Besides weight and friction the main things that hold our boats on the trailer is the trailer wench.
I'm the second owner of this 2009 26M boat and stock aluminum retailer.
Every time I would crank the boat a few feet up on the trailer the wench strap would bunch up on the left aside of the drum. I then noticed the wench drum wasn't aligned straight back with the center line of the trailer but was actually leaning slightly to one side. It was then I noticed the backing plate and washers had bent and after removing the mountain bolts found it had cracked. http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/g40 ... 095755.jpg
I replaced the OEM 11000 lb trailer wInch with a12000 lb Attwater trailer wench I found at Wall Mart $39. The new wench is slightly bigger so I had to make some adjustments to my safety chain eye bolt. http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/g40 ... 095639.jpg
Mine is bent and I have already had to replace the strap. The main culprit is trying to winch the boat firmly onto the trailer when the aft is still floating. I leave the bent winch on to remind me to not tighten it too much before the boat is bumped. When you then pull the boat/trailer up the ramp the bow wants to force up as the aft comes down to meet the trailer. I have learned to leave it a little slack and not worry about getting the boat perfectly seated while in the water. The "mac bump" does that on the flat. The winch should only be used to tighten it all up once the boat is already properly seated on the trailer. If you ignore this and keep getting stronger winches you will probably damage the bow attachment on the boat - or worse.
Yes Tony, the stock winch is deffinately underated. Mine actually failed on me during use, where the bolt goes through it (same as yours) I actually then used a huge stainless steel washer in it for a while before replacing with a decent winch. I guess Roger would argue that you are suppossed to float the boat on the trailer anyway, so the winch is barely used. However there are certainly times when you do need to put some huge strain on it, and its a shame Roger doesnt put a reasonable winch on it - It doesnt really cost that much more...
As to it being the only thing holding your boat on, well if you dont have one, I'd put a backup chain on there if I were you. At least think about a decent bit of rope as a backup (here you have to have the chain).
Well I'm glad my poor spellchecking got a laugh and some attention.
I do have a safety chain although I'm not sure everyone does and on long hauls I run a strap across the back of the boat as well.
TFlight wrote:Well I'm glad my poor spellchecking got a laugh and some attention.
Ummm... yeah, well, you got the winch/wench bit right now, but you've still misspelled 'trailer' as 'tailer' too. Hence you left yourself open for photos of 'wench tailers'.
Call me Ishmael, OOPS wrong story. Some years ago we were in the starting area for the Newport/Ensenada race. Among other things there was a 12 meter with a full string quartet on the bow all in tuxedos. But I digress. A boat passed us with an all female crew who were wearing nothing but what the good lord had given them. There was a whole lot of luffing goin' on. The night before the start of the race we were walking around the docks at the Marina and there was a group of guys loading their boat for what looked like a trip to Hawaii. Keep in mind that this race is 120 miles one way and can take anywhere from 24+ hours to 40+ hours. They had six cases of beer on the dock. I asked them why all the beer. The reply. "Hey, There are five guys in the crew." Don't know where they finished or they ever got started. Fair Winds and Full Sails...Old salt.
Check your Trailer WInch
2009 26M boat and stock aluminum retailer.
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