Power Loading

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

I learned about this issue while power loading a new rig at Prior a few weeks ago. They had a team there making dock repairs and they told me it was bad for the landing. To bad because it worked great! It happened to be my first time doing it. I've since learned that if I back the trailer as far as posible to get the bunks wet than pull it forward to the loading position the boat cranks up much easier.

[mnvikingsfreak]

very true trailers have a winch with 15 feet of cable for a reason please people use them! dont powerload! I have launched 20+ foot fiberglass boats in the wind that where tanks and I hand cranked it the whole way up like you are supposed to do people that powerload please have some consideration for the people that dont and having the trailer totally crooked,breaking an axel on a trailer or breaking their ankle falling into the backwash divots you guys make I know you have a fancy $25,000.00 lund boat and you have to make a grand entrance at the boat landing but again think of others that dont powerload there is a reason most lakes have a "no powerloading" sign

[eye1000us]

"Power" loading is a fact of life with many of todays boats,just not going to crank in some of the bigger glass boats.The level of power needed to load varies from ramp to ramp though.The right depth and angle and not much power is needed. I just read a blurb from the MnDnr that acknowledges that power loading isn't going away.They are upgrading numerous ramps around the state using wider concrete planks and extending them farther out into the lake to accomodate power loading

[BobT]

I'm not a supporter of powerloading but I fail to see where the purpose of doing so is to show off or "make a grand entrance" as you say. I don't think there is anything wrong with driving the boat onto a trailer but I also believe that's different than powerloading. Powerloading, by my definition, is when the outboard is used to force the boat onto the trailer and this is when the landing gets dug out by the prop wash and in my opinion the practice is inconsiderate of the lake ecosystem as well as other people that use the landing and I think the practice should be outlawed. Setting the trailer a little deep and just driving the boat on to save a little winching is not a bad thing. Actually, there are times when this is almost necessary to avoid having to walk out in waist high water on those windy days especially in the early part of the year when the water might be less than 50 degrees, burrrr.

Bob

[Tom Linderholm]

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very true trailers have a winch with 15 feet of cable for a reason please people use them! dont powerload! I have launched 20+ foot fiberglass boats in the wind that where tanks and I hand cranked it the whole way up like you are supposed to do people that powerload please have some consideration for the people that dont and having the trailer totally crooked,breaking an axel on a trailer or breaking their ankle falling into the backwash divots you guys make I know you have a fancy $25,000.00 lund boat and you have to make a grand entrance at the boat landing but again think of others that dont powerload there is a reason most lakes have a "no powerloading" sign

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Simply said, every boat is different! It's not always as easy as it is said.

22'6" Crestliner Sabre, on bunks.

[river-rat4]

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Powerloading, by my definition, is when the outboard is used to force the boat onto the trailer and this is when the landing gets dug out by the prop wash and in my opinion the practice is inconsiderate of the lake ecosystem as well as other people that use the landing and I think the practice should be outlawed. Setting the trailer a little deep and just driving the boat on to save a little winching is not a bad thing.

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Driving a boat on a trailer is okay using common sense (now days this is questionable, also).

That said, the Government does NOT need to outlaw it! We need less involvement from our politicians.

Regulating boat launching proceedures? Crazy!

[mnvikingsfreak]

I saw a guy on lake marion on sat night trying to load his boat by powerloading and he had the thottle going for about 2 mins just trying to get the front of the boat close to the hook the problem was it took 2 mins of rocks,dirt and everything flying behind him just to move the boat about 6-8 inches.....why??

[PierBridge]

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Simply said, every boat is different! It's not always as easy as it is said.

22'6" Crestliner Sabre, on bunks.

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It's very difficult to nearly impossible on some ramps to winch up a big boat with bunks

You have to power load.

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there is a reason most lakes have a "no powerloading"sign

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HUH?

