Securing Boat On Trailer

[Sea Wolf]

On Edit:

This topic was split off from another discussion starting with this post in reply to Sneaks asking:

Quote:

One problem I do have is the fact that no matter how tight I make the transom tiedowns, the boat's stern still slides back and forth on turns. Stops when the bunker hits the outer strake, of course, but it is a tad disconcerting. Any hints? Or is this the usual C-Dory behavior?

Don

Do you have guide-ons on the trailer to center it when retrieving at the launch ramp?

I've never noticed my boat moving around on my EZ Loader roller trailer. My guide-ons are 2 x 4's, placed 4 inches below the rubbing strakes, from 1 foot in front of the transom to just behind the front windows and adjusted with 1" of clearance on each side to keep the boat centered. The metal support structure from the trailer frame upward to the padded 2 x 4's is made up of metal box channel at least as big as the 2 x 4's. I suspect the substantial nature of these structures keeps the boat from moving around. Some guide-ons are only about half this height, not as long or substantial, and/or not adjusted as tightly. Other trailers simply don't have them at all.

As an additional means of securing your boat to your trailer, I'd suggest you add to the vertically oriented transom straps which allow some side movement (kind of like a parallelogram or box without a bottom member). I'd add cross straps from the lower right of the trailer to the upper left of the boat and from the lower left of the trailer to the upper right of the boat. You could also add a single heavy duty strap forward of the transom, say about 2 feet, from the trailer frame up over the gunnels of the boat and back down to the trailer frame. Hope I didn't over do the correction possibilities! Joe.

[rogerbum]

Don, the boat sliding on the trailer is not normal... I assume you have bunks and not rollers? It was hard to tell from the two trailer photos in your album. I my Ez-loader trailer with rollers, there's no movement side to side but I do need to pull the bow down with a ratcheting tie down to keep it from bouncing on the bow roller. The standard tie dow for the stern provided by the factory with an Ez-loader is a 2" wide nylon strap that runs from one side rail of the trailer across the gunnels and back down to the other side. When this is cranked down tight, there's no side-to-side movement on mine. The first thing I would try on your trailer would be to add a similar tie-down. You can see the attachment point on the trailer in a photo (#11) in my album. The attachments can be obtained from EZ-loader for a few $'s a piece.

As an aside, the first day I picked up the boat at the factory, the guy working there towed it to De Moines with NO ties downs and was going to give it to me that way to take home! When I inquired about tie-downs, he said "You don't really need those"... After some insisting on my part, I got the tie-down that goes across the gunnels AND I had the tie-downs added to the transom too. Fortunately, the guy who did the test ride with me no longer works at the factory (probably due to the "excellent" advice he was giving).

Roger

[Sneaks]

Joe and Roger:

My problem is that it's easy to write to be understood but damn hard to write to not be misunderstood. I'll try to describe the problem a little clearer.

I have bunks not rollers, and I have very similar guideons as Joe, though mine have about 1/2" clearance at the belly and the board bottom is 2" higher than the Walla exhaust. I have no problem centering the boat and though the stern is often a few inches off, it's usually easily "nudged" to center. I've read several "centering aids" pictured here, so I know that part is a common C-22 phenomena when recovering the boat.

The bow is easily cinched up, strapped, chain backup, and never goes anywhere on the road.

The stern has transom strap attachment points almost directly above the trailer's corresponding attachment points. Maybe 2" outboard at the most. Therein lies the problem IMHO. In a turn, keeping the stern centered is almost totally dependent upon the "stiction" at the bunker/hull interface. Slick bunker pile makes it worse. OTOH, with straps firmly racheted down, the hull can only slide about 3" before the chine hits the bunker and stops it cold, so maybe I'm just nitpicking a minor irritant into a major problem. It's only when I think about a major avoidance maneuver at freeway speeds that the butterflies take off.

Roger, my (brand X) 23 footer had both bow and transom 2" straps since it was trailed deep into Baja where the roads have rather interesting qualities. Because it was a deep vee, it never slid sideways, but the straps did eventually mar the gel coat rather badly. I don't believe a strap will stop the slide, only ensure it won't bounce off the trailer or go past the chine.

Joe, the cross transom strap method sounds great, but when I looked, it ain't that simple since there is no direct path between the starboard trailer attachment point and the port transom attachment point, for example, without drilling a big hole right through the Yamaha. Unless somebody here has a better solution, in addition to the normal straps I intended to just put two cross straps from convenient bunker clamps, which will go a long way toward alleviating the present "slip sliding." Maybe if I just slowed down it might help too, ya think?

Don

[rogerbum]

Is it possible to move the attachment points on the trailer farther out?

