I will have to pull out my books sometime, but as I remember it the strap and winch is to be used only to pull the boat onto the trailer. A seperate system to secure the boat to the trailer is needed.
I do not drag my M around, Just put it in the water directly from the boat storage, but when I had my 16 footer I tied the boat down to the trailer and used another short rope to tie the bow eye to the winch. I have had the winch come unlocked and the boat backed down the trailer before. I have also had the winch post breack due to rust.
A 2 to 3 foot piece of 1/2 inch or bigger line should work.
I think that the boats are shipped from the factory with a rope tied from the bow eye to the winch. Does anybody know for sure?
Safety Chain
The winch strap broke when I was retrieving our X on a steep ramp and the only time I have retrieved with the ballast in. I left the gate open but it was still draining when I pulled ahead. The strap broke and the boat slid back maybe 2 ft then stopped as I was at the top of the ramp and the trailer was starting to level out. I had a flash of what the X would look like off the trailer half way up the ramp. I now have a cable on the winch with a chain as backup.
Greg
Greg
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zuma hans 1
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Chip Hindes wrote:If I spent a dollar or followed the advice every time I heard or read the terms "cheap insurance" and "backup," I'd be dead broke, and it would take me close to an hour to rig or derig. I don't and it doesn't.
That's not the reason to use a nylon strap across the anchor locker and down to the trailer tongue.
First time I trailered the mac, I kept checking the mirrors and noticing that the tightly-clinched nylon strap still had enough play to allow the boat's prow to yank up and down.
I viewed that as a violent torque to the hook and fiberglass that can could - conceivably - eventually lead to a failure. The boat bouncing up and down - even on a freeway - also seemed to a vibration that could trigger some movement down on the bunks.
And I hate to keep mentioning the law, but the time I got cited by the CHP for the lights, the cop looked at the strap up front and said it barely met motor vehicle code requirements for tying down a load. He said the strap needed to be in the middle of the load, but was unsure of the law and did not cite me.
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zuma hans 1
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I'm truly sorry to resurrect this debate again, but this is a very bad idea.craiglaforce wrote:I bought a 3 red light tailer bar, screwed it to a piece of wood, and attached a 20 foot wire with cig lighter plug. I strap this to the outboard lower unit to make sure the tail end of the boat is very clear to the following drivers, that do not seem to respect following distances otherwise behind the boat. (sorry to hear about your boat getting rear ended Chip). I simply plug the light bar in to the boat batts when I hit the road. Also gives a redundant light in case the trailer lights lose the ground connection.
All taillights placed in the center of the trailer should light up with the brake circuit.
Your heart's in the right place, Craig, but you are asking to get rearended at a low speed, when someone sees your boat-battery-powered center light and mistakes it for a brake lamp that will get brighter if you apply brakes.
By placing what looks like a brake lamp in the center of your boat, you are asking for a rear-ender collision and would have a hard time defending an inevitable lawsuit.
How hard would it be to hook that light bar into the brake/taillight circuit down on the trailer? Only a few minutes.
And connecting the negative ground to a block of wood on the outboard is not going to provide any redundant circuitry for the trailer's negative ground - the wood will insulate it.
Of course, we hashed this out ad nauseum in the "are we legal" thread. I feel bad about bringing it up again, but I think this is dangerous and should not be encouraged.