[harvey lee]

With my new boat, I can power load the boat with no problem at all and it loads to the center perfect 99% of the time using very little throttle. I have not used the winch for the boat yet in 20 trips.

If the trailer is at the right depth, I would say I can load it with 1,500 rpms max.

I would say that I would call my loading, driving on the trailer as I do not give it alot of throttle to load up and yes I have a roller trailer. if one gets the trailer at the right depth, no problem.

[ScoutII]

Maybe we need to put a ban on bunk trailers!!! People have the $25,000- $30,000 for the boat, but I guess the roller trailer is just a little tooo expensive? Next I can here some say that a roller trailer is not available for my boat.

Powerloading COSTS all of us more for maintenance of our landings. Use your brain. Get the right trailer not just the cheapest trailer.

I would like to see the DNR ban powerloading and ENFORCE it. At least then the people wrecking the landing would be paying to repair the landing.

[harvey lee]

There are people that can power load if you choose to call it that, that can load without doing any damage.

We cannot ban them nor can we ban the folks that are either rude or take forever at the landings. People just need how to do things right.

[The_Duckslayer]

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Maybe we need to put a ban on bunk trailers!!! People have the $25,000- $30,000 for the boat, but I guess the roller trailer is just a little tooo expensive?

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For me it was not a matter of cost. I like my boat sitting on a couple of 12 foot long, 8 inch wide bunks. I do not "powerload" my boat I simply drive it onto those bunks. AND, when I am out alone I can back it down the ramp and get it off the trailer by myself and never have to get out of the truck at the bottom of the ramp to release the saftey chain either. Take care and N Joy the Hunt././Jimbo

[clamtrap]

When a person power loads you have to use a little common sense and respect the landings if you are going to power load. I do it because it's alot faster and you don't have guys on your tail saying hurry up what taking so long.

[Tom Linderholm]

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Maybe we need to put a ban on bunk trailers!!! People have the $25,000- $30,000 for the boat, but I guess the roller trailer is just a little tooo expensive?

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Sorry, I should have mentioned it is a 1990.

A new custom roller trailer for the boat would cost nearly what I paid for it. Granted I would love to have a roller.

I have bent two winch posts just pulling it up the last few inches.

[Rivernut]

I have a drive on bunk trailer, very smooth. The quickness in which I get off the water is greatly appreciated by the people waiting in line at the ramp! No need to power load if it's set up right!

[LMITOUT]

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Maybe we need to put a ban on bunk trailers!!! People have the $25,000- $30,000 for the boat, but I guess the roller trailer is just a little tooo expensive? Next I can here some say that a roller trailer is not available for my boat.

Powerloading COSTS all of us more for maintenance of our landings. Use your brain. Get the right trailer not just the cheapest trailer.

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For me a bunk trailer is the right trailer and most would agree. It is a drive on, drive off trailer and designed that way...not to mention they support your boat much better....especially fiberglass types. And I don't think a roller trailer is more expensive than a bunk. Don't see many fiberglass boats on a rollers...

As mentioned earlier, backing the trailer far enough down can make driving on a lot easier. The problem right now is the water level of many of the lakes around this area is low and you're basically horizontal when unloading and loading because you have to back in so far just to get the boat to float. When that happens you gotta give it some throttle to drive on or drive off because you don't have gravity helping you at all. Most fiberglass and bunk trailer combos are not meant for cranking on...they don't slide well on the carpet. Mine hasn't been too bad so far and I usually get it to about a foot of the bow roller and then crank the rest of the way.

Bottom line is if the landings were decent to begin with, powerloading wouldn't be as big of an issue even with the lower water levels. They are flat and not real user friendly. If they had more angle to them the boats would float off nice and likewise you could drive much further to the front of the trailer before it starts to touch the rollers or bunks. The landings were not built well.

[BobT]

I wasn't really suggesting that we need more laws. I meant my comment as a figure of speech but you are correct that we don't need more government interference. Thanks for pointing that out.

