Securing 26M to trailer

[c130king]

I guess I need straps or something to secure the boat to the trailer. How many and how long?

Recommendations?

Thanks again. You guys are a great help.

Jim

[pythonguy]

I just picked mine up from the dealer, the front D ring (the same one the trailer winch is is hooked to) was secured with a generous looping and hitching of dock line. I'm not sure what kind of knoting they used, but it was clean and well done, obviously a good strong backup.

I did notice while towing it that the boat would bounce slightly on the trailer when hitting some bigger bumps. I think perhaps a strap or some other securement would be a great idea.

Once it stops raining I'll take a look at that knot and see if i can post a pic. My checkout "instructor" who know the M well told me he uses a safety chain through the front D ring.

[Frank C]

Many choose to strap the boat with one, extra-long ratchet strap across the cockpit & gunnels, about 15+ feet total length. FWIW, I prefer using two tiedowns. I have two short ratchet straps. I hook one to each of the aft cleats and lead down to the trailer frame. That's about 4 feet of strap per side. This eliminates the stretch potential in the 7 feet of material crossing the cockpit, and provides some redundancy should either end slip loose of the trailer.

[Shane]

I guess I need straps or something to secure the boat to the trailer. How many and how long?

Recommendations?

Thanks again. You guys are a great help.

Jim

I can't remember brand, length, etc. but BWY included a (approx.) 2" wide cinch strap with hooks on each end, and a ratcheting mechanism in the middle of it to tighten. I'd estimate it to be around 20 ' long. I hook it down on the frame of the trailer and then around the vertical guide poles and over the gunwhales to the frame on the other side. It passes just aft of the pedestal that way. Seems to work fine, as the boat faired much better than my innerds did driving I-5 north of Seattle It's nothing special; I've seen them in auto supply stores, but just don't recall the brand or proper name for them. Hope that helps.

Regards,
Shane

[NiceAft]

Jim

This is a site that Kevin told me about. I have used this item and have been extremely happy with it.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/D ... mber=36605

I use it at only one location on my M. I use it at the front of the cockpit. Because of the slope, if the boat tries to slip backward, the strap will get tighter.


Ray

[Captain Steve]

I too use a short racheting strap on each side of the stern. The hook is attached to a short loop of tubular nylon webbing around the rear lifeline stancion. I had a long one but could not raise the helm seat when it was streched across the vessel.

[Catigale]

I used to use the ratcheters but found they were more things to carry frankly. Following the ChipH 'everything serves many functions' mantra I just use the dock lines to tie the boat down to the trailer with a truckers hitch to get good tension. It runs from cleat, through the trailer goalposts, back up the other cleat, trucker hitch, and tie off the excess. Just make sure you dont hang up on the license plate or trailer light bracket with either dock line or ratchet line approach

[baldbaby2000]

I think there are several people that don't tie the boat down and are afraid to admit it. And then there's me; I admit it. I didn't tie down my Mac 25 either but maybe I'm just not a safe person. Straps tend to mess up the boat.

BB

[Sloop John B]

I used to run a line from the aft cleat to the ‘hole’ at the bottom of the guide post. I don’t anymore. The boat is heavy enough, it’s not going to fly off if you hit a bump. Only thing holding the boat is the winch strap and an extra ½ inch line through the bow eye.

If your speed and road conditions are such that you see the boat parting from the bunks, slow down, and install eye bolts into the trailer frame where your new boat strap won’t interfere with the pedestal. The chafe from the strap can be avoided by tucking a couple of your Mate’s old T shirts in where it’s going to chafe.

[KayakDan]

I use two lines from the rear cleats to the trailer frame. I also have a ratchet line in the front,bolted to the spare tire bracket,and attaching to the d ring on the boat. Just in case the high quality winch on the Mac trailer lets go.

[Harrison]

I’m with BB on this one. When I first picked her up, she was tied down with nylon line and a couple of carpet swags to protect the gel coat.


Keeping the practice, I strapped her down using 2 ratchet type tie-downs for my Catalina trip.


Well after 1100+ miles the straps wore groves in the gel coat from the constant flapping down the highway. Needless to say, I didn’t use them for the return trip home.


What I should have done was connect them farther out on the trailer. Hook them to the outermost goalpost bars like the factory did. This will keep the straps away from the gel coat. Or better yet, use line with a truckers hitch. . . less flapping.

I have to admit that for local traveling, I do not tie down the rear.

---Harrison

[zuma hans 1]

(1) CHP, at least, will ticket a boat not tied down.

(2) On a lengthy freeway trip, with concrete slab vibrations, keeping the strap tight into the nose hook is a repetitive stress that should be avoided.

(3) All the big box stores sell cheap straps that work great, and can be left on the tow vehicle while on the water.

[kmclemore]

I use a strap, and I run it from the trailer frame, over the top and down to the other trailer frame. I use a very wide strap which minimizes dents in the rub-rail. I would *never* rely on that flimsy winch to hold the boat onto the trailer. Sure, it works fine under normal circumstances - heck under normal circumstances, you don't need anything to hold the boat to the trailer - but IMHO you do need to have that baby tied down securely, because when you have to make a fast maneuver or if - god forbid - you have an accident, you don't want that boat to start doing it's own thing and bouncing off the trailer, and that little winch cable and how that winch is welded on are barely adequate.

One tip that may help folks when using a strap - when you install the strap put a 1/2 turn in *every* stretch of strap... so... in my situation there are 3 each 1/2 turns - one going up the side, one across the cockpit and one down the other side. By putting a 1/2 turn in the strap it will prevent it from vibrating and making marks in the boat as Harrison noted.

[Harrison]

One tip that may help folks when using a strap - when you install the strap put a 1/2 turn in *every* stretch of strap... so... in my situation there are 3 each 1/2 turns - one going up the side, one across the cockpit and one down the other side.

Hmmmm twisting the strap. . . now that’s a technique I’ve never tried. Good idea!

Thanks,
Harrison

[kmclemore]

One tip that may help folks when using a strap - when you install the strap put a 1/2 turn in *every* stretch of strap... so... in my situation there are 3 each 1/2 turns - one going up the side, one across the cockpit and one down the other side.

Hmmmm twisting the strap. . . now that’s a technique I’ve never tried. Good idea!...

My pleasure, Harrison.... it's an old trucker's trick. Works every time.