Ski Nautique Trailering

I just bought a used Ski Nautique with a custom trailer... with no winch. I have always had bow riders with a trailer with a winch.

Is there anything that I'm missing? I'm going to put the boat in the water this weekend, but am worried about getting it back on the trailer. Will this trailer allow me to just float the boat onto it?

Yeah, there's something you're missing: A WINCH!

You might be able to get the boat on the trailer, but what's holding the boat on said trailer while going up the ramp? For that matter, what's holding the boat on the trailer now when you hit that big hole in the road on the way to the lake?

Thanks for the response Swass. It is hooked to the custom trailer, but not by a winch. So some how or another I have to get the boat to the hook.

You mean there's just a hook at the front? OK - maybe I don't know what I'm talking about. Let me put it this way: I've never seen a trailer that does NOT have a winch.

Most trailers under Nautiques do not come with a winch as standard equipment. There is probably a turnbuckle attached to the trailer in its place. You should be able to drive the boat onto the trailer all the way up to the bowstops. Then all you have to do is hook up the clip and tighten the turnbuckle.

You can see it in the picture of my old boat below.

I had a feeling that was the case. I don't see too many CCs. Sorry for the erroneous information.

swass there are many trailers that don't have winches. I don't know how to explain it easily, but most that don't have a winch have a retaining hook that loosens and tightens by a two way bolt in the middle to tension the hook. As almost all inboard trailers don't have rollers, boats are meant to be eased onto trailers with power, after which they stay put and don't slide back, and then hooked to the strap or hook to fully secure then on the trailer, boats are not meant to be pulled on to the trailer with the winch, so on some old trailers, they never had winches.

edit. turnbuckle, that's it (those two posts were made while i was typing/eating)

(Message edited by tommyadrian5 on May 05, 2004)

This is true, as long as your boat starts there is not a problem. On some ramps you will not be able to get the boat back on the trailer without engine power. My advice always start your boat before unhooking the turnbuckle. For your particular set up, when your are ready to put the boat back on the trailer, back the trailer down so that the fenders are just barily underwater (less then an inch) This will be the perfect level for you to drive the boat back onto the trailer. Aim right down the middle, coast in, once the trailer catches you and you are lined up straight, power it up and cut the engine when you hit the stops.

"...boats are not meant to be pulled on to the trailer with the winch..."

I'm not sure I agree completely (why is it there, then?), but my position on the slope is already somewhat tenuous, so I'll say "uncle."

Wow. I totally appreciate all the feed back! The seller told me that it was realy easy to trailer, so it sounds like it will be.

Thanks again!

Even if you lose power, you can still get your nauti on the trailer. I have the same one as jeff pictured above. Back your trailer up to the fender tops adn you can float right up and on...no problem, been there. Winches are there to nudge the boat the last foot or so, but I wouldn't think it's prudent to try to load a boat with bunks that aren't as far into the water as possible. Been there also. So you aren't totally down the slippery slope Swass!!

Eric

Just to be clear, I use my winch as Eric describes. I don't winch my boat all the way onto the trailer.

Erics info is correct if you are on a ramp with a gradual slope, if you are on a ramp that is very steep you may have trouble if your boat is not running. But, you own a Nautique so that should not be an issue.

By the way swass, once you drive on and hit the bow stops, hook your turnbuckle but don't tighten it much! The reason is once you pull up the ramp if you tighten it snug you'll pull the nose of the boat WAY down. I usually just hook mine and don't tighten at all. As part of wipedown I then tighten the turnbuckle to snug.

I'm not a huge fan of the no-winch approach, but I have to admit I load just as quick as my Mastercraft buddies running the BoatBuddy snap on their trailers. Of course, they'll have the last laugh first time I break down and have no power to load.

My winch is rated at 1400 lbs, but that is max, first turn, without the strap rolled up. I believe it is 900 lbs or so after the first coil around the hub.

I usually need to keep the trailer pretty far out of the water, or the nose of the vlx will be below the rubber stop. I power up the trailer quite a bit. I think I power more than 900 lbs of force on occasion.

joe, i've noticed the same thing, if you don't power the boat all the way up onto the trailer, and the trailer isn't completely under the boat the winch just pulls the nose down and doesn't pull the boat forward unless you really crank on it, which doesn't seem normal.

frankly i feel the winch is there to get the boat off the trailer rather than on, if you didn't have a winch it would be harder to get the hook out of the bow eyelet.

People with turnbuckles, is it ever hard to get the hook out of the eye? When i let the winch out the boat slides back on the trailer, do you ever have to completely undo the turnbuckle to get the hook out of the eye?

(Message edited by tommyadrian5 on May 05, 2004)

Tom, nope. Never been a problem for me. Just a few turns and the hook comes right out.

I do have the issue where the boat situates itself a little farther up on the trailer after a mile or so of trailering, just after loading. I usually stop after a few minutes to tighten up the turnbuckle which has become loose after the boat moves forward on the trailer some. No big deal but I'd rather not have to do it.

