Augment Safety Chain on Boat Trailer?

[SkunkedAgain]

This is my third year with a 16.5' Alumacraft Navigator. There is 90hp Suzuki hanging off of the back, so not an unusual amount of weight. However, I've noticed that while trailering (which I do often) the bow of the boat is bouncing up and down into the bow stop on my trailer. I winch the boat tightly to the post and have the safety chain on but it will still bounce on bumpy roads.

Has anyone ever run a winch strap straight down from the bow eye, around the trailer frame, and back up to the bow eye? Any reason not to do this? I figure that it will hold the boat firm against the bow stop.

[CAMAN]

Is your winch strap run under or over the bow stop? It should be under if at all possible.

[jac714]

I have seen trailers with a vertical as well as horizontal winch. I would start to worry about the capacity of the bow eye, on my boat it can handle the winch strap and safety chain but nothing else.

The only time I have had any discernable motion while on the trailer I did not have the boat tight to the bow roller.

Good luck with this one, when mine was moving it badly abraded the winch strap to the point where I had to replace it.

[leech~~]

I run into this on my trailer as well once in a while. It happens when I do not pull it up all the way when taking it out of the lake and putting the back hold down straps on tight. Once I start down the road she seems to pull up the rails a bit more and the front strap gets looser. So, I pull over and give the handle another crank!

[harvey lee]

Do you have the transom tied down to the trailer?

With that tied and the front tight on the winch strap, seems it should not bounce in the front.

I winch it on tight and then add the chain and then go to the back and strap the transon down pretty darn tight. Never a wobble even over rough roads.

[LightningBG]

yeah, it can be done. is your bow eye higher than the bow stop?

[FM_Mike]

This works great. Very easy.

http://www.cabelas.com/product/BoatBuckle-Bow-Tie-Down/738298.uts

Mike

[SkunkedAgain]

My bow eye is lower than the bow stop, and the strap goes underneath the bow stop. Trust me, I've tightened and re-tightened everything including the transom tie downs. They are all rock solid, but I think because of the angles of the bow eye to the winch, there is vertical play that allows the bow of the boat to come up an inch or so on bumpy roads.

I think that I'll go with a tie-down and see how it works.

[CAMAN]

Can you post a pic? Maybe it just needs an adjustment in height.

[Superduty]

Is it possible the winch antireverse is slipping? I have had that happen to me. Also, if there is loose winch strap under the freshly tightened strap, it can loosen up when boat goes down the road.

[broken_line]

i replace all my rivited eyes with grade 8 bolts with 1.5" washers on the inside. if that comes off im asking for it! ha its always a bummer when you gotta chase your boat down the river do this to get it home.. and hold the back down with 3 ratchet straps..

[Valv]

I think there's something wrong with your trailer setup.

Boat should sit on trailer evenly, and steady. The bow stop should be right above the boat ring, in case of accident it is supposed to catch the ring and stop boast from moving.

The back of boat should be just above the last roller or end of bunk.

You should have approx 10% of weight on trailer hitch, if you can lift hitch with ease, boat is too far back.

I think your setup is not correct, boat is not level and when you strap it down, you are actually lifting the back from trailer support.

In theory the boat should travel perfect with no tie down or strap of any kind, they are made just to hold boat from moving on trailer.

Did you buy boat separate from trailer or did it came as a unit from Alumacraft ?

Can you have a dealer take a look at it ? Or can you post a picture of it ?

[PurpleFloyd]

My bow eye is lower than the bow stop, and the strap goes underneath the bow stop. Trust me, I've tightened and re-tightened everything including the transom tie downs. They are all rock solid, but I think because of the angles of the bow eye to the winch, there is vertical play that allows the bow of the boat to come up an inch or so on bumpy roads.

I think that I'll go with a tie-down and see how it works.

Is the bow stop adjustable? Can you loosen the bolts and slide it down the tube until it is lower than the eye?

