Scary trailer incident

cemiii · Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2008 3:32 pm Post subject: Scary trailer incident

My 22 angler sits on a roller EZ loader. There is a double roller bow stop, an electric winch, a short safety chain, 4' side centering guides, a 2" rear ratcheting hold down strap that goes over the rear end and two rear tow eye ratchet straps that hold the boat forward on the trailer.

Wednesday on the way down from a mountain lake I hit a pothole and the boat bounced and almost felt as if the trailer was swaying out of control. I regained control and continued on slowly, it still felt awkward so I pulled over at the first safe pull out. The first thing I noticed is that the 2 inch over strap had snapped. I tied it off and proceeded back to the truck. It was only the big black stripes on the side of the boat that alerted me to the fact the front end had jumped up off the bow stop and the entire boat had moved forward almost 30". Going back to the rear, sure enough, the rear rollers were completely off the boat and up under the motors and in the front the safety chain clamp had broken, though the winch cable was in tact.

With a couple shackles and chain I was able to secure it enough to limp back slowly to the lake, refloat the boat and straighten things out enough to be able to get home. Except for a couple fairly significant (but repairable) gel coat gouges and a broken strap and clamp there was not any significant property damage, only aging of the heart.

I think the electric winch wire gave enough slippage in the cable to allow the front to jump off the bow stop.

But the lessons learned from what could have been really ugly are:

1.) If it doesn't feel right, stop as soon as you safely can and do a detailed observation and re-examination until you know the cause.

2.)Have plenty of emergency stuff with you, chain, chocks, cable ties, flares, etc.

Though I dearly love the ease of launching from a roller trailer, I think my next trailer may very well have bunks and maybe a manual winch. In the interim, I will certainly shorten my safety chain , beef up the connectors and put another ratchet strap hold down from the bow eye to the trailer to stop any jumping.

Other suggestions appreciated.

Chris

K7MXE · Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2008 5:46 pm Post subject: Safety ideas

Just one thought, Every so often pitch the ratchet tie downs as
they get dry rot and die. Don't know if its sun, water or weather but
they do die. I usually use them for a lesser role. Quality ratchets
are the way to go, spend more get more. The Air Force has real good
ones but oh so ugly... Bob Heselberg Eatonville Wa

jkidd · Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2008 11:33 pm Post subject:

Most of the electric winch makers put a disclaimer in there manual saying it is not to be used as the primary tie down device. That got to be a scarry feeling having your pride and joy come lose. Have seen a couple boats that have come off and gone skidding down the freeway.

AstoriaDave · Posted: Sat Aug 16, 2008 9:23 am Post subject: Re: Scary trailer incident

416rigby · Posted: Sat Aug 16, 2008 9:49 am Post subject:

Scarey stuff! I have three words for roller trailers..."Just say no." I had a bad experience with one.

We tie down the boat by hooking straps through the stern eyes to the corners of the trailer...one per side... instead of one big strap over the gunwales. We have a manual winch and also have eight foot side guides with I really like. They really help get on the trailer when the wind is blowing and I like the extra lateral support they provide.

Funny that I am most concerned about a boat accident while on the trailer, not on the water. You got lucky...glad you did! Lessons we can all benefit from.

Rick

hardee · Posted: Sat Aug 16, 2008 10:40 am Post subject:

Wow, Scary. Sure glad no one was hurt. I'm with you on the roller VS bunk trailer. I've never seen a boat slide of a bunk system. I've seen three and have a friend who has had it happen to him on the rollers. No rollers for me, thanks. Fortunately I rarely tow more than about 3 miles at 35mph or less, but for the longer trips I am adding an "over bow deck 4" heavy duty web strap like I use on the stern now.

Harvey
SleepyC Moon

Sneaks · Posted: Sat Aug 16, 2008 10:47 am Post subject:

cemiii · Posted: Sat Aug 16, 2008 12:56 pm Post subject:

Thank you for the feedback.

The safety clip on the chain was a pretty heavy SS model but it sprang enough to break out the spring closure part and jump off. The rear ratchet ties do go around the rear corners. While it seems the system is ok to protect the boat from backward roll-off, their is very little to stop the boat from going forward except the very narrow 4" bow stop. I'm going to switch the stop rollers to the Y type, but I'm not very confident in some rubber Y keeping thing in place much better. I'm switching over from a fast clip safety latch to the kind you screw together to make a complete circle (not as convenient but probably worth the extra time). I'm hoping the ratchet tie holding the bow tightly down will keep the boat secure in the bow stop. I'm thinking about keeping the electric for the convenience, but maybe adding a manual on the upright as I've lost some confidence in the electric.

Chris

commander bill · Posted: Sat Aug 16, 2008 2:31 pm Post subject:

Everyone's analsis of what went wrong is well & good. However, sometimes we forget to focus on certain things done correctly. Here we see a clear case of a bad accident avoided because the driver trusted his sixth sence & stoped to check. I hate to say it but I know a lot of people that would have just waited til the next gas stop to look at the boat.

By the way I have never trusted trailers without bunks

rogerbum · Posted: Sat Aug 16, 2008 2:37 pm Post subject:

I had an electric winch on my trailer for awhile but the clutch mechanism would never keep the boat tight against the bow stop. For awhile, I used an additional ratcheting strap to pull the bow forward and down (wrapped it around the trailer and hooked into the bow eye). Others have suggested a turnbuckle that is attached to the trailer and used to tighten up the bow eye after loading.
However, for me the best thing I did was to get rid of the electric winch and replace it with a 2-speed Fulton mechanical winch. With a 22' boat, the mechanical winch is easy to use, faster than the electric and and there's no slippage once it's tight.

cemiii · Posted: Sat Aug 16, 2008 2:48 pm Post subject:

I also suspect that the flat bottom nature of the C-Dory may not be as well conducive to roller bunks as a Deep V which would tend to stay much better laterally centered due to the pivoting of the roller blocks.

Chris

cemiii · Posted: Sat Aug 16, 2008 4:23 pm Post subject:

Roger, what model is your Fulton?

Chris

rogerbum · Posted: Sat Aug 16, 2008 4:40 pm Post subject:

Da Nag · Posted: Sat Aug 16, 2008 4:43 pm Post subject:

416rigby · Posted: Sat Aug 16, 2008 4:48 pm Post subject:

Good point on stopping to check if you get that bad feeling!

I wonder about the cost and practicality of converting from rollers to bunks? It may be more cost effective to just move up to a tandem axle with bunks. Also, I've seen side guides for the bow...wonder how effective they'd be in preventing lots of forward movement like you experienced.