[TyBoo]

[Sea Wolf]

Tyboo wrote (in very small text so only those with the time and penchant for detail would notice):

"Have you ever noticed with engineers that when there is a real and immediate problem they are nowhere to be found, but when things are going smoothly they seem to have lots of advice? I used the term "geometry" in this post, so I would expect DoD up in AK to recognize it as a cue and offer some scientific perspective to the discussion. But, nope, he ain't here."

Time for an "The Engineers vs. The Pragmatists" thread? Or maybe the next Poll should be-

Whose advice to you trust the most? Place in rank order-

Scientists

Engineers

Naval Architects (form of engineer)

boat builders

professional mariners / seamen / pilots / captains / navy personnel

boat dealers and marine repair mechanics

engine manufactures and professional representatives

do-it-yourself boat owners and part-time backyard boat and motor mechanics

the neighbor next door with the Bayliner, blow torch, and bottle of beer

nobody but myself, but I'm too chicken to act until I've consulted with all the experts above on the C-Brats or C-Dogs sites.

Wha da ya think? Joe.

[Sneaks]

[k3nlind]

I looked for a photo of the stern on the trailer and didn't see one. Why is it you can't tie the stern straps in an 'X' pattern? Seems to be the best solution. Only cost would be longer straps... or possibly you could manufacturer some form of extension... I have a the same boat and trailer but haven't noticed it moving about... guess I will start looking closer!

BTW, I have the LED sealed lights on my trailer and it appears my trailer would have been manufactured before yours. Wonder why you don't have LEDs?

[Sneaks]

Ken, here's a quick shot of the stern.



You can see that there's no path from the port transom tie down to the starboard trailer tie down eye because of the swim step and the motor mount. One might get a strap in the other direction and live with it rubbing the mount, but that too will eventually rub the paint off on long tows and won't work on mine because of the trim tabs.

As for why mine has incandescent rather than LED, I'm not sure, except I know the trailer was first built in 2004, and the boat was stored at the trailer manufacturer's facility until the dealer got a 2005 Yamaha in stock, so it may just be that your is newer than mine.

Don

P.S. I park with the motor down because I don't have room if it's raised. Well, I do have a few inches, but one miscalculation with 600# of torque pushing it would make a new hole in my stucco really quick. I normally tow with it up.

[Sea Wolf]

Don-

Nice looking boat and trailer! Good photo, too!

I can see from the geometry of your swim step, trim tabs, and motor that the X-strap as originally proposed wouldn't work for you. The other possible problem is that different trailers extend bckward below the transom differently, some being longer than others. From the dead on end of transom corner, I can't tell if the following would work or not, but you might take s string or just a look-see to check it out.

Since the lower motor mount bolts extend out somewhat beyond the end of the motor bracket, could a eyelet fitting be placed over the remaining "stud" that extends out beyond the regular retaining nut on these lower motor mount bolts and serve as a tie down point? To be useful, a strap attached to these would have to have a clear path to another tie down eyelet on the rear of the trailer frame that would not strike the swim step, trim tabs, or lower edge of the transom/hull joint. An eye-bolt of significant strength, say 5/8-3/4" shaft could extend out backward from the rear trailer x-member up to 6-8 inches to reach out to meet the tie-down cross strap (???) Joe.

[Sea Wolf]

Don-

Another thought: If the above would work, the distance might be rather short to use a nylon strap with ratchet, etc. If it's short enough, get a big turnbuckle with considerable adjustment and a compound lever tightener to really cinch er' down. End of side movement, period. Joe.

[Sneaks]

[dogon dory]

Sorry, Folks - Post Deleted By Author

[Sealife]

Towed Sealife all the way home from the factory (1100+miles) and never noticed any movement of the boat on the trailer (Pacific bunks). Only problem I've had is the rear of the trailer bottoming out when pulling out of a deeply crowned driveway, or backing into one. In a moment of brilliant inspiration, I saw on another trailer a pair of bolt on little, metal, wheels, fastened to the rearmost crossmember of the trailer. Instead of the frame contacting the road, the wheels do, permitting the trailer to ride over the crown. On my list to buy a pair. Understand they are available in RV supply stores.

[k3nlind]

As mentioned, I have the same boat and trailer as Sneaks. Also noticed after looking at the latest photo that I have the same straps too... don't know why mine don't slip and slide...

Concerning the pavement scraping by the rear crossmember mentioned by both Sneaks and Sealife, I did have this situation. I don't know what you all will say about my fix, but after I saw the price of those little metal wheels (they sell them in RV World) I began looking for another way. What I did was to drill a new bolt hole above the crossmenber on the inner to uprights. Moved the bolt and used a cutting wheel to cut off those tits that stick down. Don't scrape my driveway anymore. Makes 'what's her face' happy too!

As for the LED's on my trailer, I learned that the previous owner swapped trailers, from single axle to dual axle, earlier this year... January I think. Seems there is stuff I didn't think about until I started reading the forums...