power wench

Ok our lake is low so can't submerge the trailer very deep. It changes quite a bit. I have an 2002 XStar. I can't get the boat loaded all the way. Last time had to get it 3/4 the way up and then do the drive forward and hit the breaks and slide it forward deal. Wondering if anyone has installed an electric wench and what your thoughts are on it. I found this on ebay what do you guys think http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110329489163&ssPageNam e=ADME:B:WNA:US:1123

I dont think a power winch will do much better overcoming the amount of friction between the hull and bunks $.02 Before you retrieve, give the bunks a good coating of Pam cooking spray.

I did silicone them but I got about 4" biceps so winching it myself is not going to happen.

Pam on the bunk's LOL are you serious. Have you tryed this or are you just making this stuff up LOL. I would think dish soap or boot lube thing you already have in and around your boat would work just fine. Some body is gonna have to do a Test. PAM cooking spray Vs Dish soap. What makes you boat slide best LOL man its a slow day on W/W. But serious. The hitting the breaks thing seems like a pretty good idea #1 it dosent cost you anything and it seems to work. I would think that POWER wenching your boat onto the trailer might be scary. I dont know if the bow hook is made to take that kind of force. I would be more scared at the cable breaking.
Cant you power the boat up the trailer. Ya know Old school inboard loading style where you throttle the boat up the trailer as you back down. If you decide to put anything on your bunks to make it more slippery I say you attach the bow hook for sure and crank it up and then power up. Im sure if the dish soap worked to help the boat on the trailer it would side off almost as easy.

The power winch looks intresting. Im wondeering how you attach power to it. You have the normal 5 round plug for your tail lights Im sure you would need a seprate large gauge wire to power the winch. Just wonder what kind of water resistant plug you could use?

G,

Cant be to off base with the Pam idea, tampawake said he already tried silicone spray. No, I haven't tried it, it was a "reader tip" in Trailer Boat mag. Cant see where it would hurt for a short term solution $.02

It goes directly to the battery a neighbor has one for a flats fishing boat but that thing weighs nothing. I did power it on thats how I got it so far up. The problem is our community boat ramp has broken off and we have lost about 6ft of length to the ramp with the drought we are in here in Florida its not going to change much. Just wondering what other people do. Guess I will just use more silicone. Funny there are much bigger boats on the lake wondering how in the hell they are getting it out. Was thinking of getting smaller trailer tires. Thanks for the help

We use PLEDGE here at our dealership, and even the smallest guy can crank a boat back on to the trailer after we place it on rollers in the showroom. Just my 2 cents.......... Try the Pledge and you should be fine.

Tige, Sorry if it came off like that. Your right Oil and water = Slippery it will work just fine. I was just poking fun at all the Home remides I see on W/W. The Pam Idea seems like one, Carry on. I have heard Hawiian Tropic Suntan oil works best. Nice as slippery and has SPF for the bottom of your boat.

How bout rollers instead of carpeted bunks? Havent really checked them out in person, the only concern id have is them possibly maring up the bottom of the boat. Also it would be the end of the strapping your boat down on the trailer debate.

Try smaller tires on the trailer and maybe some more drop on your hitch to lower the front of the trailer.And take everything you possibly can out of the boat and put it in the bed of the truck to weigh it down...who knows maybe that will help. Good luck!

There's a product out there called Liquid Rollers. Should be able to get it at West Marine or some other similar chain stores. Just spray on your bunks and crank. My ex-girlfriends lake house had a crazy system for their '05 X-Star to get it onto the dolly and up into the boat house. The Liquid Rollers stuff worked amazingly. About $15 a can, but worth every penny.

Hope that helps.

No harm "G", no offense taken. I will agree it sounds kinda far-fetched, but hey, it's cheaper then an electric winch

They make a special product for this called Liquid Rollers you can buy it at your local marina, or online.

I have to use this on the bunks at my boat dock, because they don't go far enough underwater to get the boat all the way where it needs to be.

don't worry about the tow eye, it can hold a few thousand lbs dead weight. At the factory Malibu uses 3 steel cables, one on the front eye and 1 each on the back eyelets and lifts the boat off the production floor and lets it hang in the air before transporting it to the water for testing. This is how i know it will hold up to just about anything.

just becareful with the liquid rollers though, it very slick. What makes the boat slip onto the trailer very easy also will make it slip off the trailer very easy. Make sure you always keep the tow strap locked when using it or you'll end up with your boat on the pavement!

All great ideas I will give the liquid roller a try if it could get me through to the spring rains that would be great. Thanks

I thought this thread was about something else, a real power wench, I dated a few of those, they will take the chrome right off of a trailer hitch. Some of them even know how to use Pam.

We had a calkins roller trailer, my brother forgot to click the winch and wham the boat came right off the trailer onto the ramp...oops.

Rollers are best. Over here in Europe all trailers do have Rollers. We even pick up boats from sand beaches, as long as the trailer has a flip back device and rollers. The only things to look at is to make sure that the boat will not flip backwards to hard and hit the ground when rolling from the trailer, secondly never slip the boat of the trailer if the trailer is not hoocked to a tow vehicle...

Yeah rollers work OK, but even still we've snapped the winch strap pulling our boat out, first the strap broke, we tied it back together and the stainless hook broke next. Nailed me in the chest, not fun...

Bunks are maybe safer since the boat can't slide on them so well, we've dropped the boat on the ramp once too. A mate of mine told me his uncle dropped his boat on the road going over a speed bump, gotta be careful with those rollers.

Guys around here use Pam in the chute of their snow blower all the time, so I imagine it would work fine on trailer bunks too.

Either way, I've always been a little nervous about pulling too much. I can just see the tow hook pulling out of the glass, or the winch imploding.

Now if your wench has more power than tampawake's 4" biceps, maybe she can push it on the trailer. ;)

We do not like to let our boats on bunks. On one hand we prefer to pose the weight on the keel and on the other hand the surface of the hull wich touches the bunks gets osmosis easyly. When trailering the boats have to be strapt down on the trailer anyway. If you have to break hard or in case of impacts the boats wich are not strapped down fly around, bunks or rollers. Electric winches are fine. Take the power from the car or pose a extra battery on the trailer. We do have a peace of chaine with a second hook on the trailer to secure the bow. once secured. Loosen the winch and go around the frame of the trailer and back up to the bow to keep the bow down on the trailer. Two strong straps on the stern and you'll be fine.