Bob

[PierBridge]

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Maybe we need to put a ban on bunk trailers!!! People have the $25,000- $30,000 for the boat, but I guess the roller trailer is just a little tooo expensive?

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Actually Glass boats are 40 to 50 thousand.

And you wouldn't want to put one on a roller trailer.

Are we clear?

[slotlimit]

Bottom line is if the landings were decent to begin with, powerloading wouldn't be as big of an issue even with the lower water levels. They are flat and not real user friendly. If they had more angle to them the boats would float off nice and likewise you could drive much further to the front of the trailer before it starts to touch the rollers or bunks. The landings were not built well.

Like I stated before i used to work for the DNR building these ramps. The lake bottom is what determines how steep the ramp is. You can only dig them down as thick as the cement slab being put in. If you dig them down say 2 more feet they will just be filled back in by the dirt in the lake. So if the lake drops off quick from the shore then you can have a nice steep ramp and vice versa. So don't blame the DNR. Blame the lake.

[LMITOUT]

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If you dig them down say 2 more feet they will just be filled back in by the dirt in the lake.

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If a landing that was dug out to make it deeper fills in by dirt from the lake, then why don't the powerloading holes fill in every year?

When I say the landings weren't built very well, I mean the entire access location isn't good...not just the landing itself. Seems odd why pretty much every one around here is on the east and south sides of the lakes....the side the prevailing winds blow into. Just bad luck I guess.

But I still believe if a little thought and work were given to the landings they could be better. Most of them could use some TLC to bring them back into shape again.

[PierBridge]

I think they are trying to make them better, now instead of 1 foot cement slabs to build and extend the ramps they are using 5 foot slabs which should stay in place a lot better.

[mnvikingsfreak]

its useless debating the powerloading issue people that powerload they think everything is just great and it doesnt cause any harm to boat launches so thats cool everybody keep on powerloading!!!! im going to try it this weekend and see what all the hype is all about

[Deitz Dittrich]

MN Vik- First off... not all landings are the same. Those with deeper water there I feel have little to no affect to powerloading. Its the shallow landings that the power loading causes problems. I suppose we could also start a thread about shorline destructin from people making waves as well?

[slotlimit]

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If you dig them down say 2 more feet they will just be filled back in by the dirt in the lake.

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If a landing that was dug out to make it deeper fills in by dirt from the lake, then why don't the powerloading holes fill in every year?

When I say the landings weren't built very well, I mean the entire access location isn't good...not just the landing itself. Seems odd why pretty much every one around here is on the east and south sides of the lakes....the side the prevailing winds blow into. Just bad luck I guess.

But I still believe if a little thought and work were given to the landings they could be better. Most of them could use some TLC to bring them back into shape again.

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During the summer people are constantly power loading on the lake and it keeps the dirt out of that hole. If it was left alone all summer the hole would fill in. Maybe not the whole way but it would be much less. Now if you dug them deeper it would still leave a hole and the rest of it would fill in.

You are also right about selecting the location. But A lot of the times the DNR has no choice on where to build they have to buy the land they can get someone to sell.

Yes the accesses could use some TLC. Like I said before I was incharge of fixing the power loading holes before. I enjoyed it but no one else I worked with liked this job so now in the kandiyohi area I'm sure it goes by the wayside. Once I would fix the problem it would take years for it to happen again. I have no problem with the power loading....it always kept me busy.

[Shack]

May be we should just ban bass fishing and bass boats. They are the power loading crowd. Just joking Deitz!

I have never heard this topic brought up any were before. I have noticed it at landing and that’s about all. Now I am hearing this topic last Sun. on the way down to city's catfish on Bear azz'z and Fish nuts (mark and larry). I think it all started here. Cool! Next thing ya know they will make a law about it and FM will be the starting point of the whole thing. I have stated my standings on this issue many posts ago.

Just thought I would mention it was a topic on a radio show last weekend.