had it in real deep, it hit a few inches from the top. I am very careful not to get it in too deep, because I know what happens (that's what she said!). Sorry.

Oh yeah, I have nothing against Mormons. Sorry about that.

Upload

Here's another question about trailering. Do you guys have to check the bunks to make sure they are not resting on an edge of one of those channels in your hull (example below). Is this normal, or is this just another example of the trailer being too deep, and the boat moving around while it's on the trailer?

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Old     (mike3500)      Join Date: Jun 2008       09-08-2009, 12:29 PM Reply   
Yes, we bought them at the same time. It's an extreme trailer. The ramp is not that steep. I think it's just me finding the right depth.

For you SoCal riders, how deep do you go at Castaic's main ramp?
Old     (tailgate)      Join Date: Apr 2007       09-08-2009, 12:43 PM Reply   
That second picture is actually my boat and trailer :-)

If your trailer is in too deep, the back of you boat will (could) still be floating, so I guess it would be possible that it could sit off centered on the bunks but all depends on the boat and trailer.

That being said, my trailer centers the boat pretty good, and I can power or winch the last few feet with no problem.

Every boat/trailer/ramp is different
Old     (big_b_21v)      Join Date: Oct 2006       09-08-2009, 12:44 PM Reply   
Any pics of the guidepoles? If the guidepoles are hitting the rubrail you shouldnt be hitting the propcage.
Measure the distance from the rubrail to the guidepoles on both sides with the boat on the trailer. Then divide it by 2
Then measure the distance from the center of the propcage to the inside of the of the cage upright.
If you have more distance on the guidepoles than on the propcage you have a engineering issue with your trailer.
Do your guidepoles adjust? Are they tight?
Old     (bjeremi)      Join Date: Mar 2006       09-08-2009, 12:45 PM Reply   
Mike to answer your question channels lining up. I constantly had to check them am move the boat around to make sure they weren't misaligned and resting up on the bunks on one side before I learned not to load so deep. Once I learned the proper depth to load (shallower than I thought) it's lined up perfect every time, every single time.
Old     (nick_in_ssp)      Join Date: Aug 2006       09-08-2009, 1:19 PM Reply   
My buddy also has an '05 Vride and this same thing happened twice in a years time. The prop guard is tight and when the trailer is to deep the guide poles are wider at the top then they are at the trailer base. It has way to much play from side to side when the boat isn't resting on the bunks. I think it is a horrible design flaw but could be fixed at your local welding shop for less than the price of a new prop. Might be worth it. Other than that I think it is only a matter of time before it happens again unless you go in deeper and crank it up to the roller.
Old     (stanfield)      Join Date: Mar 2004       09-08-2009, 1:29 PM Reply   
Nick got it. I've always wondered why some trailer manufacturers angle their guide poles out the further up (or deep) from the trailer. Guide poles should be verticle, not at an angle.
Old     (alans)      Join Date: Aug 2005       09-08-2009, 1:49 PM Reply   
Your guide poles are not adjusted properly. When adjusted properly it should be impossible to load off centered and will certainly keep the prop from hitting the prop guard.
Old     (chilidog)      Join Date: Dec 2007       09-08-2009, 2:55 PM Reply   
On my trailer there is a bolt under the guide pole that likes to loosen itself up. When it loosens up the poles will hang out away from the boat. If its tight they are damn near straight up and down. Check to see if they wiggle or not at all, pretty sure they should be tight and the poles shouldn't move in/out at all. We dinged our prop last year but it was from the previous owner who had gone off a curb or something and the prop guard was bent up just enough to catch the prop when power loading, needless to say we didn't power load at all last year, got it fixed this year and power load every time now, although just yesterday my front guide roller split and came real close to catching the bracket on the keel, luckily my buddy caught it and we backed in the trailer and I winched it up keep an eye out on the roller. I am still not sure about power loading, yeah its quicker and your guide pole pads don't pop off and float away but it seems hard on the hull/gel, bunks, and the roller, plus if you screw up and get too off kilter you can nail your trailer with the prop.

Tighten your guide pole bolts it may help.
Old     (mike3500)      Join Date: Jun 2008       09-08-2009, 3:11 PM Reply   
The guide poles are the standard Extreme trailer poles. They do angle outwards. Maybe I'll try a shallow trailer, and see how that works.