Actually if the ramp is steep then the turnbuckle is even easier. Your trailer will sit deeper and you hook the turnbuckle on and go. It's easy to reach over the bow and hook it on. Thing about all of them is that if they are too tight, they are all pulling on a downward angle on the bowhook, which I would think would stress the trailer, boat, or both.

Eric

OK I'm going to get slammed here, but I also have the boat above and 'power trailer'. I unhook the boat before I ever back down (except for an extremely steep ramp) and don't hook the boat up before I pull out of the water. I have NEVER had the boat move an inch going in or out. I power the boat all the way up the trailer, then having the driver go with the power still on. The trick pulling out is having the tow vehicle driver be very smooth on the power and keep the power on in the boat on until the prop clears the top of the water (you'll know when) then kill it quickly. The friction of the boat and trailer rails keeps the boat put on the trailer. We (my wife and I) are in and out quicker then even the best fishermen. We put the turnbuckle on and take off when we get all the gear put away. We (myself and members of our ski club) have done this for years with NO problems. I'll admit I didn't like it at first, but don't hesitate or think twice at most ramps. To make sure this worked I had the wife attach the boat loosly while still in the water w/ the power holding the boat to the bunks, then tried this method. That how I verified the process. I've been in this discussion on the boards before, and the water pick-up is only out of the water for a half a second MAX, not enough time to ruin the raw water or anything else. I've never had problems w/ the impeller. I would rather have a boat buddy or a winch, but I make due with what I have. As Joe pointed out, the only other way to do this is to attach the boat and take off, but when the boat settles on the trailer it holds the bow down under extreme stress, or the boat is way back on the trailer. I don't want to get in a 'thats the most crazy thing I've heard' thing here. I'm an engineer, been on the water for 20 years, I've thought it through, and it works.

(Message edited by siuski on May 05, 2004)

Hehe.. I used to do the same thing with my '94 Sport, even though back then I did have a trailer with a winch. We'd unhook it prior to backing in and I'd let it idle for a few then back off. Loading back on I'd drive up, hit bow stops, kill engine and we'd pull out. There's definitely a TON of friction there to hold you in, that's for sure. Since I got my '01 all of a sudden I got nervous about going up/down ramps unhooked. Unless you have a closed bow, it's stupid trivial to get in bow and hook the eye -- pull out. No need to even get out of the truck and NO ONE beats me out of the water.

I must be getting old or just have read too many posts about boats slipping off trailers. Shouldn't happen with bunk trailer, but the piece of mind is worth it to me.

I have a 92 Sport and it has the same set up. I have a hook towards the bottom of the post holding the bow stops. Then just underneath the bow stops, there is a rod attached. The strap attaches to the hook, runs straight up around the rod, then straight out to the bow hook. That way it is pulling forward instead of at a downward angle. You you all say turnbuckle, what exactly do you mean. I have what I would call a wratchet type strap. I hook up and give the wratchet a few clicks and go. I actually bought a winch to install and am debating on whether or not to use it. I would have to do some welding to put supports for the winch, in a manner that would allow the handle to spin. I can't attach it to the post with the bow stops because the stops get in the way of the handle turning radius. I have found though that if you don't get it pulled up to the stops you get a little play while you are driving. I've only trailered it for any distance twice so I am still learning. I will post a picture of what I have and you all tell me what you think.

I have a 92 Sport and it has the same set up. I have a hook towards the bottom of the post holding the bow stops. Then just underneath the bow stops, there is a rod attached. The strap attaches to the hook, runs straight up around the rod, then straight out to the bow hook. That way it is pulling forward instead of at a downward angle. You you all say turnbuckle, what exactly do you mean. I have what I would call a wratchet type strap. I hook up and give the wratchet a few clicks and go. I actually bought a winch to install and am debating on whether or not to use it. I would have to do some welding to put supports for the winch, in a manner that would allow the handle to spin. I can't attach it to the post with the bow stops because the stops get in the way of the handle turning radius. I have found though that if you don't get it pulled up to the stops you get a little play while you are driving. I've only trailered it for any distance twice so I am still learning. I will post a picture of what I have and you all tell me what you think.

I do something similar to what pwork does.

I use the pwoer loading technique, and help the tow vehicle with the boat's power. I agree with the short time out of the water will not harm the impeller. I had about 130 hours on my firts impeller that I just changed. It even had one stint of runing where it was out of the water for about 2 minutes of 3000 rpm running OUT of the water. (This was not on purpose, but happened due to bad circumstances) That was the main reason I chnage the impeller. When I pulled it, it looked new except for on one paddle in the center there was a spot about 3/16" long that looked scraped.

The only extra step I take is I leave the strap on it loosly when launching, and remove it when the back of the boat is over the water, and while the boat is still in gear, and under light throttle, I reattach the strap loosly. When I am back on dry level land I crank the winch tight, and then after a quick brack check, I retighten the strap the final time.

I would hate to see my boat on the ramp with no trailer or water under her.