[SkunkedAgain]

It took a while, but I finally got a picture of my setup. The winch is mounted to the same bracket as the bow stop, so I can't adjust it any lower unless I were to spool the winch strap to work from the bottom of the spool. Any thoughts? You can see that there is an upward angle to the strap in relation to the bow eye.

[Jim Almquist]

My boat is the same setup as yours but I can winch it right up to the bow eye. I think that you may need to raise your winch a couple of inches so that it will pull up the eye tight.

[SkunkedAgain]

The transom is directly over the rear rollers on the trailer, so if I brought the boat more than 2" closer to the post it would be forward of the rear rollers.

[TooTallTom]

The transom is directly over the rear rollers on the trailer, so if I brought the boat more than 2" closer to the post it would be forward of the rear rollers.

Move the winch post 2" farther back on the frame of the trailer when you move the winch up the winch post. Basically, move the bow roller (on the post) back to the boat, rather than moving the boat up to the bow roller.

[CAMAN]

My boat is the same setup as yours but I can winch it right up to the bow eye. I think that you may need to raise your winch a couple of inches so that it will pull up the eye tight.

I was thinking the opposite and lowering the winch assembly so the bow roller is tucked into the top of the bow eye. That's the way mine is setup and works great.

[grizrunner]

Here's what you do.

Leave the boat where it sits on the trailer.

Drop the winch mount AND move the entire post back to where the roller stop rests against the top of the eye. The angle of the strap from the winch to eye will improve, too.

I'd guess you'll be moving the winch bracket down about 1.5-1.75" and the entire post back about 1-1.25".

Then, as Lightning BG and FM mike suggested, use another tie-down to the frame.

[Valv]

Found the problem.

Your winch is too high. Drop it so the strap is even with the eye.

The way it is now you are lifting the bow by tightening the strap. The more you tighten it the more you lift your bow. Lower the stop/winch combo until it is snug to the eye, then ratchet the strap tight.

But also I think your setup is wrong. The winch itself is sloping downward near back, the whole "winch tower" should have a different angle

[Finns]

Could the bracket (with winch and roller stop) be mounted upside down? If the bracket with roller was turned 180 degrees so it pointed down, mounted higher on post, and then winch mounted below roller post it might work. 'course I don't have to do the work.

[grizrunner]

Found the problem.

Your winch is too high. Drop it so the strap is even with the eye.

The way it is now you are lifting the bow by tightening the strap. The more you tighten it the more you lift your bow. Lower the stop/winch combo until it is snug to the eye, then ratchet the strap tight.

But also I think your setup is wrong. The winch itself is sloping downward near back, the whole "winch tower" should have a different angle[/quote

Valv you are close, but not quite.

Keep the roller stop just above the eye not even with it.

Also the winch mount/post are fab'd that way. Good luck tweaking that. Might as well just start over from scratch with some tube steel and a welder??

And Finns, as far as flipping it over, he's not that far off. No need to do that. Raising the winch that high would only weaken the set up. Fumbling with the mechanism upside down may be annoying, too.

Reread my earlier post. Again, drop the winch down/move the post back. Done deal. Might not even need the extra strap to the frame either, although it is a nice additional support.

[SkunkedAgain]

Funny how the memory works...after reading all of your posts, I remembered that after just my second tow of the rig I noticed that the bow stop was completely torn to shreds. The small plate that the bow eye attaches to has a sharp edge which destroyed the bow stop. I took my boat to the dealer who installed a new bow stop and moved the bracket a little higher...which in hindsight seems to have created this new problem.

I'm going to try moving the winch post away an inch or so (towards the tongue), and drop the winch bracket two inches down (towards the frame) so that the bow stop is just above the bow eye but not getting munched by that metal plate. This should keep my boat in relatively the same position on the trailer, get the winch lower on the post (more level with the eye), and hopefully solve all of my problems!

[CAMAN]

If it's still sharp, then I would take a file and round the edges of it over while you've got everything apart. It'll save your roller, and maybe a fish.

[SkunkedAgain]

That's a good idea