Thanks guys.
Old     (mike3500)      Join Date: Jun 2008       09-08-2009, 3:15 PM Reply   
I make sure the bolts are tight all the time, but tightening them does not straighten out the poles. The poles are definitely made to angle out.
Old     (airrantz)      Join Date: Jun 2004       09-08-2009, 9:23 PM Reply   
Trailer is too deep would be my guess. I was always in the habit of backing the trailer in deep and power loading on the last few inches on my V210 (has the little safety bar so you can't winch it on). Well I had my wife power load it one time and the steering wheel wasn't straight so the back end swung out and the prop hit the trailer bunk. I told her not to worry it was time to upgrade to the 3-blade Acme anyways. Make sure when the trailer is backed in it's not too deep for the guide poles to still do their job then you should never be able to swing the back end enough to damage the prop on the trailer.
Old     (wakesetter101)      Join Date: Oct 2005       09-09-2009, 3:06 PM Reply   
Not sure how this happened but it did this weekend. Boat got hung up on the trailer cause of the low water level.
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Old     (wakeandsnow27)      Join Date: Jun 2004       09-09-2009, 4:08 PM Reply   
the only way I can think this is possible is if you are very stern heavy approaching the trailer, but even then, I have to think it is a design flaw and it does not have enough room for error. Ive never seen that...
Old     (ajholt7)      Join Date: Apr 2009       09-10-2009, 2:53 AM Reply   
Tore one prop up and now to me it is worth the extra time to winch. I don't get risking damage to your boat and trailer to save a few minutes.
Old     (nick_in_ssp)      Join Date: Aug 2006       09-10-2009, 6:11 AM Reply   
I agree with Ty. I can see hitting the side uprights of the prop guard but how in the F can it scrape the bottom support?
Old     (mike3500)      Join Date: Jun 2008       09-10-2009, 8:43 AM Reply   
After spending probably another $180 to repair this prop (not to mention my spare prop) I will be wenching as well.
Old     (mike3500)      Join Date: Jun 2008       09-10-2009, 8:44 AM Reply   
sorry....winch.
Old     (denverd1)      Join Date: May 2004 Location: Tyler       09-10-2009, 9:21 AM Reply   
Even weighted, it should be physically impossible for prop and trailer to make contact....

C'mon trailer manufacturers, get your head out of your ***!!
Old     (denverd1)      Join Date: May 2004 Location: Tyler       09-10-2009, 9:21 AM Reply   
Oh yea,

Big E. Nice prop! Good thing it's stainless!!

(Message edited by denverd1 on September 10, 2009)
Old     (imx)      Join Date: Jul 2009       09-10-2009, 5:23 PM Reply   
Is your prop the original? If you have gone to a larger diameter, maybe there isn't the clearance for it
Old     (wakesetter101)      Join Date: Oct 2005       09-10-2009, 7:48 PM Reply   
Yea Nacho, good thing it is stainless.

paul, I have had that prop on there for 4 years. It was on the boat when i bought it so not sure if its the original one or not. Maybe its starting to swell.
Old     (imx)      Join Date: Jul 2009       09-10-2009, 11:00 PM Reply   
The only other thing I can think of is wave action causing the bow to lift as the prop is passing the guard.
Old     (byrd)      Join Date: Dec 2005       09-11-2009, 12:36 AM Reply   
Big E, stainless props are not a good thing on inboards. If you hit something, it can mess up your shaft and other driveline components. brass props are made to take the abuse, stainless are not. A buddy of mine hit a rock with a stainless prop and did $2000 damage to his driveline.

End hijack
Old     (wakesetter101)      Join Date: Oct 2005       09-11-2009, 2:41 PM Reply   
Byrd, they are a good thing. Cause i would be buying/repairing this one if it wasnt a stainless one.
Old     (mike3500)      Join Date: Jun 2008       09-11-2009, 3:14 PM Reply   
I would take a ding in my prop for $150 vs. taking the chance of damaging the shaft and driveline any day.
Old     (polarbill)      Join Date: Jun 2003       09-11-2009, 3:38 PM Reply   
The angled in prop guard is ridiculously dumb. What the hell are they thinking? Maybe I have always been lucky but when i was selling Mastercrafts and Centurions I powered all the way up and usually was by myself. I drive till I hit the stopper and leave it in gear so I can run to the front and hook the winch up to it. I have never hit the trailer.

On the other hand if you know it is going to be a problem like Mike is having I would winch it up as well.

Mike, do you usually back the trailer down so the front of the fenders are an inch or 2 out of the water? That is where I have always found to be the sweetspot although depending on the ramp it may be a little different.

(Message edited by polarbill on September 11, 2009)
Old     (trx1noob)      Join Date: Sep 2006       09-12-2009, 8:42 PM Reply   
when loading my boat up, if i'm short of where it needs to be on the bunks I'll throttle her up to where she needs to be. never hit nothing yet, but after reading this post I'll be rethinking my loading habits!!
Old     (denverd1)      Join Date: May 2004 Location: Tyler       09-14-2009, 10:47 AM Reply   
^ I think that's how everyone does it. you shouldn't be able to hit the trailer when loading/unloading your boat!!
Old     (mike3500)      Join Date: Jun 2008       09-14-2009, 11:38 AM Reply   
Brett - I usually have the fenders about 3-4 inches out of water. The ramp is not very steep.
Old     (duramat)      Join Date: Feb 2008       09-14-2009, 1:18 PM Reply   
My fenders are generally 6 inches under water. I try to coast on the bunks and then ratchet on the rest of the way, no problems yet
Old     (bjeremi)      Join Date: Mar 2006       09-14-2009, 1:41 PM Reply   
Ryan thats the right way to do it. Boat lines up perfectly everytime.

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